POP MUSIC REVIEW : Mixed Signals From Baker

Few performers have entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with more slender credentials than LaVern Baker. The singer’s Top 30 hits like “Tweedlee Dee” and “Jim Dandy” brought a shot of rhythm & blues to the ‘50s pop charts, but they were minor novelty records, and she didn’t establish any kind of vocal signature. Her contribution to the upheaval of the mid-’50s hardly seems essential.

Her presence in the ‘50s R&B; field was more substantial, and it’s true that her impact was significantly undercut by the Pat Boone Syndrome (competing versions of her songs by more “acceptable” white singers). Still, it’s hard to make a case for her as an influential force.

But time has a way of enshrining pioneers and survivors, and Baker, 61, qualifies as both. Now she’s reemerged after three decades of obscurity (she’s been living in the Philippines and entertaining military personnel there).

She recorded some new sides for the movies “Shag” and “Dick Tracy,” and she appeared in the Broadway revue “Black and Blue” for eight months. Following some New York club engagements, she opened a two-week run on Tuesday at the Cinegrill with a series of mixed signals that never constituted a unified piece.

She showed a powerful voice, but was backed by an up-and-down pickup band and selected some marginal material. She has a sassy persona, but let the pace dissolve in meandering banter with the audience. Her blues instincts are true and earthy, but her theatrical bearing led to an artificiality of manner and delivery. The only reason she has a career is her rock ‘n’ roll hits, but she displayed a dismissive attitude toward them.

Of course, it’s understandable that a serious singer would have mixed feelings about “Tweedlee Dee” and “Jim Dandy,” but it’s not in the show’s best interest to announce that you feel silly singing them. They might not have much going for them beyond nostalgia value and infectious beats, but there’s no point in belittling the fun that they do offer.

Baker (who continues at the Cinegrill through April 27) put a lot more into R&B; ballads like “Soul on Fire,” “Play It Fair” and “Tomorrow Night”--simple, doo-wop flavored songs, but legitimate vocal showcases. (Surprisingly, she didn’t perform her biggest pop hit, “I Cried a Tear.”)

The real revelation was her rendition of “Body and Soul,” a spotlight turn for her in “Black and Blue.” Seemingly inspired at her escape from the harmonic confines of R&B;, she applied delicate dynamic nuances to create a compelling, focused expression.

Other vintage pop standards in that vein would give the show more weight than fillers like “See See Rider” and “Hold On, I’m Coming.” So would more Leiber & Stoller songs: The great songwriting team’s tongue-in-cheek salvation hymn “Saved” (which Baker dedicated to audience member Mike Stoller) capped the hour-plus set with wit and beat.

A performer with Baker’s colorful history--she’s a niece of blues matriarch Memphis Minnie, she started singing in Chicago blues clubs as “Little Miss Sharecropper,” she was part of Atlantic Records’ dynamic ‘50s stable, she recorded with Jackie Wilson in 1966 and Ben E. King in 1988--could put together an absorbing show of music and memories, shedding light on a wide span of popular culture and revealing something of the artist’s soul. It’s disappointing to see a hall of famer settle for less.

* LaVern Baker sings at the Cinegrill, Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, 7000 Hollywood Blvd., Tuesday through Thursday at 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. Closes April 27. (213) 466-7000.