Carroll Baker was not always country. Growing up in the small fishing village of Port Medway, Nova Scotia, Baker was raised in a musical family that loved to play country music. But she followed her own beat — for her it was all about The Beatles, The Everly Brothers, and Roy Orbison.
Although she liked to play guitar and sing, being a performer was the last thing on her mind. She never guessed that she would perform on worldwide stages, record dozens of hit songs, and be recognized as a member of the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame.
It all started one night in 1969. She was just 19 years old, and not even allowed in the bars in Ontario where the legal drinking age was still 21.
She snuck into the Halton Hotel bar with some friends, who tipped off the band that she could carry a tune. To her surprise, they called her up on stage and asked her to sing a country song — the only country song she could remember — “Stand by Your Man” by Tammy Wynette.
That night kicked off a string of events that changed her life forever, but those first few years playing in bars were not easy.
“Some of them were places where most women would not want to hang out,” Baker says. “You learned pretty quickly you were just the opening act to what people really came for — the booze. Ducking a beer bottle or glasses became the norm along with the never-ending fights that broke out.”
Around this time, her father passed away, and she finally grew to love his favourite classic country songs. She recited them as a way to remember him.
Baker quickly became a bonified country singer, but she kept the pop and rock influences in her sound. She played electric guitar on the first single she ever recorded, and it even featured a Hammond organ. “Mem’ries of Home,” written by George Petralia and recorded at Don Grashey’s studio, stayed on the charts for 26 weeks and peaked at No. 14.
Without asking for it, her career took off. Still playing in bars with booze as her competition, she decided to put on a men’s suit jacket, pants, and bowtie to win the attention of the rowdy patrons.
“Right then and there I knew this was not what I thought the music business was supposed to be like. This felt more like a side-show at a carnival,” Baker says. “Still, I had a job to do.”
Continuing to perform and record throughout the early 1970s, she finally cracked the Top Ten with “Ten Little Fingers” in 1974. But she was making music that other people wanted her to make, and started to wonder if it was all worth it.
“After a few years, I finally had enough. Tired of having to record songs I didn’t always like, or the sound of the recordings,” Baker says. “I didn’t like any of those recordings back then and I still don’t. However, I have come to realize without them, perhaps none of the music I have made since those days may not have happened.”
In 1974, Baker faced the dilemma of falling out of love with her own music. She had all but decided to quit, when she heard a new song that captured her heart. She was excited to record it, but her team told her not to.
“I had always listened in the past, but this time, I was determined,” Baker says. “Maybe I was crazy, as some had said about me, just another spoiled ‘girl singer,’ I heard that a lot.”
The song was “I’ve Never Been This Far Before,” originally written and recorded by Conway Twitty. It was a controversial song — over four minutes long, with sexually suggestive lyrics, and written in the United States — which would not help it get played on Canadian radio. Still, she persisted.
“I wanted to record something I felt strongly about. If it didn’t happen, I was not going to record anymore. Final, my decision. I had a gut instinct and I listened to it and stood up for myself.”
Her version of that song shot to No. 1 on the charts, and remarkably, it was followed by 11 more No. 1 hits.
“Women requested it constantly, and it became my first number one song. So much for being ‘a spoiled girl singer.’ I was a woman who made a decision and stood up for what I believed. I knew it was not the popular thing to do, but I did it anyway. I am proud of that decision. It changed my life.”
Throughout her five-decade career, Baker recorded 14 albums and released more than 20 No. 1 songs — the first 12 of which were consecutive, earning her a record that remains unbroken in Canadian country music.
Baker performed her hits on the biggest stages from coast to coast and around the world.
“I became the ‘voice’ for women who filled my shows to capacity. They told me I liberated them and they felt emboldened to say what they wanted to say. They felt free.”
Her title of “Canada’s First Lady of Country Music” was earned through decades of breaking down barriers. Baker was one of the first country artists to perform on the televised JUNO Awards, the first Canadian country artist to be awarded certified Gold record status, and is even a member of the Order of Canada.
“These things all happened, I am convinced, because of my decision to record a song I truly believed in.”
Among all her awards, the Gold and Platinum records are her most treasured accolades, she says, because “That was from the fans.”
“They loved my music and they showed it by buying my records and attending my concerts.”
Looking back on the wild ride of becoming one of Canada’s first female country stars, Baker hopes that her career helped open doors for the next generations of women.
“Women can be and are a force in music. It takes hard work, determination, people who believe in you, as well as the proper balance of humility and confidence.”
“As for me, it was and still is knowing who I am and not letting anyone change me. I have no doubt that uniqueness is the real secret to my success. Being a woman is a bonus!”
