From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Thu Jul 4, 2002  1:13 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Baker Knight
 
BAKER KNIGHT (By Jean-Marc Pezet)

Born Thomas Baker Knight, Jr., 4 July 1933, Birmingham, Alabama

Singer, songwriter.
Baker Knight is known for the several hit records he penned for Ricky
Nelson (I Got A Feeling, Lonesome Town, You Tear Me Up, Mighty
Good) and Ray Peterson (The Wonder Of You, a song also recorded
by Elvis in 1970).
Baker Knight was raised on and off Birmingham, listening to Hank
Williams, but mainly drawn to the blues of BB King. He formed
his first band, The Knightmares, and recorded "Poor Little Heart"
in 1956 for Kit, soon followed by the hard-driving "Bring My Cadillac
Back" that was licensed to Decca who managed to sell as much as
40,000 copies in two weeks. Sadly the track was not picked up by
the big radio stations who refused to play a record which resembled
a free ad.
By April 1958, Baker arrived in Hollywood, the first days were lean, but
he became friends with Eddie Cochran (Eddie seemingly backed him on
"Just Relax") and, through Sharon Sheeley, managed to pitch his first song
"Lonesome Town" to Ricky Nelson, the start of a fruitful collaboration.

Baker Knight himself recorded 14 sides for Decca/Coral and had singles
out on Jubilee, Kick, RCA, Chess, Challenge, Domain, Checker, Another
Record Co, Reprise, Happy Tiger and Warner Bros!
Beside Ricky Nelson, he was also a successful songwriter for Frank
Sinatra, Jerry Wallace, The Platters, Dean Martin, Jimmy Bowen, Mickey
Gilley, Hank Williams Jr and Jerry Lee Lewis.

Recommended listening:
- "Bring My Cadillac Back" and "Just Rellax" are on the old LP "Rare
Rock'n'Roll Vol 1" - MCA CDL 8507.
- "Bring My Cadillac Back" is currently  available on "That'll Flat Git Vol.
6" - Bear Family BCD 15733.

- Check for Baker-penned Ricky Nelson soongs either Capitol's recent 2fer
reissues or the Bear Family Box Set.
For a list of his compositions see: http://www.bakerknight.com/credits.html

Thanks to John Stafford for his interview with Baker Knight, Now Dig This 153.