Butch Baker (born October 22, 1958) is an American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist. He recorded for

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...

in the late 1980s, releasing multiple singles between 1984 and 1990, as well as the album ''We Will''. His highest-peaking single, "That's What Her Memory Is For", peaked at No. 41 on the U.S. country charts in 1986.

Biography

Butch Baker was born in

Sweetwater, Tennessee Sweetwater is a city in Monroe and McMinn counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the most populous city in Monroe County. The population was 5764 at the 2010 census and 6,312 at the 2020 census. Sweetwater is the home of the Craighead Ca ...

. He first sang at nineteen months in his father's church. Taking influence from

gospel music Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music, and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music varies according to culture and social context. Gospel music is com ...

as well as rock and country acts such as

The Everly Brothers The Everly Brothers were an American rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close harmony singing. Consisting of Isaac Donald "Don" Everly (February 1, 1937 – August 21, 2021) and Phillip "Phil" Everly (January 19, 1939 ...

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

Don Gibson Donald Eugene Gibson (April 3, 1928 – November 17, 2003) was an American songwriter and country musician. A Country Music Hall of Fame inductee, Gibson wrote such country standards as " Sweet Dreams" and "I Can't Stop Loving You", and enjoy ...

and others, he decided to pursue a musical career after graduating from

Tennessee Military Institute Tennessee Military Institute (TMI) was a military academy in Sweetwater, Tennessee. Sweetwater Military College The school was founded as Sweetwater Military College in 1874 by J. Lynn Bachman, a Presbyterian minister, with the avowed purpose o ...

and majoring in drama at the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

. Baker moved to

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

in 1979. There, he sold men's clothing during the day and attended various gigs at night, eventually being hired for one. Afterward, he went on to record demos, eventually becoming a staff writer for

Acuff-Rose Music Acuff-Rose Music, Inc. was an American music publishing firm formed in 1942 by Roy Acuff and Fred Rose in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Acuff-Rose's honest behavior towards their writers set them apart from other music publishing firms ...

as well. In 1984, he signed to a recording contract with

. He released three singles for the label, including "Thinking 'bout Leaving", which peaked at 56 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' country charts. After this song came his highest chart peak, the Number 41 "That's What Her Memory Is For." He continued to release singles through the 1980s, and was one of several guest vocalists on

Hank Williams, Jr. Randall Hank Williams (born May 26, 1949), known professionally as Hank Williams Jr. or Bocephus, is an American singer-songwriter and musician. His musical style is often considered a blend of southern rock, blues, and country. He is the son of ...

's 1987 single " Young Country" (from the ''

Born to Boogie ''Born to Boogie'' is a 1972 British concert film about a concert at the Empire Pool starring T. Rex, Marc Bolan, Ringo Starr and Elton John. Directed by Starr himself, the movie was released on The Beatles' Apple Films label. Content '' ...

'' album). However, his debut album, the

Harold Shedd James Harold Shedd (born November 8, 1931) is a music industry executive and producer, best known for his role as producer of the country group Alabama as well as Reba McEntire, Shania Twain and Toby Keith. During his career he has headed Mercury ...

-produced ''We Will'', was not issued until 1990. This album included a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...

's "

Wonderful Tonight "Wonderful Tonight" is a ballad written by Eric Clapton. It was included on Clapton's 1977 album ''Slowhand''. Clapton wrote the song about Pattie Boyd. "the hard-rock pioneer and guitar god also become a soft-rock star in the mid-1970s. He cel ...

". That same year, he charted for the last time as a duet partner on labelmate

Daniele Alexander Daniele Alexander (born December 2, 1954, in Fort Worth, Texas) is an American country music singer. She began her career as a teenager, performing jazz initially before moving to Las Vegas, Nevada to sing in casinos. She also charted in the Top ...

's "It Wasn't You, It Wasn't Me". This was from Alexander's second album, ''I Dream in Color'', which included two other duets with him. After exiting Mercury in 1990, he became a regular on a video program for

The Nashville Network The Nashville Network, usually referred to as TNN, was an American country music-oriented cable television network. Programming included music videos, taped concerts, movies, game shows, syndicated programs, and numerous talk shows. On September ...

(now

Spike TV Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Media Networks. The network's headquarters are located at the Paramount Pictures studio lot in Los Angeles. The channel was o ...

Discography

Albums

Singles

Guest singles

Music videos

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Butch 1958 births Living people People from Sweetwater, Tennessee American country singer-songwriters American male singer-songwriters Mercury Records artists Singer-songwriters from Tennessee University of Tennessee alumni Country musicians from Tennessee