Abie "Available" Baker Leslie Robert Baker; 28 September 1913, in
South Bend, Indiana
South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 United S ...
– 14 February 1993, in
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...
) was an American
session musician
Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...
,
arranger
In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...
, and bandleader who played
double bass
The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...
on
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, from 1934 through the early 1960s. His credits have been chronicled under the names Abe Baker (rarely), Abie Baker (mostly), and Abie "Available" Baker.
Career
As New Yorksession bassist in jazz from 1934 to 1960, he recorded with
Blanche Calloway
Blanche Dorothea Jones Calloway (February 9, 1902 – December 16, 1978) was an American jazz singer, composer, and bandleader. She was the older sister of Cab Calloway and was a successful singer before her brother. With a music career that spa ...
Titus Turner
Titus Lee Turner (May 1, 1933 – September 13, 1984) was an American R&B and East Coast blues singer and songwriter. His best-remembered recordings are "We Told You Not to Marry" and "Sound-Off". He also wrote "Leave My Kitten Alone", "St ...
Johnny Hartman
John Maurice Hartman (July 3, 1923 – September 15, 1983) was an American jazz singer who specialized in ballads. He sang and recorded with Earl Hines' and Dizzy Gillespie's big bands and with Erroll Garner. Hartman is best remembered for his ...
Hadda Brooks
Hadda Brooks (October 29, 1916 – November 21, 2002) was an American pianist, vocalist and composer, who was billed as "Queen of the Boogie". She was Inducted in the Rhythm and Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 1993.
Career
Her first recordin ...
Annie Laurie
"Annie Laurie" is an old Scottish song based on a poem said to have been written by William Douglas (1682?–1748) of Dumfriesshire, about his romance with Annie Laurie (1682–1764). The words were modified and the tune was added by Alicia Sco ...
,
Larry Darnell
Larry Darnell (born Leo Edward Donald, Jr.; December 17, 1928, Columbus, Ohio – July 3, 1983, Columbus) was a successful American singer, who was instrumental in the formation of the New Orleans style of R&B in the late 1940s and early 1950s ...
, Ethel Ennis, Jimmy Tyler, Bobbie and Ronald (vocalists),
Varetta Dillard
Varetta Mamie Dillard (February 3, 1933 – October 4, 1993) was an American rhythm and blues singer in the 1950s whose biggest hit was "Mercy, Mr. Percy".
Life and career
She was born in Harlem, New York, and spent much of her childhood in hos ...
,
Cootie Williams
Charles Melvin "Cootie" Williams (July 10, 1911 – September 15, 1985) was an American jazz, jump blues, and rhythm and blues trumpeter.
Biography
Born in Mobile, Alabama, Williams began his professional career at the age of 14 with the Yo ...
,
Bill Doggett
William Ballard Doggett (February 16, 1916 – November 13, 1996) was an American pianist and organist. He began his career playing swing music before transitioning into rhythm and blues. Best known for his instrumental compositions "Honky Tonk" ...
Ruth Brown
Ruth Alston Brown (; January 12, 1928 – November 17, 2006) was an American singer-songwriter and actress, sometimes referred to as the " Queen of R&B". She was noted for bringing a pop music style to R&B music in a series of hit songs for Atl ...
,
King Curtis
Curtis Ousley (born Curtis Montgomery; February 7, 1934 – August 13, 1971), known professionally as King Curtis, was an American saxophonist who played rhythm and blues, jazz, and rock and roll. A bandleader, band member, and session musicia ...
,
LaVern Baker
Delores LaVern Baker (November 11, 1929 – March 10, 1997) was an American R&B singer who had several hit records on the pop chart in the 1950s and early 1960s. Her most successful records were " Tweedle Dee" (1955), " Jim Dandy" (1956), and " ...
Little Jimmy Scott
James Victor Scott (July 17, 1925 – June 12, 2014), known professionally as Little Jimmy Scott or Jimmy Scott, was an American jazz vocalist known for his high natural contralto voice and his sensitivity on ballads and love songs.
After ...
, and Baby Boy Jennings & The Satellites.
Around 1936, he was a member of
Claude Hopkins
Claude Driskett Hopkins (August 24, 1903 – February 19, 1984) was an American jazz stride pianist and bandleader.
Biography
Claude Hopkins was born in Alexandria, Virginia, United States. Historians differ in respect of the actual date of his ...
' touring orchestra.
By 1949, he had started recording in New York with his own trio and singer Richie Cannon (previously of
The Ravens
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
).
As New York session bassist in R&B during the 1950s, he recorded for labels that included
Savoy
Savoy (; frp, Savouè ; french: Savoie ) is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps.
Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south.
Savo ...
and
Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
Marie Knight
Marie Knight (née Roach; June 1, 1920 – August 30, 2009) was an American gospel and R&B singer.
Life and career
She was born Marie RoachSeamus McGarvey, "Marie Knight: I Hear Music In the Air", interview and article in '' Juke Blues'' magaz ...
Hadda Brooks
Hadda Brooks (October 29, 1916 – November 21, 2002) was an American pianist, vocalist and composer, who was billed as "Queen of the Boogie". She was Inducted in the Rhythm and Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 1993.
Career
Her first recordin ...
,
Nappy Brown
Napoleon Brown Goodson Culp (October 12, 1929 – September 20, 2008) better known by his stage name Nappy Brown, was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B singing, singer. His hit record, hits include the 1955 ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard' ...
,
Big Maybelle
Mabel Louise Smith (May 1, 1924 – January 23, 1972), known professionally as Big Maybelle, was an American R&B singer. Her 1956 hit single " Candy" received the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1999.
Childhood and musical background
Born in J ...
,
The Coasters
The Coasters are an American rhythm and blues/rock and roll vocal group who had a string of hits in the late 1950s. Beginning with "Searchin'" and " Young Blood" in 1957, their most memorable songs were written by the songwriting and producing ...
, and
The Drifters
The Drifters are several American doo-wop and R&B/Soul music, soul vocal groups. They were originally formed as a backing group for Clyde McPhatter, formerly the lead tenor of Billy Ward and his Dominoes in 1953. The second group of Drifters, f ...
. He also played on the banned 1957 album ''My Pussy Belongs to Daddy'', credited to Faye Richmonde.
In filmography, Baker, in 1959, performed on "The Web", an instrumental released on the small Laurel label which was later used as part of the score for the camp
horror movie
Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes.
Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, ap ...
''
The Brain That Wouldn't Die
''The Brain That Wouldn't Die'' (also known as ''The Head That Wouldn't Die'' or ''The Brain That Couldn't Die'') is a 1962 American science fiction horror film directed by Joseph Green and written by Green and Rex Carlton. The film was complete ...
''. "Midnight in the Naked City", ''OfficeNaps.com'' Retrieved 5 March 2019
In June 1965, Baker established two record labels, Internationale and Forest Green, both in New York. He also established publishing companies. With Johnny Worlds, he established and headed Worlds-Baker Enterprises, covering several record labels, publishing, marketing and distribution.
Family
Some sources state that he was the father of guitarist
Mickey Baker
MacHouston "Mickey" Baker (October 15, 1925 – November 27, 2012) was an American guitarist, best known for his work as a studio musician and as part of the recording duo Mickey & Sylvia.
Early life
Baker was born in Louisville, Kentucky. His m ...
, with whom he played on sessions during the 1950s, but this conflicts with other sources about Mickey Baker's parentage.
Discography
With
Bill Doggett
William Ballard Doggett (February 16, 1916 – November 13, 1996) was an American pianist and organist. He began his career playing swing music before transitioning into rhythm and blues. Best known for his instrumental compositions "Honky Tonk" ...