Jeanette “Baby” Washington “Medicine Man” (Neptune 120, 1960) It doesn’t seem to be too spooky of a Friday the 13th, but in the depths of Scorpio Season, we do have a birthday wish to give to an unheralded soul legend. Born 75 years ago as Justine Washington, for 60 years, Baby Washington has been delighting…
Tag: The Birth of Soul
LaVern Baker “Fly Me To The Moon” (Atlantic 2267, R&B#31 Pop#84, 1965)
LaVern Baker “Fly Me To The Moon” (Atlantic 2267, R&B#31 Pop#84, 1965) Among the women whose solid work built Atlantic Records, LaVern Baker gave Atlantic enough crossover appeal before Ray Charles stormed into the Pop Top 40 at the end of the 1950’s. Starting out as Little Miss Sharecropper (a parody of Little Mrs. Cornshucks/Mildred…
Dinah Washington “Relax Max” (Mercury 70968, 1956)
Dinah Washington “Relax Max” (Mercury 70968, 1956) She’s the most sited influence among soul singers of the 1960’s. Functioning as the bridge between Jazz, Gospel and the birth of Soul in a way that Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan don’t, I always worship at the altar of Dinah Washington. On her 91st Birthday,…
Little Miss Cornshucks “So Long (1961 Version)” (From the LP The Loneliest Girl In Town, 1961)
Little Miss Cornshucks “So Long (1961 Version)” (From the LP The Loneliest Girl In Town, 1961) Gemini Roll Call heralds today one of the most forgotten influences in the transition years from Blues to Soul that happened between the 1940s and the 1960s. Born 92 years ago today, the persona Mildred Cummings crafted as Little Miss…
DJ Larsupreme 