Sam Baker
With his raspy, almost spoken word vocal style and literate, poignant, and carefully observed songs that grapple with the beauties, complexities, and little tragedies of this world, Sam Baker has much in common with other Texan songwriters like Robert Earl Keen, James McMurtry, and Guy Clark. A near death experience in 1986 drastically changed the trajectory of his life, from bank examiner and whitewater river guide to working musician, though the road to the latter persuasion would be a long and arduous one. Since his acclaimed debut in 2004, Baker has released a string of well-received albums that evoke the austere melodicism of Townes Van Zandt and the heart and humor of John Prine's narrative style.
Baker grew up in Itasca, Texas, a prairie town southwest of Dallas and Fort Worth on Interstate 35. He was exposed to a wide array of music as a child (his mother was a local church organist), not the least of which was his father's collection of country-blues artists. The defining moment in Baker's life came in 1986 when he was traveling on a train to visit Machu Picchu in Peru. A terrorist bomb exploded on the train and Baker was gravely injured, losing most of his hearing and suffering serious injuries to his left arm. He had 18 corrective surgeries over the next decade at hospitals in San Antonio and Houston, and the consequent physical, emotional, and spiritual journey he experienced helped him form his quiet and passionate view of the world. Baker had to completely relearn how to play the guitar with his mangled left hand, and singing was extremely difficult for him because of his severe hearing loss, but he overcame these obstacles to develop his uniquely hushed and quietly powerful performance style. Baker self-released three critically acclaimed albums, 2004's Mercy, 2007's Pretty World, and 2009's Cotton, all of which make up what he calls his "Mercy Trilogy." 2013's Say Grace was cited by Rolling Stone as one of the Top Ten country LPs of the year, and in 2017, he issued his fifth studio long-player Land of Doubt.
© Steve Leggett /TiVo
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The Pretty World Trilogy
Pop - Released by Blue Limestone on 30 Nov 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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pretty world
Country - Released by BlueLimeStone Records on 1 Jan 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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c o t t o n
Country - Released by Music Road Records on 1 Jan 2009
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Sound Stage 7 Singles, Vol. 7
Roscoe Robinson, Roscoe Shelton, Sam Baker
Soul - Released by Sound Stage 7 on 12 Apr 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
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Bringing You Some Soul - [The Dave Cash Collection]
Soul - Released by The Dave Cash Collection - OMP on 9 May 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sometimes You Have to Cry / Something Tells Me
Funk - Released by Sound Stage 7 on 23 Mar 1965
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Sometimes You Have to Cry
Soul - Released by Seventy Seven Records on 21 May 1967
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Sam Baker Selected Hits
R&B - Released by Charly Records on 12 Jun 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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You'd Better Check What You Got / Storming and Raining
Soul - Released by Usa Records on 8 Aug 1965
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
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I Can't Break Away / Comin' to Bring You Some Soul
Funk - Released by Sound Stage 7 on 25 Mar 1968
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
You Can't See the Blood / Don't Feel Rained On
Funk - Released by Sound Stage 7 on 23 Mar 1966
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Let Me Come on Home / Someone (Bigger Than You and Me)
Funk - Released by Sound Stage 7 on 25 Mar 1966
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Hold Back Girl / I Love You
Funk - Released by Sound Stage 7 on 25 Mar 1969
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Sugar Man
Soul - Released by Jukebox Entertainment on 22 Apr 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo