Roy "Boy" Baker

Dayton, late 1950s-1990s

Roy "Boy" Baker moved from his hometown of Hazard, Kentucky to the Dayton suburb of West Carrollton sometime in the early 1950s. He was born in 1929 but being a bit older than his peers didn't stop him from picking up the rock-n-roll beat and becoming a well known drummer in some Dayton area bands. Later in life he turned to country and gospel and released a number of 45s as a singer and guitarist.

There isn't much we could find about his early life. He acquired the nickname Roy "Boy" Baker as a child, according to his obituary. He took a job with General Motors and worked there for many years while working as a musicians on the weekends. The earliest mention in the newspapers came in February 1957 when he played on bill headlined by Johnny Hampton, "Cincinnati's king of rock & roll".....so they said. It's not clear if Roy backed all the artists or played with his own band.

Not THE Little Richard, nice try guys! If only we could hang out at the Blazin Stump!

Roy is listed with a few other bands. In March and April of 1957 he is playing with Harvey Hosing and the Swing Three. A June 1957 ad has him as the leader of the Bee-Bops. The Bee Bops members were Little Sut, Lee Ratliff, John Presley, and Crazy Legs Feltner. Luttle Sut and Lee Feltner were also listed in an ad for the Rock and Roll Boys, without Roy, in March 1957. In March of 1958 he is listed as a member of the Bee Bops, with different members Little Richard, Ray Bolin, Wally Sims, and Hoppy Hopkins. The Rythmairs is his band in a April 1958 ad. Roy is featured with Herbie Smith in a November 1958 ad. He seems to have been most often with Ray King and the Kinsgmen, often with co-star listing, nicknamed 'the Wild Child'...now we wish we had some evidence of how he got that name! 

By 1962 he is getting top billing with the with the Rollettes, Top Cats, and the Yogi Brothers. There are more superlatives used to describe him as 'fabulous' and 'hilarious'. We believe he is now playing guitar and singing. The Yogi brothers are listed as Vern, Bob Dee, and Bob Yogi. There is nothing about the Yogi brothers in the Dayton area newspapers.

Ad from 1962, the year of the Twist

Roy made his first record in 1963 on the Dess label. The A side was written by country singer Lee Emerson, an uptempo sing with in a honky-tonk style. The B side was written by Roy and has a more R&B sound with a prominent cordovox/accordion. It seems like it sold a decent amount of copies.

The Twist craze lasted into 1963....until those those longhairs from Liverpool invaded and spolied the fun!

Roy is listed in a couple ads from 1964, one with Jerry Francis at Little Mickeys and one with the Rollettes at the Harbor. After that he disappears, probably busy with his family and job.

Forward to 1970 and Roy records his second 45 for the revived Dess (now Dessco) label. The a side is a topical song about General Motors and auto workers union contract, a very familar subject for Ohioans of the era. Unfortunately for Roy the story in the paper turned out to be accurate as the record was only a local minor hit.

Over the next four years Roy recorded four more records, all of which were in the country gospel style. The most interesting one was a story song about the April 1974 series of tornadoes that hit SW Ohio most notably destroying a large part of Xenia, close to Dayton. 

This story was from 1980 when Roy was living in Florida (Ormaond Beach)

Roy moved away from Ohio in 1975-6 and moved to Florida where he recorded one more 45. This record, with an autobiograpical reference "Coal Miner's Son" was the last documented record we could find. He moved to Knoxville, TN a few years later and was active in the local music scene for many years. He passed away in 2014 at the age of 85. 

Discography:
I Thought I Heard You Call My Name / Bridge Of Love - Dess 7011, 1963
Contract Time In Detroit City / Bridge Of Love - Dessco 7016, 1970
One Heartbeat / The Glory Bound Train  Jalyn 362, 1972
The Gospel Cannon Ball  The Old Rugged Cross - Jalym 369, 1974
The Tornado Disaster / Since i Found Jesus - Jalyn 370, May 1974
Ballad Of The Abortion Child (A Love Letter From Heaven) / The Abortion Song (My Birthright To Live) (Picture sleeve) - MGMA 410S3, 1974
Coal Miner's Son / Keep The Prayer In School - Miner's Lamp no #, 1976