198 LaVern Baker (1929-1997) “Jim Dandy” 1956

“Born Delores Williams on Chicago's South Side, she began performing in her hometown at the age of 17. The niece of blues singer Memphis Minnie, Baker began her career by using the stage name Little Miss Sharecropper…When her career slowed down in the late '60s, she visited Vietnam to entertain the troops. Later, she relocated to the Philippines where she spent most of the next two decades managing a club near the U.S. military base and performing weekends” (Jet, 1997).

LaVern Baker “Jim Dandy”