McHouston Baker, b. October 15, 1925 in Louisville, KY - d. November 27, 2012 in Montastruc-la-Conseillère, France. After spells in reform school and a children’s home, Baker moved to New York in 1941. He lived on the fringes of the criminal world but took up the guitar and quickly became a virtuoso, equally adept at jazz and blues styles. From the late 40s, Mickey ‘Guitar’ Baker played on hundreds of recording sessions, accompanying such artists as Ray Charles, the Coasters, Ivory Joe Hunter, Ruth Brown and Screaming Jay Hawkins. Baker occasionally recorded under his own name and in 1956 teamed up with guitarist/vocalist Sylvia Vanderpool. After an unsuccessful version of ‘Walking In The Rain’, the atmospheric ‘Love Is Strange’ (co-written by Bo Diddley) by Mickey And Sylvia was a US Top 20 hit on Groove in 1956. Later singles on Vik and RCA Records were only minor hits, although the duo contributed to Ike And Tina Turner’s ‘It’s Gonna Work Out Fine’ (1961), where Baker’s is the male voice answering Tina’s. Some of Baker’s solo recordings were collected on a 1959 album for Atlantic Records. In the early 60s, he emigrated to Paris and joined the expatriate community of jazz musicians in the French capital. He toured Europe with such artists as Memphis Slim and Champion Jack Dupree, and performed at the 1973 Montreux Jazz Festival. Baker also arranged the strings for Fleetwood Mac’s version of ‘Need Your Love So Bad’ (1968). During the 70s, he recorded several albums in Europe, including two for Stefan Grossman’s guitar-instructional label, Kicking Mule.
Baker died on November 27, 2012 near Toulouse, France, aged 87.