MacHouston "Mickey" Baker (October 15, 1925 – November 27, 2012) was an American musician, best known for his work as a studio musician and as part of the recording duo Mickey & Sylvia.

Early life

Baker was born in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

. His mother was black, and his father, whom he never met, was believed to be white. In 1936, at the age of 11, Baker was put into an

orphanage An orphanage is a residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared by their biological families. The parents may be deceased, absent, or abusi ...

. He ran away frequently, and had to be retrieved by the staff from St. Louis,

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, and

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. Eventually the orphanage quit looking for him, and at the age of 16, he stayed in New York City. He found work as a laborer and then a dishwasher, but after hanging out in the pool halls of 26th Street, he gave up regular work to become a full-time pool shark. By 19, Baker, once again, decided to make a change in his life and went back to dishwashing, but remained determined to become a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

musician. The

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

was his first choice for an instrument, but with only $14 saved up, he could not find a pawnshop with anything but guitars for that price.Liner notes for ''The Legendary Mickey Baker'' by Stefan Grossman He enrolled at The New York School of Music, but found the learning pace too slow, so he dropped out and resolved to teach himself instead only to give up shortly afterwards. Six months later, he met a street guitarist who inspired him to start playing again and he resumed taking private lessons from different teachers over the next few years. His musical style was influenced by

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz Saxophone, saxophonist, bandleader, and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of beb ...

Career

By 1949, Baker had his own combo, and a few paying jobs. He decided to move west, but found that audiences there were not receptive to progressive jazz music. Baker was stranded without work in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

when he saw a show by

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

guitarist Pee Wee Crayton. Baker said of the encounter: "I asked Pee Wee, 'You mean you can make money playing that stuff on guitar?' Here he was driving a big white Eldorado and had a huge bus for his band. So I started bending strings. I was starving to death, and the blues was just a financial thing for me then." He found a few jobs in

Richmond, California Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was municipal corporation, incorporated on August 3, 1905, and has a Richmond, California, City Council, city council.

, and made enough money to return to New York. After returning east, Baker began recording for

Savoy Savoy (; )  is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south and west and to the Aosta Vall ...

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

and

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

. He did sessions with

Doc Pomus Jerome Solon Felder (June 27, 1925 – March 14, 1991), known professionally as Doc Pomus, was an American blues singer and songwriter. He is best known as the co-writer of many rock and roll hits. Pomus was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hal ...

, The Drifters, Ray Charles,

Ivory Joe Hunter Ivory Joe Hunter (October 10, 1914 – November 8, 1974) was an American rhythm-and-blues singer, songwriter, and pianist. After a series of hits on the US R&B chart starting in the mid-1940s, he became more widely known for his hit recordi ...

, Ruth Brown,

Big Joe Turner Joseph Vernon "Big Joe" Turner Jr. (May 18, 1911 – November 24, 1985) was an American blues shouter from Kansas City, Missouri. According to songwriter Doc Pomus, "Rock and roll would have never happened without him". Turner's greatest fa ...

Louis Jordan Louis Thomas Jordan (July 8, 1908 – February 4, 1975) was an American saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and bandleader who was popular from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, the King ...

Coleman Hawkins Coleman Randolph Hawkins (November 21, 1904 – May 19, 1969), nicknamed "Hawk" and sometimes "Bean", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.Yanow, Scot"Coleman Hawkins: Artist Biography" AllMusic. Retrieved December 27, 2013. One of the first ...

, Dion and numerous other artists. Inspired by the success of Les Paul & Mary Ford, he formed the pop duo Mickey & Sylvia (with Sylvia Robinson, one of his guitar students) in the mid-1950s. Together, they had a

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single, or simply hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record'' ...

with " Love Is Strange" in 1956. After the duo split up in the late 1958, Baker recorded with Kitty Noble as Mickey & Kitty. They released three records on

in 1959. In late 1959, Baker released his debut solo album, ''The Wildest Guitar'', on Atlantic. Mickey & Sylvia reunited in 1960 and sporadically worked together on additional tracks until the mid-1960s. Around this time he moved to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, where he worked with Ronnie Bird and Chantal Goya and made a few

solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''Star Wars Legends'' continuity * Kylo Ren (Ben Solo), a ''Star Wars'' character * Napoleon Solo, fr ...

records. He would remain in France for the rest of his life. Up until the end of his life, Baker was rarely without work. As well as his influential series of guitar tutor books, he recorded two albums during the 1970s with British label Big Bear Records, one, ''Take A look Inside,'' as the featured artist and another as sideman to trombonist Gene Conners. Baker appeared at the 1975 version of the

Roskilde Festival The Roskilde Festival is a Danish music festival held annually south of Roskilde. It is one of the largest music festivals in Europe and the largest in the Nordic countries. It was created in 1971 by two high school students and a promoter. In 1 ...

. Because Baker revealed very few details about his private life, reasons for his move to France were never made completely clear. Some media sources claimed that Baker had grown tired of the business aspects of the commercial music industry in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, while others stated that the bi-racial Baker was angered by the growing rate of hate crimes in the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Cens ...

, during the burgeoning civil rights movement.

Personal life

Baker guarded his personal life as much as possible, giving few interviews and making only sporadic public appearances. After moving to France, he rarely left the country, and made very few trips to the United States. Baker was married six times. Among his wives were Barbara Castellano from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s, and Marie France-Drei, a singer with whom he stayed from the early 1980s until his death. Baker had two children; a son, MacHouston Jr., and a daughter, Bonita Lee.

Death

Baker died on November 27, 2012, near

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

, France, aged 87. His wife, Marie, said he died of

heart The heart is a muscular Organ (biology), organ found in humans and other animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels. The heart and blood vessels together make the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrie ...

and kidney failure.

Books

Baker's self-tuition method book series, the ''Complete Course in

Jazz Guitar Jazz guitar may refer to either a type of electric guitar or a guitar playing style in jazz, using Guitar amplifier, electric amplification to increase the volume of acoustic guitars. In the early 1930s, jazz musicians sought to amplify their ...

'' is a mainstay for introducing students of guitar to the world of jazz. They have remained in print for over 50 years.

Awards and honors

In 1999, Baker received the Pioneer Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation. In 2003, Baker was listed at No. 53 on ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

s "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". In 2004, "Love Is Strange" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Discography

As leader

* ''The Wildest Guitar'' (

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

, 1959) * ''Bossa Nova en Direct du Bresil'' (Versailles, 1962) * ''Mickey Baker Plays Mickey Baker'' (Versailles, 1962) * ''But Wild'' (

, 1963) * ''Bluesingly Yours'' with Memphis Slim (

Polydor Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

, 1968) * ''Mickey Baker in Blunderland'' ( Major Minor, 1970) * ''The Blues and Me'' ( Black & Blue, 1974) * ''Take a Look Inside'' ( Big Bear, 1975) * ''Tales from the Underdog'' (Artist, 1975) * ''Mississippi Delta Dues'' (Blue Star, 1975) * ''Up On the Hill'' (Roots, 1975) * ''Blues and Jazz Guitar'' ( Kicking Mule, 1977) * ''Jazz Rock Guitar'' (Kicking Mule, 1978) * ''Sweet Harmony'' ( Bellaphon, 1980) * ''Back to the Blues'' (Blue Silver, 1981) * ''The Legendary Mickey Baker'' ( Shanachie, 1991) * ''New Sounds'' (

Legacy Legacy or Legacies may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * " Batman: Legacy", a 1996 Batman storyline * '' DC Universe: Legacies'', a comic book series from DC Comics * ''Legacy'', a 1999 quarterly series from Antarctic Press * ''Legacy ...

, 2015)

As sideman

With Dion DiMucci * '' Runaround Sue'' ( Laurie Records, 1961) With Colette Magny * ''Melocoton'' ( CBS, 1963) * ''Frappe Ton Coeur'' ( Le Chant du Monde, 1963) * ''Colette Magny'' (Le Chant du Monde, 1967) With others * Big Maybelle, ''The Okeh Sessions'' ( Charly, 1983) * Ronnie Bird, ''L'amour Nous Rend Fou'' ( Decca, 1964) * Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, ''The Blues Ain't Nothing'' (Black & Blue, 1972) *

Nappy Brown Napoleon Brown Goodson Culp (October 12, 1929 – September 20, 2008) better known by his stage name Nappy Brown, was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B singing, singer. His hit record, hits include the 1955 ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard' ...

, ''Don't Be Angry!'' (

, 1984) * Ruth Brown, '' Ruth Brown'' (Atlantic, 1957) * Ruth Brown, '' Miss Rhythm'' (Atlantic, 1959) * Solomon Burke, ''Solomon Burke'' (

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

, 1962) * Milt Buckner, ''Rockin' Hammond'' ( Capitol, 1956) * Eric Charden, ''Eric Charden'' (Vega, 1963) * Gene "The Might Flea" Connors, ''Let The Good Times Roll'' (Big Bear, 1973) *

Buck Clayton Wilbur Dorsey "Buck" Clayton (November 12, 1911 – December 8, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter who was a member of Count Basie's orchestra. His principal influence was Louis Armstrong, first hearing the record " Confessin' that I Love You" ...

, ''Buck Clayton and Friends'' (Gitanes Jazz, 2007) * Jimmy Dawkins, ''Jimmy Dawkins'' ( Vogue, 1972) * Jean-Jacques Debout, ''Jean-Jacques Debout'' (Vogue, 1964) * Bill Doggett, ''Moondust'' ( Odeon, 1959) * Champion Jack Dupree, ''Champion Jack Dupree and His Blues Band Featuring Mickey Baker'' (Decca, 1967) * Champion Jack Dupree, ''I'm Happy to Be Free'' (Vogue, 1972) *

Stefan Grossman Stefan Grossman (born April 16, 1945) is an American acoustic fingerstyle guitarist and singer, music producer and educator, and co-founder of Kicking Mule records. He is known for his instructional videos and Vestapol line of videos and DVDs. ...

, ''Friends Forever'' (Guitar Workshop, 2008) *

, '' Disorder at the Border'' (

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, 1989) * Screamin' Jay Hawkins, ''At Home with Screamin' Jay Hawkins'' ( Epic, 1958) * Screamin' Jay Hawkins, ''...What That Is!'' (

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarter ...

, 1969) * Little Willie John, ''Fever'' (King, 1956) *

, ''Somebody Up There Digs Me'' ( Mercury, 1957) * Booker T. Laury, ''Nothing but the Blues'' (Blue Silver, 1981) * Booker T. Laury, ''Booker in Paris'' (EPM, 1992) * Memphis Slim, ''Very Much Alive and in Montreux'' ( Barclay, 1973) * Jimmy Scott, ''If You Only Knew'' (Savoy, 2000) * Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, ''Back Country Blues'' (CBS, 1958) *

Sylvie Vartan Sylvie Vartan (; born Sylvie Georges Vartanian on 15 August 1944) is a Bulgarians in France, Bulgarian-French singer and actress. She is known as one of the most productive and tough-sounding yé-yé artists. Her performances often featured ela ...

, ''Sylvie Vartan's Story 1962 & 1963'' ( RCA Camden, 1969)

References

External links

100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time

* Allmusic biographical notes
Mickey Baker, NY Times
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Mickey 1925 births 2012 deaths African-American guitarists 20th-century American guitarists 21st-century American guitarists American jazz guitarists Mainstream jazz guitarists American rock guitarists American rhythm and blues guitarists American male guitarists Musicians from Louisville, Kentucky American expatriates in France East Coast blues musicians Jazz musicians from Kentucky Rock musicians from Kentucky Guitarists from Kentucky 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Black & Blue Records artists MGM Records artists King Records artists Atlantic Records artists Savoy Records artists Cat Records artists 20th-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American musicians Mickey & Sylvia members