Baker Knight

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Thomas Baker Knight, Jr. (born July 4, 1933 in Birmingham , Alabama - † October 12, 2005 ) was an American rockabilly musician and songwriter . He is considered one of the most successful composers of the rock 'n' roll era and is best known for the track The Wonder of You , which was recorded by Elvis Presley .

Life

Childhood and youth

Baker Knight was born and raised in the same town as hard rock Gunter . He lost his father when he was six. From then on, he grew up with relatives. After being in the three years Air Force had spent where it guitar learned to play, he started at the University of Alabama to study. It was at this time that he wrote his first titles.

Beginnings

In 1956 he founded his rockabilly band The Knightmares . In the same year Knight and his band got a record deal with Kit Records. There he released his first single, which went unnoticed. His next title, Bring My Cadillac Back , was far more successful. The record stormed the local charts and Decca Records began releasing the track nationwide. The radio stations boycotted the song, however, in their opinion it was "pure advertising" for the car company Cadillac . After his initial success, Knight continued to release records until late 1957, but with little success.

Career

In 1958 Knight moved to Hollywood , where he hoped for a career as an actor . However, that did not happen. A short time later he met the well-known rockabilly singer Eddie Cochran , whose girlfriend Sharon Sheeley then referred Knight to Ricky Nelson . With Knight's title Lonesome Town in 1958, he reached the top 10 charts. Nelson recorded a total of 21 Knight titles. Famous stars like Dean Martin , Frank Sinatra , Elvis Presley and Hank Williams, Jr. have now recorded his titles. Until the end of the 1970s singers were in the charts with his titles, especially Elvis, who topped the charts in the USA and Great Britain with The Wonder of You .

Also Country hitmakers like Mickey Gilley were able to record his songs successes. Don't The Girls All Get Prettier At Close Time was named Song of the Year by the Academy of Country Music . Knight continued to release records himself, including with Warner Bros. Records , RCA Victor , Chess Records and Challenge Records . In 1985 he had to give up his career as a songwriter and musician; his doctors had diagnosed a serious illness.

Baker Knight died on October 12, 2005, shortly after he published his autobiography, A Piece Of The Big-Time .

Discography

year title Record company
1956 Bob Boogie To The Blues / Little Heart Kit Records
1956 Bring My Cadillac Back / I Cried Kit Records
1956 Bring My Cadillac Back / I Cried Decca Records
1957 Reelin 'and Rockin' / When The World Gets Around Decca Records
1957 Just A Little Bit More / The Value Of Love Decca Records
1957 Love-A-Love-A-Love-A / High School Days Decca Records
1958 Ain't Nothin 'But Love / My Heart Cries For You Jubilee Records
1958 I Never Get To Kiss You Anymore / Wishing Jubilee Records
1959 Just Relax / Takin 'A Chance Coral Records
1959 Pretty Little Girl / Tag Along Blues Coral Records
1960 I Can Tell / The Beginning Of The End RCA Victor
1961 Dum Dum Diggley Dum / Any Time At All RCA Victor
1961 Peek-A-Boo / Theme From The Devil's Island Chess Records
1962 Whose Little Baby Are You? / Bring It On Home To Me Kit Records
1962 Hungry For Love / House Next Door Checker Records
1963 Best Thing That Ever Happended To Me / My Memories Of You Challenge Records
1963 Big City Girls / Look In The Mirror Everest Records
1964 Surrender To Me / When Somebody Mentions Your Name Challenge Records
1964 Apple Daddy / Good Evening Mr. Heartache Challenge Records
1965 Girl Like That / Hello Mama Challenge Records
1965 I'm The Wolf Man / Sit and Dance (as Round Robin ) Domain records
1966 Man With A Plan / I Woke Up On The Wrong Side Of The World Reprise Records
1966 It Goes Deeper Than That / From A Distance Reprise Records
1966 Would You Believe It / Tomorrows Good Time Girl Reprise Records
1966 Would You Believe It / Tomorrows Good Time Girl (UK Release) Reprise Records
1966 I Want What You Got / Sorry 'Bout That Reprise Records
1967 I Feel Sick About The Whole Thing / Hallucinatuions Reprise Records
1967 Things Are Looking Good / Stick-To-It-Ivity Reprise Records
1968 Verge Of Success / Are You Satisfied Now? Reprise Records
1970 Lady Hamilton / Man Who Never Made It Happy Tiger Records
1975 A Legend On The Stage / A Legend On The Stage unknown
1977 If only / physical thing Warner Bros. Records

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personal data
SURNAME Knight, Baker
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Knight, Thomas Baker Jr. (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American rockabilly musician and songwriter
DATE OF BIRTH 4th July 1933
PLACE OF BIRTH Birmingham , Alabama
DATE OF DEATH October 12, 2005