Roy Thomas Baker, the hitmaking report producer behind a few of the greatest and most proudly polished songs and albums of the rock period — together with Queen’s chart-topping, multipart “Bohemian Rhapsody” — died April 12 at his house in Lake Havasu Metropolis, Ariz. He was 78.
His loss of life was introduced by a spokesperson, Bob Merlis, who mentioned the trigger had not but been established.
Recognized for his technological savvy and his self-discipline within the recording studio, Baker oversaw the creation of Queen’s first 4 albums, which spun off a assorted assortment of singles within the early Nineteen Seventies together with the jaunty “Killer Queen,” the tender “You’re My Best Friend” and the virtually comically elaborate “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which strikes over six minutes from a show-tune-style intro by means of a densely organized operatic sequence earlier than climaxing in a hard-rock part that impressed a headbanging set piece in 1992’s “Wayne’s World” film.
“‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ was totally insane, but we enjoyed every minute of it,” Baker informed Combine journal in 1999. “It was basically a joke, but a successful joke.” The track went to No. 1 on the U.Ok. singles chart in 1975 and later peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Scorching 100 after “Wayne’s World” was launched. In 2018, “Bohemian Rhapsody” supplied the title of the blockbuster biopic about Queen’s flamboyant frontman, Freddie Mercury; on Spotify, the track has been streamed greater than 2.7 billion instances.
Baker had a equally shut creative relationship with the Automobiles, whose first 4 albums he produced; among the many gleaming new wave hits they created had been “Just What I Needed,” “My Best Friend’s Girl,” “Let’s Go” and “Shake It Up.” The producer additionally labored with Journey, Low cost Trick, Alice Cooper, Devo and Ozzy Osbourne, amongst many others. He reunited with Queen in 1978 to make “Jazz.”
Born within the Hampstead space of London on Nov. 10, 1946, Baker received his begin in music as a second engineer at London’s vaunted Decca Studios and Trident Studios, the place he assisted the producers Gus Dudgeon and Tony Visconti and labored on information by the likes of David Bowie, the Who and the Rolling Stones.
He moved to Los Angeles within the late ’70s and later grew to become an A&R rep for Elektra Information, serving to to carry acts together with Metallica and 10,000 Maniacs to the label. Within the late ’90s and early 2000s, he produced albums by Native H, the Smashing Pumpkins and the Darkness. Baker is survived by his spouse, Tere Livrano Baker, and his brother, Alan Baker.
Requested by Combine what he considered artists forgoing producers to make their very own information, Baker in contrast the choice to “someone wanting to be their own lawyer in court” and suggested towards it.
“I think, even if you’re a great producer who happens to be an artist, and you’re great at working with other artists, you should never produce yourself,” he mentioned. “You still need somebody else around to make sure you get the best out of yourself, because you can’t be in two places at once.”
