Mickey Baker • Guitar

Biography by Richie Unterberger

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. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/mickey-baker-mn0000476054/biography

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Compilado de este extraordinario guitarrista, que se reparte entre interpretaciones propias y como acompañante.

Biografía de Richie Unterberger

De todos los guitarristas que ayudaron a transformar el rhythm & blues en rock & roll, Mickey Baker fue uno de los más importantes, situándose casi al nivel de Chuck Berry y Bo Diddley. La razón por la que no era tan conocido como esas leyendas es que gran parte de su trabajo no se publicó con su propio nombre, sino como guitarrista de apoyo para muchos músicos de R&B y rock & roll. Baker originalmente aspiraba a ser un músico de jazz, pero se dedicó al calypso, al mambo y luego al R&B, donde se encontraba la mayor parte de su trabajo.

A principios y mediados de los 50, hizo innumerables sesiones para Atlantic, King, RCA, Decca y OKeh, tocando en clásicos como "Money Honey" y "Such a Night" de los Drifters, "Shake, Rattle & Roll" de Joe Turner, "Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean" de Ruth Brown y "Whole Lot of Shakin' Going On" de Big Maybelle. También lanzó algunos sencillos bajo su propio nombre, e hizo un álbum en solitario con un toque de jazz latino, Guitar Mambo.

El mejor trabajo de Baker, sin embargo, fue grabado como la mitad del dúo Mickey & Sylvia. Su éxito "Love Is Strange", así como varios otros temas desconocidos pero casi igual de fuertes, presentaban los agudos riffs de guitarra de Baker, que eran más audaces y penetrantes que cualquier otra cosa de finales de los 50. Mickey & Sylvia se separaron a finales de los 50 (aunque grabaron de vez en cuando hasta mediados de la siguiente década), y Baker grabó su mejor álbum en solitario, el todo-instrumental The Wildest Guitar. En 1961, tomó la parte masculina hablada (normalmente asumida como Ike Turner) en el primer éxito de Ike & Tina Turner, "It's Gonna Work Out Fine". Poco después se mudó a Francia, haciendo algunos discos en solitario difíciles de encontrar y trabajando con muchos artistas franceses de pop y rock, incluyendo a Ronnie Bird, el mejor cantante de rock francés de los 60. Sólo grabó esporádicamente después de mediados de los 60. Mickey Baker murió en su casa de Montastruc-la-Conseillère, Francia, el 27 de noviembre de 2012, a la edad de 87 años. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/mickey-baker-mn0000476054/biography

Track Listings
[06:51] 01. Mickey Baker, George Arvanitas, Coleman Hawkins - Blues After Hours
[02:43] 02. Little Esther Phillips - If It's New For You
[02:35] 03. Five Keys - Lawdy Miss Mary
[02:52] 04. Linda Hopkins - My Lovin' Baby
[02:04] 05. Mickey Baker & The Midnighters - Shaking At Buttercups
[02:30] 06. Champion Jack Dupree - Caldonia
[02:46] 07. Sam Price - Pack Up And Boogie
[02:43] 08. Five Pearls - Real Humdinger
[02:12] 09. Annie Laurie - Rockin' And Rollin' Again
[02:37] 10. Du-Droppers - Speed King
[02:12] 11. Annisteen Allen - My Brand Of Lovin'
[03:09] 12. Doc Bagby - Sylvia's Calling
[03:01] 13. Ruth Brown - Every Since My Baby's Gone
[02:29] 14. Mickey Baker - Night Crawlin'
[02:35] 15. Nappy Brown - Sittin' In The Dark
[02:24] 16. Annisteen Allen - Wanted
[03:10] 17. Champion Jack Dupree - Louise
[02:30] 18. Mickey Baker & The Midnighters - Git Around
[03:07] 19. Dossie Terry - Thunderbird
[03:14] 20. Milt Trenier - Straighten Up Baby
[02:06] 21. Mickey Baker - Soul Taste
[02:26] 22. Annisteen Allen - About Your Business
[02:43] 23. Champion Jack Dupree - When Things Go Wrong
[03:19] 24. Ray Charles - Funny But I Still Love You
[03:09] 25. Mickey Baker - Prelude In C# Minor

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