Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker, Jr.
Born December 23, 1929.
Chet's distinctive singing was considered something of a pop sellout by bop snobs in the Fifties - Chet was too good-looking for them - but later us younger folks heard it as seamless extension of his horn style, as blues. He earned those blues, too. As with so many other musical geniuses of his era, persecution for his heroin addiction was worse than the dope. Elvis Costello, who does a fair imitation of Chet, wrote this beautiful song for him.
"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." Thomas Jefferson
Chet's distinctive singing was considered something of a pop sellout by bop snobs in the Fifties - Chet was too good-looking for them - but later us younger folks heard it as seamless extension of his horn style, as blues. He earned those blues, too. As with so many other musical geniuses of his era, persecution for his heroin addiction was worse than the dope. Elvis Costello, who does a fair imitation of Chet, wrote this beautiful song for him.
Labels: music
