Mickey Baker - 2 albums: The Blues And Me / Take A Look Inside

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. ~bio by Richie Unterberger

Album: The Blues And Me
Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 51:32
Size: 118.0 MB
Styles: Electric blues, East Coast blues
Year: 1974/2008
Art: Front

[3:16] 1. She's Dynamite
[4:10] 2. Don't Try To Play Me For Your Clown
[2:56] 3. My Playhouse
[3:49] 4. Drucilla
[2:10] 5. Hey Little Girl
[3:04] 6. Blues After Hours
[2:27] 7. My Dog
[2:45] 8. Didn't We Baby
[4:57] 9. Battle Of The Guitars
[3:05] 10. Every Day I Have The Blues
[3:44] 11. Sweetie Cat
[5:21] 12. Kansas City
[5:15] 13. In The Evening
[4:26] 14. Sweetie Cat (Take 2)

The Blues And Me mc
The Blues And Me zippy

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Album: Take A Look Inside
Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 39:35
Size: 90.6 MB
Styles: Roots, East Coast blues, Electric blues
Year: 1975/2006
Art: Front

[3:52] 1. Make Your Bed Up Mama
[2:29] 2. Don't Doubt Me
[2:31] 3. Take A Look Inside
[3:57] 4. Blues Fell This Morning
[3:52] 5. Diggin' In My Potatoes
[3:20] 6. Playing With Danger
[3:29] 7. I'll Always Be In Love With You
[3:03] 8. She Brings Out The Animal
[4:21] 9. New York, New York
[5:18] 10. Tight Ropes & Bumpy Roads
[3:19] 11. Bewildered

Take A Look Inside mc
Take A Look Inside zippy

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