Carroll Anne Baker CM (born March 4, 1949) is a Canadian

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, ...

singer and songwriter.

Early life

Baker was born in

Port Medway, Nova Scotia Port Medway is a community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in the Region of Queens Municipality The Region of Queens Municipality is a regional municipality in southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada. It is the northern gateway of th ...

. Baker was surrounded by music as a little girl but she objected when her musical family launched into their repertoire of country songs. She preferred rock 'n' roll. She even objected when her father, a

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

r with many accomplishments, said to her "one day, you'll love country music." She doubted it. Growing up in a small town in Nova Scotia, Baker was immediately drawn to singing and making music with her friends and get into some occasional trouble as she states "there was nothing to do, except get into trouble, and we did our share of that too." She made her first appearance singing in her local church. During her teen years, she was practicing regularly and singing for her church on Sundays. "I worked every church in town, the

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

church in the morning, the

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

church in the afternoon and the

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement

at night," she said. Port Medway's population was too small to have a school so she went to school at a nearby village named

Bridgewater, Nova Scotia Bridgewater is a town in Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia, Canada, at the navigable limit of the LaHave River. With a 2021 population of 8,790, Bridgewater is the largest town in the South Shore region. Priding itself as "The Main Street of the So ...

, approximately 40 kilometers north of where she lived. Her talent was not recognized right away, however. At school, she says she was considered one of the "hicks from the sticks" and the local glee club would not let her sing. At age 16, she moved to Toronto. When she heard country music in Toronto, she said it made her homesick for Nova Scotia and that is where her love for country music began. She made her stage debut in 1968 when her husband persuaded her to get on stage with a local band that was playing at the bar. The band members were initially impressed, even asking her to join them, but they soon became frustrated with her lack of progress and they eventually let her go.

Career

Songwriter George Petralia heard Baker sing and introduced her to producer

Don Grashey Dominic Michael Guarasci (November 1, 1925 – September 12, 2005), better known as Don Grashey, was a songwriter and music producer, best known as the owner of Zero Records. Early life Grashey was born in 1925 in Port Arthur, Ontario (now kno ...

. Her first single in 1970, "Mem-ries of Home", was written by Petralia and released on Grashey's Gaiety label. It was a minor hit, staying on the charts for 26 weeks. Based on the success of this first recording, Grashey contacted several record companies regarding a recording contract for her and finally made a deal with

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

. She recorded two albums for Columbia with limited commercial success. Eventually she went back to Gaiety Records. She then was signed to RCA Records where she had several gold and platinum records. From RCA, she joined Tembo records where she was again awarded platinum record status for her record sales. In 1973, Baker became pregnant and announced her intention to withdraw from the music business. Grashey convinced her to continue, and the pair traveled to Nashville to record four songs. Her first top ten record came from that session, "Ten Little Fingers", a song about a little girl, written by Don Grashey; this song remains one of her most popular songs to this day. She also had a hit with a bluegrass remake of "It's My Party". All told, between 1970 and 1982 Baker released 31 consecutive charting singles. Twelve of these reached the top of the charts. Baker had her own series on CBC television in the summer of 1983 and frequently appeared on The Tommy Hunter Show. In 1986, her album ''Hymns of Gold'' was certified platinum.

Awards

Baker received the

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

for Country Female Vocalist of the Year five times, including awards in 1977, 1978 and 1979. In 1976, she won a Big Country Award for best album of the year, and in 1977 and 1978 she was named top female country singer at the same awards. She was inducted into the

Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame The Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame honours Canadian country music artists, builders or broadcasters, living or deceased. The artifact collection includes extensive biographical information on the inductees. It is located in downtown Merritt, ...

in 1992. In 2009, she was made a Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

"for her achievements as a Canadian country music singer and songwriter".

Discography

References

External links

Entry in The Canadian Encyclopedia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Carroll 1949 births Canadian women country singers Canadian people of English descent Juno Award winners Living people Members of the Order of Canada Musicians from Nova Scotia Musicians from Toronto People from Bridgewater, Nova Scotia Canadian country singer-songwriters Canadian Country Music Association Female Artist of the Year winners