BILL BAKER

Bill Baker (November 1, 1935 - August 10, 1994) was a doo wop and pop vocalist who was best known as being the lead vocalist for the Five Satins for a few years.

William M. Baker was born in Auburn, Alabama and sang gospel music with his mother as a boy. He moved to New Haven when he was 16, and sang in various local groups. It wasn’t until 1956 when he was contacted by Jim Freeman who was a Five Satin’s member. The group just had a big hit with “In the Still of the Night” and unfortunately their lead singer Fred Paris had to leave left for military service in Japan but they needed to promote the single on tour and decided that Bill was the man for the job.

Baker quickly proved to be a highly capable replacement, however, as this line-up immediately had success with Billy Dawn Smith's "To the Aisle" (Ember 1019), in September 1957 with Mr. Baker as lead tenor singer. He also recorded four more sides as lead, but fame was short-lived as the group disbanded in 1959, over artistic differences with Ember, the recording company. “The Satins wanted to add strings, to keep up with the times,” (Della Camera -Bill’s long time manager said), “but the studio wanted to play it safe with an R&B; sound”. In the early '60s, Parris re-formed the group, but with none of the original members.

After leaving the Five Satins Bill had a short stay with the Five Chestnuts. From 1959 to 1964 he recorded solo and as lead singer with various record labels but without much success, including Elgin Records, Ember, Audicon and Musicnote. During 1961 Bill cut a few sides with The Dell Satins on the VIM label.

In 1962, Roger Koob, who was lead singer of the Premiers, Roger & The Travelers and the Frontiers, teamed up with Bill recording one single as the Buddies. In 1969, Roger teamed up once again with Bill and released a record as David & Goliath on Tomaro Records. During the 1960s and 70s, Baker performed at the Oakdale Musical Theatre and other venues, also working at the G&O Manufacturing Company in New Haven as a tube cutter, a job he held for 32 years.

In 1981, Baker also restarted the group as The Five Satins but changed the name to "Bill Baker's Five Satins" after a complaint from Parris. That move led to a seven-year court battle between Baker and Parris over the right to use the Five Satins name. The issue was settled November 1993 in a New York courtroom, when the judge ruled that Mr. Baker had full title to the original Five Satins picture used on their album cover but that Parris had the right to the Five Satins name, Della Camera said. In 1987 Bill Baker's Satins" recorded the album, "I'll Be Seeing You."

During 1994 he received honorary induction into the Doo-Wop Hall of Fame of America as he lay in his hospital bed. Ann Della Camera of East Haven gave him the award. Although unable to speak because of a recent stroke, "he had tears in his eyes," Della said.

Bill Baker died on August 10, 1994 at the Hospital of St. Raphael in New Haven of cancer. He was 58 years old.

Buddies

Chesnuts

1962

mit den DEL SATINS im Hintergrund, ungenannt auf dem Label.

Februar 1962

Und die Stockpressung zu #9

Die Bill Baker’s in der R&R - Ära:
01.)
Der Orchesterleiter Bill Baker war in erster Linie in Hollywood, Kalifornien, tätig. Mehr konnte ich bisher leider nicht eruieren.
Als Bergleitorchester schien er bei folgenden Singles auf:
FORECAST
?? 54....keine Nr. ....RONNIE DEAUVILLE BILL BAKER orchestra..Brother Beware (X-103)/Can It Be You (X-104)
03 55....keine Nr. ....WEIRNAUT BROTHERS BILL BAKER orchestra..Lost And Found (X-105)/Gotta Have You (X-106)
ENCINO
04 57....1007-A....DARLA HOOD Bill Baker Orch. - Vocal with The Rocketeers and Orch. ..No Secret Now/-B Jody
ACAMA
01 59....X-113....DARLA HOOD BILL BAKER ORCHESTRA..Poor Pierre/Mean To You
02 61....X 122-A....DARLA HOOD Bill Baker Orch. ..Witch's Brew/-B….No Secret Now
04 61....X 127-A....DARLA HOOD Bill Baker Orch. ..Jody/-B….DARLA HOOD Bob Roberts Orch. ..Valley Of Eternity
02.)
Die Moonlighters von Bobby Lester aus Cleveland, Ohio, dürften sicher einige kennen, aber wer waren die Moonlighters von Bill Baker aus Hollywood? Ich konnte bisher leider nichts Brauchbares herausfinden und selbst das Veröffentlichungsjahr 1957 ist nur geschätzt, dürfte aber in etwa stimmen.
Die Single:
R R E - RECORD RELEASING ENTERPRISES
?? 57....100-RRE….JIMMY COMINO with BILL BAKER And The Moonlighters..Down In The Middle Of The Earth/101-RRE….Lap Of Luxury
03.)
Dieser Bill Baker dürfte in Huntington Station, Long Island, New York, gewirkt haben.
Seine Single:
KNICK
05 58....1712....Bill Baker and his Appleknockers..Caramba (402581)/Late Date (402582)
04.)
Der Doo-Wop-Sänger Bill Baker wurde am 1. November 1935 in Auburn, Alabama, als William M. Baker geboren und verstarb am 10. August 1994 in New Haven, Connecticut, wo er er seit Beginn der Fünfzigerjahre lebte, im Hospital Saint Raphael, erst 58-jährig, an einem Krebsleiden. Seine erste große Chance als Sänger bekam er, als der Lead-Sänger der Five Satins, Fred Parris, seinen Militärdienst in Japan ableisten musste und Bill Baker ihn vertreten durfte. Der Titel “To The Aisle“, für den er unter anderem den Lead-Gesang übernahm, erreichte den fünften Platz der R&B-Charts und in den Pop-Charts immerhin noch Platz 25.
Auf diesen Singles war Bill Baker als Interpret zu finden:
ELGIN
02 59….007….BILL BAKER AND THE CHESTNUTS..Won't You Tell Me My Heart/008….Tell Me Little Darling
05 59....013....BILL BAKER AND THE CHESTNUTS..Wonderful Girl/014….Chit Chat (dann CORAL 62171)
CORAL
02 60....9-62171....BILL BAKER..Wonderful Girl (107,927)/Chit Chat (107,928) (ELGIN 013-14)
VIM
11 60....Vim 515....BILL BAKER..Thank Heaven (v 33)/Price Of Love (v 34)
AUDICON
?? 61....1 1 5....BILL BAKER..I Wanna Know (ZTSP 81398)/Is It A Dream (ZTSP 81399)
?? 61....1 1 8....BILL BAKER..Just To Be Near You (ZTSP 85219)/To The Aisle (ZTSP 85220) (dann MUSICTONE 1108 als Five Satins)
EMBER
?? 61....E-1019....BILL BAKER & THE FIVE SATINS..Wish I Had My Baby (E-2149)/To The Aisle (E-2147) *)
MUSICTONE
?? 62....MX 1108....THE FIVE SATINS..To The Aisle (mx 115)/Just To Be Near You (mx 116) (AUDICON 118 [/i][/b]als Bill Baker[/i][/b])
Etc . . .
04 63….ER 227A….BILL BAKER..There’s A Small Hotel (P4KM 7077)/B….Bleeding Hearts (P4KM 7078)
MUSICNOTE
01 64....MX 119 A....BILL BAKER FORMERLY OF THE FIVE SATINS..Teen Age Triangle (mx 136 A)/ B….Why Did Summer Have To End (mx 136 B)
*) Auf der Erstausgabe vom Juni 1957 mit altem roten Logo, schien Bill Baker nicht auf dem Label auf. Siehe #3: (links klicken)
05.)
Über diesen Bill Baker ist mir lediglich bekannt, dass er mit einem Buddy Landon (vermutlich Bud Landon) einige Songs geschrieben hat. Mit Bill Baker von 04.) dürfte er ziemlich sicher nicht ident sein.
Die Single:
DORÉ
07 61....606....BILL BAKER & THE TWITCHERS..Twitchin' (45-LJB-60)/The Big-Top (AB-45-2) (Delta-Nr.: 39599/38770-x)
06.)
. . . und zum Abschluß noch eine kleine Grenzüberschreitung in das Jahr 1964. Über die Formation weiß ich leider nichts, aber dafür haben wir jetzt Bossanova im Programm.
Die Single:
ARWIN
10 64....MM-129-45....BILL BAKER And THE HONG KONG BOSSABAND..Hong Kong (ARC-210)/Sampan Girl (ARC-211)

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