MICKEY BAKER LP,The Wildest Guitar RARE orig stereo '59
$
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Description
Mickey Baker
First Solo LP
The Wildest Guitar
Original 1959 Atlantic Stereo
Catalog # SD 8035
Excellent Condition!
Of all the guitarists who helped transform rhythm & blues into rock & roll, Mickey Baker is one of the very most important, ranking almost on the level of Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley. The reason he isn'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's recorded only sporadically since the mid-'60s.
This Album
Despite Baker's well-deserved reputation as one of the most influential guitar players of early rock & roll, The Wildest Guitar was one of the few chances he really got to strut his stuff as a solo artist. This entirely instrumental set features keening, sharp, bluesy riffs in much the same distinctive style that gained him fame on "Love Is Strange" and other tunes with Mickey & Sylvia. The choice of material, though, is a bit surprising, favoring some surprisingly cornball standards: "Third Man Theme," "Autumn Leaves," "Lullaby of the Leaves," and Cole Porter's "Night and Day." Baker (who also arranged the album) manages to invest all of these with a snazzy R&B feel and biting solos. And he does actually write four of the 12 tunes himself, on which he fashions the kind of straightforward R&B that one would more likely to expect. This is a pretty good showcase to hear Baker's unadorned virtuosity. But he's really better-appreciated within the context of stronger material, either as half of Mickey & Sylvia or on the innumerable '50s R&B cuts (many on Atlantic) that feature his session work. — Richie Unterberger (AMG)
This copy is a beaut! Cover easily grades as Excellent. Original gloss, NO ring wear, NO seam splits, NO writing or marks on front or back. Very minor wear on the very tips of the corners. Vinyl on first inspection appears Near Mint, so I took it into direct sunlight and some minor scuffs were visible, probably from sliding it in and out of the original Atlantic inner sleeve, which is included, but torn (see photo). Vinyl and labels are clean, vinyl is shiny and better than VG++, but not flawless, so I'll call it Excellent, too.
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High bidder pays $4 for shipping within U.S.
On Jun-05-04 at 01:22:16 PDT, seller added the following information: Pay for this auction online with Western Union® Auction Paymentsprice rating
