Very little is definitively known about the life of Georgia blues guitarist Willie Baker. He was supposedly from the Patterson (Pierce County) area of southeastern Georgia, and his open-tuned, banjo-like guitar style allies him with the Hicks Brothers, Charley and Bob, although how well they knew each other is unknown. What is known for sure is that Baker recorded about a dozen sides for Gennett Records in Richmond, IN, in 1929, with sessions listed for January, February, and March of that year. Some reports place him in Florida in the mid-'60s, but it is uncertain whether this was the same Willie Baker who recorded for Gennett. He remains a shadowy and tantalizing figure whose unique frailing 12-string guitar style gives him a footnote position in the history of early blues. ~ Steve Leggett