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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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
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