Mickey Baker

Overview

Submitted by guitar-list on Thu, 2006-11-23 18:24

musical style:

Rock & Roll

photograph of Mickey Baker

Mickey Baker, also known as Mickey "Guitar" Baker (born McHouston Baker, October 15, 1925, Louisville, Kentucky) is an American guitarist.

He was half of the pop duo Mickey & Sylvia, who had a hit single with "Love Is Strange" in 1957. He is listed in Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. Baker is also noteworthy as a session guitarist and guitar educator. Baker's session work spanned jazz, calypso, mambo, and rhythm and blues. He is widely held to be a critical force in the bridging of rhythm and blues and rock and roll, along with Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry.

In 1961, he took the male spoken part (usually assumed to be Ike Turner) on Ike & Tina Turner's early hit, "It's Gonna Work Out Fine." Shortly afterwards he moved to France, making a few solo records and working with a lot of French pop and rock performers, including Ronnie Bird. Baker has recorded only sporadically since the mid 1960s.

Baker appeared at the 1975 version of the Roskilde Festival.

In 1999 Baker was inducted into the Rhythm and Blues Foundation.

His self-tuition method book series, the "Complete Course in Jazz Guitar" is a mainstay for introducing students of guitar to the world of jazz. With Les Paul, Baker is important as an early exponent of solid body electric guitars for jazz and popular music.

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