Baker Knight
Tom Simon
Baker Knight was a talented, versatile songwriter and musician who
wrote a variety of songs, some of which were recorded and turned into
hits by a number of different artists.
On the Fourth of July in 1933, Thomas Baker Knight, Jr. was born in
Birmingham, Alabama. His father died when Baker was six, and due to
his mother's poor helath, he and his brother and sister were mostly
raised by relatives. In the early 1950's he did a turn in the Air
Force for three years, where he learned to play a guitar. He attended
the University of Alabama for one year but left for financial reasons.
He studied drafting and illustration, and took a factory job in
Birmingham. Inspired by emerging pop music sensation Elvis Presley, he
formed a band called Baker Knight & the Knightmares. The group went to
Nashville and did some recording; their only record to meet with even
mild success was a self-written song titled Bring My Cadillac Back.
During this time Knight was writing and recording songs. Eventually,
back in Birmingham, Knight's group disbanded, the factory closed, and
it was time to move on.
In 1958, with little money and somewhat disillusioned, he headed for
Los Angeles in the hope of possibly landing a movie role, or maybe
selling some songs. He became acquainted with young songwriter Sharon
Sheeley and her boyfriend, singer Eddie Cochran, who had by this time
placed one song in the top forty as a performer, Sittin' In The
Balcony. Knight knocked on doors, trying to sell his songs, and making
do with what little money he had. He continued to write and record
songs, including one he composed about the loneliness and aliention he
was experiencing as he tried to make a life for himself in Los
Angeles.
Then one day he received a call from Sheeley's friend Rick Nelson. By
1958 Nelson had become an established rock-and-roll performer with
several top ten hits. Nelson had a number one hit that summer with a
song Sheeley had written titled Poor Little Fool. Sheeley would later
team with Jackie DeShannon to write a number of songs, some of which
were turned into hits such as Brenda Lee's Dum Dum and the Fleetwoods'
(He's) The Great Imposter. Nelson wanted to hear some of Baker
Knight's compositions, in response to a suggestion from Sharon
Sheeley. Knight performed some of his songs on guitar for Nelson, but
the pop star showed little reaction.
Within days, however, Knight received the news that he had been hoping
to hear for quite some time. Nelson liked his songs, especially the
one that Knight had written describing his lonely feelings on his
arrival in Los Angeles. A contract was signed, Baker received a $2,000
advance, and Rick Nelson had a top ten hit with Baker's Lonesome Town
in the fall of 1958. Nelson needed material. He would remain hot over
the next six years or so, recording some old standards and hits by
songwriters such as Dorsey and Johnny Burnette, Jerry Fuller, and
Baker Knight (who sometimes wrote under the name Thomas Baker Knight).
Some of the songs written by Knight that were recorded by Rick Nelson
reached the top ten, such as I Got A Feeling, Never Be Anyone Else But
You, and Sweeter Than You. Over the years Nelson recorded twenty or so
of Baker Knight's compositions, a number of which made the top forty,
including I Wanna Be Loved and You Are The Only One.
The success achieved by Nelson with Knight's songs brought more
opportunities to the young songwriter, and more money was coming his
way as a result. He was becoming more acquainted with and accepted by
the music scene on the West Coast, but Knight was still somewhat
disillusioned, and returned to Birmingham briefly. His thoughts led
him to writing a song that he thought originally might be a good one
for popular singer Perry Como which he called The Wonder Of You. To
Knight's surprise, the first person to record it was young actor Vince
Edwards, who a short time later would become the title character on
television's Ben Casey. A young singer from Texas, Ray Peterson, had
yet to have any type of hit. At the suggestion of Perry Como's
arranger, Peterson recorded The Wonder Of You and had his first top
forty record with it in 1959. (The following year Peterson would reach
the top ten twice, with Tell Laura I Love Her and Corinna, Corinna.)
And a decade later Elvis Presley, a friend and admirer of Peterson,
recorded The Wonder Of You while performing live at the International
Hotel in Las Vegas. It was a top ten hit for Presley in the United
States in 1970, and an even bigger hit for him when it went to number
one in the UK. Knight himself was delighted that the performer who had
had such a profound effect on him near the beginning of his career,
had now chosen to record his song.
Knight continued to feel isolated and alone at times, consumed more
alcohol than he should have, and kept working at his songwriting. He
married, had a son and a daughter, and later divorced. Singer Dean
Martin took a liking to the music written by Baker Knight and recorded
a number of his songs, including Somewhere There's A Someone, That Old
Time Feelin' and Not Enough Indians. Knight was present at many of
Martin's recording sessions and the two became friends.
In the 70's Knight turned his attention to writing country music. Dave
and Sugar did very well with Knight's composition of I'm Gonna Love
You, Mickey Gilley had a country hit with Knight's Don't The Girls All
Get Prettier At Closing Time, and other country songs written by
Knight were recorded by artists such as Ernest Ashworth and Hank
Williams, Jr.
He returned to Birmingham to live in 1985, and suffered from
agoraphobia and chronic fatigue. Knight built a small recording studio
in his Birmingham home, and continued with his songwriting, singing
and recording. Daughter Tuesday Knight is an actress who had a
starring role in the 1988 motion picture A Nightmare on Elm Street 4:
The Dream Master. His son Thomas Baker Knight III became a
veterinarian and moved to Florida.
Later in life Baker Knight published his memoirs in a book titled A
Piece Of The Big-Time: My Songs, My Success, My Story Of Survival.
Finally at age 72, he died of natural causes in Birmingham on October
12, 2005. In his time Knight wrote more than 800 songs. In addition to
such notable singers as Rick Nelson, Dean Martin, and Elvis Presley,
others who recorded his songs included Perry Como, Frank Sinatra,
Sammy Davis, Jr., Paul McCartney and Jerry Lee Lewis. Perhaps the most
notable of all his many songs, one that served to launch his career as
a versatile and talented songwiter, was the one that Rick Nelson
brought to number seven in 1958, Lonesome Town.
Uni
Hey, Tom, I saw a link to your site, an external reference, think it was
Snuff Garrett, at Wikipedia.org. Nice job! Sorry, but like Jerry Wexler,
I didn't think much of Snuff! Blatant lies to the public - hiring Hal
Blaine and Leon Russell, etc., etc., to fill-in for Gaty Lewis'
"Playboys", on, at least "This Diamond Ring"! Snuff, didn't care for The
Playboys, but only seen money in his eyes, knowing Gary's father was
Jerry Lewis!! That's low! Personally, I would gave dropped him like a
bad habit! Damn Liberty Records, what else did they fabricate!?
Uni
Ron Fowler
to Paul Revere & the Raiders. Doesn't make him a bad producer, though,
just means he was looking for a more professional sound than what the
Playboys were able to deliver. Did the Playboys actually play on ANY of
their records? Everybody was using studio players back then, yet somehow
the Monkees were the only ones that got beat up about it.
Uni
> Snuff Garrett was to Gary Lewis and the Playboys what Terry Melcher was
> to Paul Revere & the Raiders. Doesn't make him a bad producer, though,
> just means he was looking for a more professional sound than what the
> Playboys were able to deliver.
Come on, Ron, "This Diamond Ring" was so simple even kids could
duplicate it as good! I mean, when I had a toy drum set, my sister's
female friend said I sounded like the record, while it was a hit!!!
Did the Playboys actually play on ANY of
> their records?
I know of two, here's one....
http://www.angelfire.com/empire/abpsp/images/mystyle.mp3
Thanks, Ron!
Uni
>
Uni
> Ron Fowler wrote:
>
>> Snuff Garrett was to Gary Lewis and the Playboys what Terry Melcher was
>> to Paul Revere & the Raiders. Doesn't make him a bad producer, though,
>> just means he was looking for a more professional sound than what the
>> Playboys were able to deliver.
One last point - Snuff Garrett was never a musician, just a DJ!
Obviously, he didn't understand how non complex music is!
Uni :-)
Gary Myers
http://home.earthlink.net/~gem777
Uni
Well a time as any!!!!
Uni :-)
Lumpy
[This Diamond Ring, GLATPBoys]
> 1. The song is *extremely* unusual harmonically, with the verse (or
> A-section) beginning in a major key (though it sounds very minor
> because of the b7th in the introductory line, and the fact that the
> organ chord is mostly buried in the mix), and ending on the parallel
> minor. The progression is I - bIII - IV - i
> 2. Then we have the minor to major change (again, almost inaudible)
> to begin the 2nd verse.
> 3. That 2nd verse ends with the chords moving from IV to bII
> dominant, to take us to the chorus (or B-section), which ...
> 4. ... is in the key of b5, relative to the key of the A-section, a
> key change that you find almost nowhere else.
> 5. Then, at the end of the chorus, the "I" chord (of the chorus key)
> moves up 1/2 step and that chord becomes the V of the original key.
Yeah baby. Harmonic unusuality that comes across as
simple. Makes it seem like "Oh what a simple song",
simple enough that everybody likes it. Then when
you analyze it, you find out it's not the same
old I IV V or I vi ii V.
> (And maybe I should plug my chord book now? <g>)
Plug it!
Lumpy
In Your Ears
www.LumpyMusic.com
Gary Myers
>> Plug it! <<
Marc Dashevsky
> >> (And maybe I should plug my chord book now? <g>) <<
>
> >> Plug it! <<
>
> OK, I will, thanks you!
>
> It's called Understanding and Using Chords and Chord Progressions,
> and at 105 pages for only $12.95 (price going up soon), it's a real
> bargain. It has garnerd very positive response from beginners to pros
> (including NY studio gtr ace Vinnie Bell and keyboardist Wally Minko,
> who has worked with Barry Manilow, En Vogue and many others).
I have owned it for years and I have found it very valuable.
> It's available from me (= MusicGem), amazon.com and about 150 music
> stores so far. My website ( http://home.earthlink.net/~gem777 ) is VERY
> basic and needs a LOT of work, but at least you can find some info there.
>
> I'm also about to publish a companion book, Understanding and Using Scales and Modes.
I want an autographed copy.
--
Go to http://MarcDashevsky.com to send me e-mail.
Gary Myers
> I'm also about to publish a companion book, Understanding and Using Scales and Modes. <<