Uploaded May 2020 | Updated September 2026, 52 minutes ago
50s Pop Duet Exotica Calypso - Unissued VIK RECORDINGS - Written by: Huon Donaldson and Slim Henry Brown.
Recorded July 9,1958, at RCA Victor Studio B, New York City with: McHouston "Mickey" Baker (vocal/guitar) Sylvia Vanderpool, who later became Sylvia Robinson (vocal)
George Barnes (electric guitar) Don Arnone (rhythm guitar) George Shaw (bass) "Stick" Evans (drums) Phil Kraus (bongo / percussion) Ernest Hayes (piano) "King" Curtis Ousley (saxophone) Sid Bass (leader) Eugene Lowell, Miriam Workman, Keith Booth, Eugene Stock, James Stover, Peggy
Powers, Francine Carroll (chorus)
Sylvia Robinson (born Vanderpool; May 29, 1935 – September 29, 2011) was an American singer, record producer, and record label executive.
Robinson had two R&B chart toppers: as half of Mickey & Sylvia with "Love Is Strange" in 1957 and her solo record "Pillow Talk" in 1973.
She later became known for her work as founder and CEO of the hip hop label Sugar Hill Records.
Robinson is credited as the driving force behind two landmark singles in the hip hop genre;
"Rapper's Delight" (1979) by the Sugarhill Gang, and "The Message" (1982) by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five; which caused her to be dubbed "The Mother of Hip–Hop".
Robinson received a Pioneer Award for her career in singing and being the founder of Sugarhill Records at the 11th Annual Rhythm and Blues Awards Gala in 2000.
___________________________________________
Of all the guitarists who helped transform R&B and Rock And Roll, Mickey Baker was one of the most important, almost ranking with Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley.
The reason he was not as well known as these legends is that much of his work was not released under his own name, but as a backing guitarist for many R&B, Rock And Roll and even Rockabilly musicians.
Baker originally aspired to be a Jazz musician, but turned to Calypso, Mambo, and then Rhythm And Blues, where he was able to find the most work.
In the early and middle 50s, he did countless sessions for Atlantic, King, RCA, Decca, and Okeh Records, playing on such classics as the Drifters' "Money Honey" and "Such a Night," Joe Turner's "Shake, Rattle & Roll," Ruth Brown's "Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean," and Big Maybelle's "Whole Lot of Shakin' Going On."
He also released a few singles under his own name, and made a Latin jazz-tinged solo album, Guitar Mambo.
The Wildest Guitar
Baker's best work, though, was recorded as half of the duo Mickey & Sylvia.
Their hit "Love Is Strange," as well as several other unknown but nearly equally strong tracks, featured Baker's keening, bluesy guitar riffs, which were gutsier and more piercing than most anything else around in the late '50s.
Mickey & Sylvia split in the late '50s (though they recorded off and on until the middle of the next decade), and Baker recorded his best solo album, the all-instrumental The Wildest Guitar.
In 1961, he took the male spoken part (usually assumed to be Ike Turner) on Ike & Tina Turner's first hit, "It's Gonna Work Out Fine."
Shortly afterwards he moved to France, making a few hard-to-find solo records and working with a lot of French pop and rock performers, including Ronnie Bird, the best '60s French rock singer.
He recorded only sporadically after the middle 60s.
Mickey Baker died at his home in Montastruc-la-Conseillère, France on November 27, 2012, at the age of 87.
#guitar #calypso #exotica
50s Pop Duet Exotica Calypso - Unissued VIK RECORDINGS - Written by: Huon Donaldson and Slim Henry Brown.
Recorded July 9,1958, at RCA Victor Studio B, New York City with: McHouston "Mickey" Baker (vocal/guitar) Sylvia Vanderpool, who later became Sylvia Robinson (vocal)
George Barnes (electric guitar) Don Arnone (rhythm guitar) George Shaw (bass) "Stick" Evans (drums) Phil Kraus (bongo / percussion) Ernest Hayes (piano) "King" Curtis Ousley (saxophone) Sid Bass (leader) Eugene Lowell, Miriam Workman, Keith Booth, Eugene Stock, James Stover, Peggy
Powers, Francine Carroll (chorus)
Sylvia Robinson (born Vanderpool; May 29, 1935 – September 29, 2011) was an American singer, record producer, and record label executive.
Robinson had two R&B chart toppers: as half of Mickey & Sylvia with "Love Is Strange" in 1957 and her solo record "Pillow Talk" in 1973.
She later became known for her work as founder and CEO of the hip hop label Sugar Hill Records.
Robinson is credited as the driving force behind two landmark singles in the hip hop genre;
"Rapper's Delight" (1979) by the Sugarhill Gang, and "The Message" (1982) by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five; which caused her to be dubbed "The Mother of Hip–Hop".
Robinson received a Pioneer Award for her career in singing and being the founder of Sugarhill Records at the 11th Annual Rhythm and Blues Awards Gala in 2000.
___________________________________________
Of all the guitarists who helped transform R&B and Rock And Roll, Mickey Baker was one of the most important, almost ranking with Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley.
The reason he was not as well known as these legends is that much of his work was not released under his own name, but as a backing guitarist for many R&B, Rock And Roll and even Rockabilly musicians.
Baker originally aspired to be a Jazz musician, but turned to Calypso, Mambo, and then Rhythm And Blues, where he was able to find the most work.
In the early and middle 50s, he did countless sessions for Atlantic, King, RCA, Decca, and Okeh Records, playing on such classics as the Drifters' "Money Honey" and "Such a Night," Joe Turner's "Shake, Rattle & Roll," Ruth Brown's "Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean," and Big Maybelle's "Whole Lot of Shakin' Going On."
He also released a few singles under his own name, and made a Latin jazz-tinged solo album, Guitar Mambo.
The Wildest Guitar
Baker's best work, though, was recorded as half of the duo Mickey & Sylvia.
Their hit "Love Is Strange," as well as several other unknown but nearly equally strong tracks, featured Baker's keening, bluesy guitar riffs, which were gutsier and more piercing than most anything else around in the late '50s.
Mickey & Sylvia split in the late '50s (though they recorded off and on until the middle of the next decade), and Baker recorded his best solo album, the all-instrumental The Wildest Guitar.
In 1961, he took the male spoken part (usually assumed to be Ike Turner) on Ike & Tina Turner's first hit, "It's Gonna Work Out Fine."
Shortly afterwards he moved to France, making a few hard-to-find solo records and working with a lot of French pop and rock performers, including Ronnie Bird, the best '60s French rock singer.
He recorded only sporadically after the middle 60s.
Mickey Baker died at his home in Montastruc-la-Conseillère, France on November 27, 2012, at the age of 87.
#guitar #calypso #exotica
