Kenny Baker (musician)
Encyclopedia
Kenneth Clayton Baker was an American fiddle
player best known for his 25-year tenure with Bill Monroe
and his group The Bluegrass Boys.
and Stephane Grappelli
. After working for Bethlehem Steel in the coal mines of Kentucky, he served in the United States Navy before pursuing a musical career full-time. He soon joined Don Gibson
's band as a replacement for Marion Sumner. Baker, who played western swing, had little interest in bluegrass music
until he heard "Wheel Hoss" and "Roanoke". During a package show with Don Gibson
, Baker met Monroe and was offered a job. He cut his first recordings with Monroe's Bluegrass Boys on December 15, 1957.
Kenny Baker served more years in Monroe's band than any other musician and was selected by Monroe to record the fiddle tunes passed down from Uncle Pen Vandiver. After leaving the Bluegrass Boys in 1984, Baker played with a group of friends, Bob Black, Alan Murphy, and Aleta Murphy. Bob Black and Alan Murphy recorded an album with Baker in 1973, Dry & Dusty. After the one summer with Black and the Murphy's, Baker teamed with Josh Graves
, who had played resonator guitar
for Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs as a Foggy Mountain Boy. Baker teamed with Graves until Graves' death in 2006.
Baker is considered to be one of the most influential fiddlers in bluegrass music
. His "long-bow" style added a smoothness and clarity to the fiddle-based music of his boss, Grand Ole Opry member Bill Monroe. His long tenure with Bill Monroe included banjo player Bill Keith
's development of the "melodic" method of banjo playing that included note for note representations of fiddle tunes on the banjo.
He was named to the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor
in 1999. He recorded many albums for various record labels, including County Records
, Jasmine, Rounder Records
and most recently OMS Records. His most recent recordings include "Cotton Baggin' 2000" and "Spider Bit the Baby" on OMS Records. It was often mentioned that Kenny Baker's records were more popular at Bill Monroe concerts than the band's own releases. There were, and remain, hordes of Kenny Baker students of the bluegrass fiddle.
Prior to his death, Baker was the last prominent native of Jenkins, Kentucky.
Kenny Baker died July 8, 2011 at Sumner Regional Medical Center in Gallatin, Tennessee
due to complications from a stroke.
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
player best known for his 25-year tenure with Bill Monroe
Bill Monroe
William Smith Monroe was an American musician who created the style of music known as bluegrass, which takes its name from his band, the "Blue Grass Boys," named for Monroe's home state of Kentucky. Monroe's performing career spanned 60 years as a singer, instrumentalist, composer and bandleader...
and his group The Bluegrass Boys.
Biography
Baker was born in Burdine, Kentucky and learned the fiddle by accompanying his father, also a fiddler. Early on, he was influenced by the swing fiddler Marion Sumner, not to mention Django ReinhardtDjango Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt was a pioneering virtuoso jazz guitarist and composer who invented an entirely new style of jazz guitar technique that has since become a living musical tradition within French gypsy culture...
and Stephane Grappelli
Stéphane Grappelli
Stéphane Grappelli was a French jazz violinist who founded the Quintette du Hot Club de France with guitarist Django Reinhardt in 1934. It was one of the first all-string jazz bands....
. After working for Bethlehem Steel in the coal mines of Kentucky, he served in the United States Navy before pursuing a musical career full-time. He soon joined Don Gibson
Don Gibson
Donald Eugene "Don" Gibson was an American songwriter and country musician. A Country Music Hall of Fame inductee, Gibson penned such country standards as "Sweet Dreams" and "I Can't Stop Loving You", and enjoyed a string of country hits from 1957 into the early 1970s.-Biography:Don Gibson was...
's band as a replacement for Marion Sumner. Baker, who played western swing, had little interest in bluegrass music
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
until he heard "Wheel Hoss" and "Roanoke". During a package show with Don Gibson
Don Gibson
Donald Eugene "Don" Gibson was an American songwriter and country musician. A Country Music Hall of Fame inductee, Gibson penned such country standards as "Sweet Dreams" and "I Can't Stop Loving You", and enjoyed a string of country hits from 1957 into the early 1970s.-Biography:Don Gibson was...
, Baker met Monroe and was offered a job. He cut his first recordings with Monroe's Bluegrass Boys on December 15, 1957.
Kenny Baker served more years in Monroe's band than any other musician and was selected by Monroe to record the fiddle tunes passed down from Uncle Pen Vandiver. After leaving the Bluegrass Boys in 1984, Baker played with a group of friends, Bob Black, Alan Murphy, and Aleta Murphy. Bob Black and Alan Murphy recorded an album with Baker in 1973, Dry & Dusty. After the one summer with Black and the Murphy's, Baker teamed with Josh Graves
Josh Graves
Josh Graves , born Burkett Howard Graves, was an American bluegrass musician. Also known by the nicknames "Buck," and "Uncle Josh," he is credited with introducing the dobro into bluegrass music shortly after joining Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys in 1955...
, who had played resonator guitar
Resonator guitar
A resonator guitar or resophonic guitar is an acoustic guitar whose sound is produced by one or more spun metal cones instead of the wooden sound board . Resonator guitars were originally designed to be louder than conventional acoustic guitars which were overwhelmed by horns and percussion...
for Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs as a Foggy Mountain Boy. Baker teamed with Graves until Graves' death in 2006.
Baker is considered to be one of the most influential fiddlers in bluegrass music
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
. His "long-bow" style added a smoothness and clarity to the fiddle-based music of his boss, Grand Ole Opry member Bill Monroe. His long tenure with Bill Monroe included banjo player Bill Keith
Bill Keith (musician)
Bill Keith is a five-string banjoist who made a significant contribution to the stylistic development of the instrument. In the 1960s he introduced a variation on the popular "Scruggs style" of banjo playing which would soon become known as melodic style, or "Keith style." -Professional...
's development of the "melodic" method of banjo playing that included note for note representations of fiddle tunes on the banjo.
He was named to the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor
International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor
Induction to the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame, called the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor from its creation in 1991 through 2006, is managed by the International Bluegrass Music Association, and the Hall itself is maintained at the International Bluegrass Music Museum in...
in 1999. He recorded many albums for various record labels, including County Records
County Records
County Records also expanded into the bluegrass music genre, although Freeman preferred those artists who stayed the closest to their old-time roots. The label's first bluegrass release was 1965's Blue Ridge Bluegrass featuring Larry Richardson and the Blue Ridge Boys.-Related businesses:Freeman...
, Jasmine, Rounder Records
Rounder Records
Rounder Records, originally of Cambridge, Massachusetts, but now based in Burlington, Massachusetts, is a record label founded in 1970 by Ken Irwin, Bill Nowlin and Marian Leighton-Levy, while all three were still university students...
and most recently OMS Records. His most recent recordings include "Cotton Baggin' 2000" and "Spider Bit the Baby" on OMS Records. It was often mentioned that Kenny Baker's records were more popular at Bill Monroe concerts than the band's own releases. There were, and remain, hordes of Kenny Baker students of the bluegrass fiddle.
Prior to his death, Baker was the last prominent native of Jenkins, Kentucky.
Kenny Baker died July 8, 2011 at Sumner Regional Medical Center in Gallatin, Tennessee
Gallatin, Tennessee
Gallatin is a city in and the county seat of Sumner County, Tennessee, United States, along a navigable tributary of the Cumberland River. The population was 23,230 at the 2000 census. Named for U.S...
due to complications from a stroke.