RIP Roy Thomas Baker - The Huckabee Post
It was revealed by his family that British record producer Roy Thomas Baker died in early April of undisclosed causes at his home in Arizona.
Normally, I wouldn’t write about the passing of such a behind-the-scenes figure, but Baker’s accomplishments in the field of classic rock are so massive that his touch is felt in countless iconic recordings. He started in music as a teenager, working with Elton John’s producer Gus Dudgeon, David Bowie’s producer Tony Visconti, Mick Jagger, The Who and more top British acts. He was the engineer for such timeless hits as Free’s “All Right Now” and T-Rex’s “Bang A Gong.” Graduating to full producer, he worked with a who’s who of rock giants, including Alice Cooper, Journey, Foreigner, Devo, Guns ‘N’ Roses, Motley Crue and Smashing Pumpkins. He was known for getting as many takes as necessary to make it perfect.
His most legendary projects include five Queen albums, including their breakthrough “A Night At The Opera,” featuring “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Baker recalled that the over-the-top production included Freddy Mercury adding more and more “Galileo! Galileo”’s until they were all falling down laughing in the studio. But somehow it worked: That indescribable oddity that was deemed too long and weird for radio was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and became the most-streamed song of the 20th century,
His other most celebrated collaborators were The Cars, with whom he created four albums, including their debut that many call an unofficial “greatest hits” album (although personally, my favorite is “Candy-O.”) As someone who’s spent a lot of my life in recording studios, I take off my hat to a master. RIP.
