George Baker 'Mojo Lady' album

To say that George Baker’s first recording as a leader has been a long time coming is the understatement of the year. After a lifelong career in music, which was touched off 50 years ago when he first picked up the guitar at age 17 in his hometown of New Roads, Louisiana, Baker has finally come out with a stellar debut in Mojo Lady.

Growing up in Louisiana, young George was exposed to a wealth of different music. “My mother played gospel music and secular music around the house. I heard many different sounds, and they’re all still in my head.”

Music, would eventually become a real salvation for young George. “I lost my leg Baker’s first professional gigs were with local R&B vocalist Roosevelt “Boo” Gautier. He soon joined Earl Davis and the Upsetters and hit the road, then formed Universal Attraction, which backed up The Drifters, Huey “Piano” Smith & The Clowns and other headliners on tours through the South. Baker eventually relocated to New York City in 1961 and began freelancing on the thriving music scene there while also attending the Brooklyn Conservatory, where he met and befriended Trevor Lawrence, the man who would become Guitar George’s producer more than 40 years later. Says Baker, “He was 18, and I was 23 when we met, and we’ve been friends ever since. That’s why it’s so cool now to be in business with a guy that you’ve been knowing for so long.”

During the early ‘60s, Baker played in the house band at the Apollo Theater in Harlem and in 1968 he became musical director for the great Marvin Gaye, subsequently touring the country with the iconic soulman for three years. George then joined up with Melba Moore for an 18-month tour followed by stints with The Flamingos and The Shirelles before settling back into New York’s busy session scene. The one-time journeyman guitarist has been a bandleader in his own right since moving to Connecticut in 1985.

George adds that his baptism in blues came only nine years ago following a Buddy Guy performance at Toad’s Place in New Haven. “I watched him play that night and I’d think, ‘Wow! I know that lick. I could play that!’ And he played some more and I’d think, ‘Wow! I can play that too!’ So that’s really what got me interested in checking out the blues myself. Shortly after that concert, a friend of mine gave me a copy of Albert King’s Blues at Sunrise, and I loved that, man! So for me, playing blues is a relatively new experience.”

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George Baker - Mojo Lady