Mickey Baker
Of all the guitarists who helped transform rhythm & blues into rock & roll, Mickey Baker was one of the very most important, ranking almost on the level of Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley. The reason he wasn't nearly as well known as those legends is that a great deal of his work wasn't issued under his own name, but as a backing guitarist for many R&B and rock & roll musicians. Baker originally aspired to be a jazz musician, but turned to calypso, mambo, and then R&B, where the most work could be found.
In the early and mid-'50s, he did countless sessions for Atlantic, King, RCA, Decca, and OKeh, playing on such classics as the Drifters' "Money Honey" and "Such a Night," Joe Turner's "Shake, Rattle & Roll," Ruth Brown's "Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean," and Big Maybelle's "Whole Lot of Shakin' Going On." He also released a few singles under his own name, and made a Latin jazz-tinged solo album, Guitar Mambo.
Baker's best work, though, was recorded as half of the duo Mickey & Sylvia. Their hit "Love Is Strange," as well as several other unknown but nearly equally strong tracks, featured Baker's keening, bluesy guitar riffs, which were gutsier and more piercing than most anything else around in the late '50s. Mickey & Sylvia split in the late '50s (though they recorded off and on until the middle of the next decade), and Baker recorded his best solo album, the all-instrumental The Wildest Guitar. In 1961, he took the male spoken part (usually assumed to be Ike Turner) on Ike & Tina Turner's first hit, "It's Gonna Work Out Fine." Shortly afterwards he moved to France, making a few hard-to-find solo records and working with a lot of French pop and rock performers, including Ronnie Bird, the best '60s French rock singer. He recorded only sporadically after the mid-'60s. Mickey Baker died at his home in Montastruc-la-Conseillère, France on November 27, 2012, at the age of 87.
© Richie Unterberger /TiVo
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Discography
7 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Jazz Rock Guitar of Mickey Baker
Funk - Released by Stefan Grossman's Guitar Workshop on Feb 28, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Wildest Guitar
R&B - Released by Rhino Atlantic on Jan 24, 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Legendary Mickey Baker: Blues, Jazz & Rock Guitar
Blues - Released by Shanachie on Jan 1, 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Blues & Jazz Guitar of Mickey Baker
Blues - Released by Stefan Grossman's Guitar Workshop on Dec 1, 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Presenting Mickey Baker
R&B - Released by Universal Digital Enterprises on Dec 10, 1957
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Essential Blues Masters
Blues - Released by Nifty Music, Inc. on Apr 1, 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Blues And Me (1973-1976)
Blues - Released by Disques Black & Blue on Jan 1, 1974
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo