 Richard Baker  SONG FOR A LADY
Former Denison Songwriter Pens Katy's Tune by R.D. Hooper, Herald staff writer She has fought the hard times She has stood the test For more than 100 years now We have heard her whistle blow The Lady of the Great Southwest The Katy Railroad "The Singing Signalman," Richard C. Baker of Nashville and formerly of Denison, has written, sung, played and recorded a single which is on sale here for the purpose of adding to the community funds which will be used to construct the Katy Plaza Park. Baker, a graduate of Denison High School, SOSU and a former employee of the Katy, has recorded "Lady of the Great Southwest" on one side of the single and "An Engineer Named Jim" on the flip side. The songwriter said he was a signalman on the Katy line shortly after he finished high school in 1974 and his co-workers gave him the moniker because he was always singing on the job. He heard "Merle Haggard was looking for some trains songs so I sat down and wrote for 3 days and nights to finish the songs. But it turned out my information on Merle was not quite correct. But I still had the songs so it was alright." Baker quit the Katy but returned later to work in the corporate offices in Dallas. "I was wearing a suit and tie and everything but it just wasn't for me. I had to quit again and get back into some blue jeans and back to music." Although he is now waiting tables for a day gig in Nashville, he IS in Nashville, and the singer writer has high hopes for his future in Music City, U.S.A. "It was very scary at first but later it got really scary," he joked. "Seriously, I feel a lot better now about moving here 6 months ago. I am writing with some established people and have a recording studio in my home. I have one song on hold by Alabama, 'It's All In Your Mind,' and I am on the edge of my chair but I don't think they are going to use it. Something will happen, though. I just have to keep writing." The musician started at an early age, about 9. "My folks had just moved to Denison and I was talking to some rich kids about what we were all going to get for Christmas," he said. "I know now my family (Mr. and Mrs. Neal A. Baker) had planned a simple Christmas because we didn't have a lot of money right then but I had to shoot my mouth off and say I was getting a guitar for Christmas, from Santa Claus. My mother overheard the conversation and they got me a guitar after all. I didn't really believe in Santa Claus but I guess my mother decided she couldn't take the chance that I did." The youngster promptly sat down and wrote his first tune, "Fair Maiden." He played in junior high bands and high school bands but later concentrated on writing. "I'm not that great of a picker or singer, but I can write. When I decided to come to Nashville I just had to get up my nerve and make a break from normal life." Baker won, with a co-writer, the American Song Festival in 1982. The festival paid $10,000 to the winners. Baker has recently won the Third Music City Song Festival and $100 which "I haven't seen yet." He won the competition with a song titled "The Eyes of Texas." The second song on the record is about an engineer killed in a train wreck in February 1980. So much more than a good 'ol boy This engineer named Jim The engineer was killed when runaway cars slammed into his engine. A brakeman attempted to pull him from the wreckage but Jim Derichsweiler told him "to get the hell out of here," Baker said. "Jim was killed seconds after he made the brakeman leave him." Such gritty stuff is the stuff of men who are men and railroad life in general. They are the stuff of legend and song. The records may be bought for $10 each at the camera department at Barrett's, Red River Hobby Shop at 1501 S. Armstrong, Service Parts Co. at 327 W. Crawford St. and Lone Star Gas on Main St. The writer says "there is lot of competition here, so much I can't believe it. Everybody and his dog is a writer here. But it is like getting into ice cold water, it is not so bad once you go ahead and get into it. The town is not mean, like a lot of people will tell you, it is just indifferent. I am glad, though, that I joined the boys who make the noise down on 16th Avenue.  Biography Index Susan Hawkins © 2024 If you find any of Grayson County TXGenWeb links inoperable, please send me a message. |