Mickey Baker Jazz Guitar

Subject: Mickey Baker Jazz Guitar
From: GUEST,Jim
Date: 08 Nov 06 - 05:01 PM

How many of you guitar players got started learning jazz chords on the yellow and black Mickey Baker book? I got my first copy in the early 60s and it has been a huge influence on my guitar playing, but I've heard very little of Baker's playing. The old Mickey and Sylvia duo didn't showcase his guitar playing and I was given a "Twangy Guitar" album of his surf-type guitar playing that I played about once. I've read in one of Leonard Feathers books or Downbeat columns that he played gigs with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie in the 40s, but perhaps he never recorded with any jazz guys. Any help?

Subject: RE: Mickey Baker Jazz Guitar
From: GUEST,van lingle
Date: 08 Nov 06 - 07:34 PM

Hey Jim,
Try a google search and you'll probably come up with a lot of stuff on him. I worked my way through the chord section of his book and still use a lot of those chords and progressions. I did own an album of his that was released on Kicking Mule back in the 70's which contained mostly country blues and featured him playing solo acoustic guitar. Forgot the name of it but it may have been rereleased on the Shanachie label.vl

Subject: RE: Mickey Baker Jazz Guitar
From: Nick
Date: 08 Nov 06 - 08:14 PM

I have the blue one - is that the same?

I still play lots of those chords and progressions

Subject: RE: Mickey Baker Jazz Guitar
From: Dave Ruch
Date: 08 Nov 06 - 08:17 PM

I always assumed he was more of an academic than a player that you'd want to sit down and listen to on record. Some great stuff in that little black & yellow book though...

Subject: RE: Mickey Baker Jazz Guitar
From: Nick
Date: 08 Nov 06 - 08:18 PM

Two things from the book I got

One favourite chord which I use a lot

4x345x

And a nice slip downwards

5x553x to 4x453x

Subject: RE: Mickey Baker Jazz Guitar
From: M.Ted
Date: 09 Nov 06 - 01:47 AM

I've had several of his books for years--and, like everybody, wondered about him, and, also like everybody, never found out much.   

Mickey and Sylvia had a bunch of R&B hits up through the sixties--and Mickey worked a lot as a studio guitarist, on Atlantic and Okeh--he is credited as one of the first to have used solid body guitar for jazz and such things, and apparently played guitar on a lot of early rock and roll hits--which ones, unfortunately, I can not tell you--he apparently released only one album of solo guitar music, called Wildest Guitar, which has been released on CD within the last couple of years, and there is a Bear Family compilation CD called "Rock with a Sock"--

He is on the Rolling Stone list of the top 100 guitarists (whatever that may mean)--

Subject: RE: Mickey Baker Jazz Guitar
From: GUEST,Ancient Briton
Date: 09 Nov 06 - 03:26 AM

I too worked hard with the black and yellow book. There was a second book - orange and blue as I recall - which had a lot of sustained 4th stuff in it. I never got to book 2 though. Book 1 was very influential whilst I played guitar.

Subject: RE: Mickey Baker Jazz Guitar
From: GUEST,Tunesmith
Date: 09 Nov 06 - 03:32 AM

Subject: RE: Mickey Baker Jazz Guitar
From: GUEST,Tunesmith
Date: 09 Nov 06 - 03:35 AM

Interestingly, his approach of improvising "around the chord shape" ( probably derived from Charlie Christian) is very much in fashion now. Didn't he move to France?

Subject: RE: Mickey Baker Jazz Guitar
From: ThreeSheds
Date: 09 Nov 06 - 04:25 AM

The blue book is enough for me!

Subject: RE: Mickey Baker Jazz Guitar
From: Mick Pearce (MCP)
Date: 09 Nov 06 - 04:52 AM

As a teenager I too had the black and yellow book and spent a lot of time working my way through those progressions.

Here's a synopsis of him from Maurice Summerfield's The Jazz Guitar - its evolution and its players:

"Born McHouston Baker in Louisville, 1925. Lived in orphanage as boy, at 16 ran away to New York, by 19 (having listened to Bird and Diz) decided to be a jazz musician. The trumpet was his first choice, but cost made him choose the guitar instead. By 1949 he headed his own group but it was not successful and he moved to the West Coast, where he was even less successful. He heard blues guitarist Pee Wee Creighton, liked it, saw he was earning a good living and so altered his style and moved back to New York.

As a blues guitarist he found himself in demand for Atlantic, Savoy and King labels, mainly as backing guitar for people like Ray Charles, Big Joe Turner and The Drifters.

In the 50s, following the success of Les Paul and Mary Ford, he tried for further success by joining with an ex-student Syvia and had a hit in 1957 with Love Is Strange. They remained popular until 1961 and did well enough to establish their own publishing and recording companies and a night-club. The publishing company gave him world-wide distribution for his tutors, which he'd been working on since the 50s.

In spite of success as a blues and popular guitarist he still loved jazz and moved to France with Sylvia. He has lived in Paris since, writing, arranging and leading various groups".

According to Norman Mongan's The History of The Guitar In Jazz he was also responsible for discovering Bill Harris (one of the early players of jazz on a nylon-strung guitar) and alerting a record company.

Mick

Subject: RE: Mickey Baker Jazz Guitar
From: fat B****rd
Date: 16 Nov 06 - 04:18 AM

I believe he was the answering voice on Ike and Tina's "It's Gonna Work Out Fine"
Yours trivially Charlie.

Subject: RE: Mickey Baker Jazz Guitar
From: GUEST,Jim
Date: 16 Nov 06 - 12:01 PM

Is he still alive?

Subject: RE: Mickey Baker Jazz Guitar
From: M.Ted
Date: 16 Nov 06 - 12:20 PM

I think he is--I can't be sure though--I haven't found any references to recent activity--he is 81, so he may just be retired--not old enough yet to be on the "still alive" lists-

Subject: RE: Mickey Baker Jazz Guitar
From: Mick Pearce (MCP)
Date: 16 Nov 06 - 12:30 PM

I too tried to find an answer to that - nowhere seems to have any reference to his death so I assume he is still alive (one source give him as inactive after 90s).

There's quite a bit of information about him online:

Blues on stage - Blues and soul magazine update - the advert for the Nov/Dec 2000 issue give a chance to catch up with MB, which suggests he was alive then.

Mickey Baker - Mel Bay Profile - this is so similar to mine above that it must have been derived from the same source; if I'd looked for this earlier I could have saved a bit of typing.

Short bio in French Wikipedia

Answers.com Article with links

Sylvia Robinson - a page about her


Mick

Subject: RE: Mickey Baker Jazz Guitar
From: M.Ted
Date: 16 Nov 06 - 08:18 PM

Thanks for the links--especially the French Wikipedia--I'm going to check out the Sylvie Vartan albums I have to see if Mickey is on any of them--