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Belle Baker
Bella Backer
Singer, Actress
(1893 - 1957)
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Belle Baker was active in Yiddish theater before entering the vaudeville circuit. Her recording of “Bei Mir Bist du Schon,” adapted from the Yiddish song and translated as “To Me You Are So Beautiful,” was second only to the Andrews Sisters’ hit in the ‘40s. Her version is collected in From Avenue A to the Great White Way: Songs from Yiddish and America, 1914-1950 (2002). Baker also introduced the ballad, “All of Me,” on the radio in 1931. Starring in the title role of the Broadway show Betsy in 1926, she introduced Irving Berlin’s “Blue Skies” in the Florenz Ziegfeld production.
But she was best known for her up-tempo numbers such as “Hard Hearted Hannah” and “Cheer Up, Good Times Are Comin’.” The Tin Pan Alley Blues collection (1994) features her in performances of “Jubilee Blues” and the comic “I’ve Got the ‘Yes! We Have No Bananas’ Blues.’”
- Sandra Burlingame |
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