About Me
Born with the BluesDon Baker is a survivor. Desperate conditions during his 1950's childhood saw him hospitalised with Tuberculosis at age 7 and then drift into petty crime as a child and young adult which brought him in and out of remand homes until age 19. While in hospital Don came upon a harmonica player and was quickly charmed by the instrument. He then acquired a harmonica of his own and drove the matron crazy. It could be said that hospital introduced Don Baker to the harmonica; prison to the guitar and inner-city Dublin tenement life to the blues.Don Baker was born in Whitehall, Dublin in 1950, into a dysfunctional family. Essentially abandoned and left to fend for himself, largely due to an alcoholic father it was not surprising that the young Don Baker drifted into petty crime, landing up in a remand home for a month at the age of 11. A few years later Don was incarcerated in St Conleth's Reformatory, Daingean run by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. Don was one of the first people to speak about child abuse (with Gay Byrne on a landmark RTE Late Late Show) and subsequently spoke openly about the horrific abuse he suffered as a child at the hands of the Oblate's who ran the notorious Daingean institution in Offaly in RTE's States of Fear (the programme that forced the Irish Government to make an unprecedented public apology on behalf of the State to the victims of this savage system). Frequently in trouble with the police, Baker was in and out of prison until the age of 19. While in prison, he took up the guitar and according to Don "never looked back". After prison Don lived in the Corporation Buildings in run down inner city Dublin where he was soon introduced to blues music.Leaving Ireland for the continent of Europe aged 22, he travelled throughout Germany, Austria, Holland and France, playing all the while. He moved on to jazz and blues clubs and the odd support slot at a major concert, with the help of a newly acquired agent. Ten years was spent on the road, going from country to country. During this time he mostly lived on trains, and on people's floors. He began drinking excessively, probably using alcohol to dull repressed emotions dating from childhood. The drinking continued for many years until he finally sought help and at last kicked the booze habit.In 1979 he was asked by one of Ireland's top TV shows, the Late Late Show, to write a song about inner city Dublin. Don wrote 'Dublin's Inner City' which became a huge hit for The Jolly Beggarmen reaching No. 1 in the Irish charts.Baker has since built a wide reputation as a harmonica player. Mark Feltham (who has played with Oasis, Joe Cocker and Rory Gallagher) rates him as the greatest acoustic harmonica player in the world, as does Charlie McCoy and U2's Bono.He is the author of several instruction books on the harmonica, which are on sale in several languages and are distributed throughout the world, as well as five teaching videos. He also adjudicates bi-annually at the World Harmonica Championships in the blues category.Don Baker's harmonica (or harp) playing is influenced by blues players such as Sonny Boy Williamson and Sonny Terry. Don was also greatly influenced by Charlie McCoy, who has since become a friend and recorded the Don Baker composition 'Jordanna'. Don recorded the Charlie McCoy composition 'Funky Duck' on his album 'Miss You'.A fine guitar player, Don learned blues guitar by listening to the great country blues players - Mississippi John Hurt, Blind Blake, Robert Johnson, and Scrapper Blackwell.Don's acclaimed acting debut was in the film "In the Name of the Father". He featured in the role of "Joe McAndrew", the head of the IRA in the prison where Gerry Conlon (Guildford Four) was detained. The movie, directed by Jim Sheridan, starred Daniel Day-Lewis, Emma Thompson and Pete Postlethwaite. Don has since had many successful roles including "Mia" starring alongside Claudia Cardinale, "On the Nose" starring alongside Dan Ackryod and Robbie Coltrane and "Mystics" starring alonside Milo O'Shea and David Kelly.Don's life has been both poignant and fast paced. Jackie Hayden, a director of Hot Press Magazine and Music Industry Consultant, has documented Don's experiences in the 'Best Sellers List' biography "The Winner in Me" published by Marino Books / Mercier Press. Jackie Hayden's last full-length work was "My Boy: The Philip Lynott Story", which topped the Irish book charts in 1996.
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