Mickey Baker "The Wildest Guitar” 1959 | TWILIGHTZONE

 Mickey Baker "The Wildest Guitar" 1959

Despite Baker's well-deserved reputation as one of the most influential guitar players of early rock & roll, The Wildest Guitar was one of the few chances he really got to strut his stuff as a solo artist......This entirely instrumental set features keening, sharp, bluesy riffs in much the same distinctive style that gained him fame on "Love Is Strange" and other tunes with Mickey & Sylvia. The choice of material, though, is a bit surprising, favoring some surprisingly cornball standards: "Third Man Theme," "Autumn Leaves," "Lullaby of the Leaves," and Cole Porter's "Night and Day." Baker (who also arranged the album) manages to invest all of these with a snazzy R&B feel and biting solos. And he does actually write four of the 12 tunes himself, on which he fashions the kind of straightforward R&B that one would more likely to expect. This is a pretty good showcase to hear Baker's unadorned virtuosity. But he's really better-appreciated within the context of stronger material, either as half of Mickey & Sylvia or on the innumerable '50s R&B cuts (many on Atlantic) that feature his session work.

track listing:
01 Third Man Theme 02 Whistle Stop 03 Night And Day 04 Midnight Midnight 05 Autumn Leaves 06 Baia 07 Milk Train 08 Old Devil Moon 09 Chloe 10 Baker's Dozen 11 Lullaby Of The Leaves 12 Gloomy Sunday

Mickey Baker - Baker’s Dozen (remastered)

Mickey Baker - Chloe

Mickey Baker - Whistle Stop!

You dancin’? 

You askin’?

I’m Askin’!

I’M DANCIN’!!!