Sam Baker

1: Sam Baker is a country singer-songwriter out of Austin, Texas. Here’s a man who can’t really sing, but mostly just speaks. Who’s deaf on one side, partially deaf on the other. And who can’t use all his fingers while playing guitar anymore. And yet Sam Baker manages to make what has got to be one of the finest Americana albums in recent years. He believes in storytelling and that everyone is at the mercy of another one's dream. 2: Sam Baker was a black Southern Soul artist born 1941 in Jackson, MS, who began his career singing secular music rather than in gospel like most other of his kind at the time. However, he was influenced by gospel as well as blues performers, and performed with the likes of Jimmy Reed, Clyde McPhatter, and others early in his career. He went on to become one of the memorable artists on the legendary Sound Stage 7 label, releasing more sides for the label than any other artist except Joe Simon. The Soulscape reissue label recently re-released this SS7 material on CD. The streamable tracks on this page are a few of his cuts.