Producer Roy Thomas Baker Passes

Roy Thomas Baker, one of the rock era’s most successful music producers, died at the age of 78 at his home in Lake Havasu City, AZ on April 12 it was just revealed by his family. The cause of death has not been established. Baker produced many of Queen’s major works including “Bohemian Rhapsody,” that was released in 1975. It is currently the most streamed song to have been recorded in the 20th century and was named by The Guinness Book of Records as the top British single of all time. Queen’s Roger Taylor noted of Baker, “I think he brought a certain amount of discipline and a lot of cynicism and a passion for fattening desserts. He liked his food, Roy. He was very disciplined and very strict in the beginning . . . he would always get it right. The take had to be right.”

Born in Hampstead, London, Baker began his career in music at Decca Studios in London where he served as second engineer to Gus Dudgeon and Tony Visconti. He worked on recordings by Ten Years After, Dr. John, Ginger Baker’s Air Force, Savoy Brown, Moody Blues, Nazareth, Yes, David Bowie, Be Bop Deluxe, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Dusty Springfield and many more. By 1971, he had become chief engineer with notable sonic successes including Free’s “Alright Now” and “Bang A Gong” by T. Rex. He later moved his base of operations to Trident Studios where he began developing and producing an unknown band named Queen, whose ensuing successes were virtually unprecedented. Baker then moved to the US at the behest of Columbia Records. He produced Journey, Ian Hunter, Ronnie Wood and Reggie Knighton for his RTB Audio Visual Productions.  

Neal Schon of Journey recalled working with Baker, “We did Infinity with the infamous Roy Thomas Baker, and we did so many different things on that record that I’d never tried, or even thought about doing. I learned a lot from Roy.”

In the US, Elektra Records, Queen’s US label, assigned him album projects by Lindsey Buckingham, Dokken, Mötley Crüe, Joe Lynn Turner and The Cars. He produced the latter’s first four albums and a string of hits including “Just What I Needed,” “My Best Friend’s Girl,” “Good Times Roll” and “Shake It Up.” The Cars guitarist Elliot Easton recalled Baker and his contribution to their success. “Roy was one of the pieces of the puzzle that made The Cars what they became. He didn’t belabor anything or take things overly seriously. He was fun to work with, a mirthful guy whose affect was kind of Monty Pythonesque and, as it happens, a great cook.”

While with Elektra, Roy Thomas Baker oversaw the signing of Metallica, Simply Red, Yello, Peter Schilling and 10,000 Maniacs. Over the course of his career, he also produced Foreigner, Alice Cooper, Cheap Trick, Devo, Ozzy Osbourne, Sammy Hager, The Stranglers, Guns N’ Roses and Smashing Pumpkins. Jimmy Chamberlain of the Pumpkins noted of Baker, “That guy hears things that nobody else hears! I learned more with Roy Thomas Baker in those four or five months [recording the Zeitgeist album] than I have ever learned in my entire recording career.” 

Roy Thomas Baker is survived by his wife Tere Livrano Baker and brother Alan Baker. Additionally, he leaves Eva Ashley, his aunt, Tere’s nephews Dominic Ledesma and Julian Ledesma, as well as sisters-in-law Lezlee, Lori and Lyn Livrano. 

It’s been suggested that Roy Thomas Baker’s life was the inspiration for The Cars’ first hit single “Good Times Roll.”