Singer / songwriter / producer Mickey Baker was born McHouston Baker in
Louisville, KY, in 1925. At about 15 years of age he traveled to New
York City to break into the music business, and played in both blues
and jazz clubs and bands. To make ends meet he gave guitar lessons, and
in 1953 a young girl named
Sylvia Robinson (born Sylvia Vanderpool)
became his student, and later his wife. They worked well together and
decided to work professionally as a duo. They recorded a few songs for
Cat Records and Rainbow Records, but they went nowhere. They billed
themselves as
Mickey & Sylvia and in
1957 finally hit it big with their song "Love Is Strange". The record
made it to #1 on the R&B charts, #11 on the pop charts, sold a million
copies and earned the couple a gold record. Their follow-up record,
"There Oughta Be a Law", got to #8 on the R&B charts.
Unfortunately, a combination of marital and musical problems resulted
in the pair divorcing. Baker moved to Paris, France, where he worked as
a sideman and session guitar player with such American jazz and blues
figures as
Memphis Slim who came to Europe
to tour and record.
He died in France on Nov. 27, 2012, of heart and kidney failure.
Masculine Feminine(1966)as Record producer
Pitbull: Back in Time(2012)
Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee(1969)
The Story of a Three Day Pass(1967)
Keeper(2025)
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire(2024)
Made for Love(2021)
The Velvet Underground(2021)
Hightown(2020)
Bouton Rouge(1967)as Self
Age tendre et tĂȘte de bois(1961)as Self
The 55th Annual Grammy Awards(2013)as Self - In Memoriam