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| Skip Baker (and neighbor), 1965 |
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An Interview With Skip "El Rey de los Pescados" Baker
60sgaragebands.com: How did you first get interested in music?
Skip Baker (SB): I grew up in Charleston, South Carolina. We weren't a "musical" family. My parents didn't listen to much and we didn't have a record player until my sister got one for Christmas in 1960. I watched a couple of country music shows on TV on Saturdays: Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith, and Porter Waggoner, as well as The Grand Ole Opry. Porter's guitar player, Buck Trent, was my first "hero." When I saw the Fender guitars played by Buddy Merrill and Neil LeVang on Lawrence Welk, I thought they were the most beautiful things I'd ever seen. Even in black and white! In the summer, when it rained, which it did a lot, my friends and I would sit on a screened porch and listen to WTMA in Charleston, and WAPE (The Big APE!) in Jacksonville, Florida, and sometime the "black" station, WPAL, on our little transistor radios.
In 1961 (I was 11), my next door neighbor got a nylon-string acoustic guitar and started playing folk music. I would go over, and when he would put the guitar down, I'd start picking out songs. The first thing I learned was the bass-string riff of 'Peter Gunn.' His dad finally told my dad to get me a damned guitar so they could have some peace and quiet. I started taking lessons from Fred Sabback, Charleston's top guitar teacher, on a rented acoustic and soon moved up to a Gibson Melody Maker guitar and Skylark Amp. My first band, The Skylarks, was named for that amp--not the car--as many supposed. I met an older guy, Freddie Winstead, who had a Sears Silvertone "Amp-in-Case" guitar, and we started jamming, mostly on Ventures' versions of songs. Both his parents were deaf, so we could play as loud and as late as we wanted. Freddie started a band with some other guys his age (I was broken hearted), so I recruited a friend, Ricky McDermott, and helped him find a Kay bass. Only after he bought it, I realized he was left-handed. We reversed the strings, and he flipped it over; no problem. Then we started looking for other guys to play with. Before long, we were playing pretty regularly at parties and the Daniel's Den Teen Club at Alhambra Hall. Louise Daniels ran several teen clubs and was almost like a mother to us.
I stayed with The Skylarks for about three years and several personnel changes. Ricky and I were the constants. He and I fell out over his older brother coming into the band on Farfisa organ; I thought we could do better. The other guitar player, Bill Johnson, left with me. Ricky kept the band going, and when he left, others kept it up. A Skylarks alumni band will be playing at the St. Andrews High Class of '70's 40th Reunion this year. Unfortunately, I can't make it.
Bill and I (later) hooked up with Chuck King (bass) and Mike Jones (drums) and called ourselves The Catalinas. We played pretty often for about a year and had a "regular" Friday night gig at a teen club hosted by WTMA deejays Doug Randall and Bob "Uncle Booby" Nash. Bill went to private school, and when his grades dropped, his parents decided to send him to boarding school, so we went looking for a replacement. We all sang, but he carried the bulk of the lead vocals. I brought Stephen Nelson, one of the original Skylarks, to practice, and he dazzled the guys with his rendition of Ray Charles' 'What'd I Say.' He was and is a terrific keyboard player and he had a strong tenor.
About the same time, Ricky "Little Rikki" Baltzegar got kicked out of The Villagers (formerly The Lancers), Charleston's top teen band. They were great, and their lead guitarist Wayne West was a monster! All us youngsters looked up to him. He was probably 17 or 18 at the time. At that time they were the house band on a local TV show called The Village Square. Anyway, we were at the top of the second-tier groups and Doug and Uncle Booby hooked us up with Ricky. He was a polished entertainer, great singer, and had lots of connections, so when he said he wanted to change the name of the band to The Innovations we were fine with it. We were working a lot...especially for a bunch of 10th graders! Ricky was 17 and a senior.
The Innovations as such started in late '64/early '65. The original members were me, Skip Baker, on lead guitar; Bill Johnson on rhythm; Chuck King on bass; Stephen Nelson on piano; Mike Jones on drums; and Ricky Baltzegar on vocals. I quit in the summer of '66. Carl Veline was my immediate replacement. I later played with his brother Bob (bass) in a short-lived (lots of practices and one gig!), horn band called The Brass Menagerie. Others who followed were none other than my early mentor, Freddie Winstead, and Tommy Hutto, Stephen's cousin. They also went through at least a couple of drummers.
After a year, Bill came back from school and rejoined the group. During the time he was gone, Bill Miller, the host of The Village Square left and started a new show called Swing Ding with Bill Miller at WBTW in Florence, South Carolina. We were asked to be the house band and jumped at the chance. It was a variety show where we got three to four numbers, accompanied by six go-go girls. There would be a production number, and if a "big name" performer happened to come through, they would show a pre-recorded, lip sync'd segment and do an interview. We recorded two shows every other Saturday, and they usually had a paying gig lined up to cover our expenses.
After Bill got back, some of his friends wanted a band for a beach party. Ricky and Mike didn't want to do it, so Bill got a few of his old band mates from The Tritons, and he, Chuck, Stephen, and I joined them. We sounded like crap, and since Stephen had "The Innovations" in big gold letters on the back of his piano, I was afraid people would think we were The Innovations, so I decided to pack up and leave. Two problems: I had ridden with Stephen, and he didn't want to leave, and he was plugged into the Normal Channel of my Bandmaster and didn't have an amp. The other guys were having fun and didn't want to quit either. Harsh words were exchanged; I quit in a huff, and called my dad to come pick me up. Looking back, I over-reacted, and I was out! They replaced me and continued on for a few more years.
60s: How would you describe the band's sound? What bands influenced you?
SB: Especially with Bill in the group, we had a very big sound with a "wall of sound" instrumentation and strong vocals and harmonies. Stephen and I shared a mic and also sang in our high school's chorus together. We did everything from 'Louie, Louie' to The Ramsey Lewis Trio's 'The In Crowd'. We even did 'These Boot Are Made For Walking' and a few other "chick" tunes, but the biggest influences were the British Invasion bands and groups like The Young Rascals. Bill got one of the first Fender Electric XII's, so we did several Byrds numbers.
60s: What was the Charleston rock and roll scene like in the '60s?
SB: Like heaven! We had it made! There were tons of places to play and not nearly as much competition as today, so we were playing regularly, making good money, and having a blast. We practiced at least once a week and kept our repertoire fresh.
60s: Where did the band typically play?
SB: We didn't do many school functions. Honestly, they couldn't afford us! We played lots of private parties. All of the fraternal orders (Knights of Pythias, Elks, Lions, etc.) sponsored teen clubs and we did a lot of those. When the adults heard us, we were invited to play for some of their functions as well. We played places like Amvets and VFW and at military clubs. Charleston had a large naval base and an airforce base. We also played at Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter at the Enlisted Men's Club and at a little "off-limits" club outside the Main Gate.
We played Daniel's Den for Mrs. Daniels, a teen club at The Elks, Danny Jones Rec Center, and the teen club at the Naval Weapons Station. We played at way more than I can remember.
60s: How far was the band's "touring" territory?
SB: We stayed within the boundries of South Carolina. Some of the gigs Swing Ding booked for us were pretty far away; and remember, we were 15 and couldn't drive at night, so parents had to drive us around.
60s: Did The Innovations participate in any battle of the bands?
SB: We did pretty well. We never came up against The Lancers; they would have murdered us...but against our own age group we usually won. We behaved very professionally...onstage at least.
60s: Did The Innovations have a manager?
SB: No real manager. Ricky booked a lot of the gigs; our drummer's dad ran the EM Club at the Naval Base; Doug and Uncle Booby found us some things; and of course, Swing Ding.
60s: Why didn't The Innovations record?
SB: We were too busy! Seriously, we were more into performing. We did record 'Barbara Ann' on Bill Johnson's reel-to-reel deck and we nailed it. His older brother wouldn't believe it was us until we played it for him live and nailed it again. There were audio and videotapes of all the Swing Ding shows. I did one season and I think the guys did two more after I left. I ran into Ricky at the College of Charleston in the early '70s. He had a reel-to-reel tape of several shows' audio. I had one of those "new-fangled" cassette recorders and copied his tape. If you remember, early cassettes were notorious for self-destructing, and that's what mine did. I lost track of Ricky. He died several years ago of Aids.
60s: Did The Innovations write any original songs?
SB: We didn't have any original material.
60s: Are there any Innovations recordings? Are there any vintage live recordings, or other unreleased tracks?
SB: Only the Swing Ding tracks. Chuck King and I both tried to get in touch with WBTW, but apparently nothing was saved. The Swing Ding videos would be priceless. Unfortunately, it appears that they were recorded over.
60s: What year and why did the band break up?
SB: I left in '66 and had two great years with The Pendeltons and a year in Rhythm, Inc. I think (The Innovations disbanded in) '68, because that's when we graduated, and Stephen and Bill both went away to college.
60s: How do you best summarize your experiences with The Innovations?
SB: "Unbelievable!" Later on when I would tell people about some of our experiences, that was their response, and in hindsight, I guess I can see why it would be hard to believe. You had to be there! We were great friends and spent a lot of time together when we weren't playing. There were times when I spent more nights at Bill's house than my own. Chuck and I got reunited after 40+ years when our mom's were in the same nursing home, and he ran into my dad. He's the best bass player I ever played with and is still very active today, mainly playing jazz. Bill is a world-renowned architect in Atlanta specializing in restaurant design (he's designed some highly acclaimed restaurants), Stephen is on the faculty at the Medical University of South Carolina, and I'm plugging away at my day job in the San Diego area just waiting for my next "Fabulous Woodies" gig.
Thanks for your forum and the opportunity to relive some great years.
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