Roy Thomas Baker, the producer best known for his work with Queen, has died aged 78.
In a long career, London-born Baker produced some of the most influential and successful rock albums of the ’70s and ’80s.
He co-produced the first four Queen albums, from the self-titled debut to the 1975 masterpiece A Night At The Opera — the latter featuring the all-time classic Bohemian Rhapsody. He also co-produced the band’s 1978 album Jazz.
Queen guitarist Brian May paid tribute by posting stereoscopic images of Baker from 1973 and commenting: "Very sad to hear of the passing of Roy Thomas Baker. Roy played a huge part in the production of so much Queen music in the early days.
"Roy was a part of our production team from the very beginning up to and including the album A Night At The Opera. We then parted company for A Day At The Races, but reunited for the Jazz album."
May continued: "Roy's production contribution along with Mike Stone's engineering for Bohemian Rhapsody will never be forgotten.
"I regret slipping out of touch latterly with Roy. I suppose life moves at such a pace these days that we imagine there will be plenty of time to rekindle a friendship, and then suddenly one day it's too late.
"Thank you, Roy for all the great work you did for us, and all the fun we had. Rest in Peace. Bri."
Baker made four albums with The Cars, including the group’s self-titled debut, which included the classic hits Just What I Needed and My Best Friend’s Girl.
In addition, he produced albums for Journey — including 1978’s Infinity, their first record with singer Steve Perry — and many other major acts including Foreigner, Ian Hunter, Ron Wood, Cheap Trick, Alice Cooper, Ozzy Osbourne and The Darkness.
The album that Baker produced for Alice Cooper was 1980’s Flush The Fashion.
It wasn’t a big hit, but when Cooper spoke to MusicRadar in 2011, he was full of praise for the producer.
Alice recalled: “It was one of those things where you don’t worry about chasing the charts, but you also don’t ignore what’s going on with radio.
“We weren’t going to give up Alice Cooper or hard rock, but it was like, ‘We’ve heard My Sharona, we’ve heard The Cars – what would happen if we got the producer who does that type of thing?’ And that was Roy Thomas Baker.
“Roy Thomas is a very hands-on producer, especially with songwriting, which I really like.
“I always think that a producer should be a musician who is also an arranger. You don’t just bring a song to him and expect him to produce it; you want him to be part of the writing of the song.
“Roy Thomas came in and asked me what I was looking for, and I said, ‘I want Alice Cooper, but I want it in the style of what’s being played on the radio now.’
He continued: “I didn’t want to give up Alice’s edge, but I saw that it could be twisted.
“We did the song Clones, which was a Top 10 hit. It was different for me, but I think the twist was that it was Alice doing that song.
“I went through the National Enquirer, and I said, ‘Every headline is going to be the name of a song.’ Aspirin Damage, Grim Facts – stuff like that.
“It was very artsy, songs like Leather Boots. I told Roy Thomas that I wanted to cover Talk Talk by the Music Machine – he slowed it down.
Alice also commented on Baker's larger than life personality: “I don’t mind saying this: If they were ever going to do the story of Nero, probably the most decadent of all the emperors, they would have to use Roy Thomas Baker.
“He would call me up and say, ‘Alice, darling, I’ll be a little late today. I seem to be handcuffed to my bed.’ I would go, ‘What?’ And he’d say, ‘Yes, two girls I picked up at the Whiskey last night; I woke up, handcuffed to my bed, and they ran off with my wallet and my Rolls-Royce.’
“I’d laugh, like, ‘That’s funny.’ And he’d go, ‘No, no, I’m quite serious.’ He was, too
“This was a daily routine with him. I went, ‘Wow! They call Alice Cooper decadent. I’m nothing compared to Roy Thomas Baker!’
“But you know, he’s an amazing character, and he’s so good in the studio. He would never say anything was good or great. He did this with Queen, he did this with The Cars. It was always, ‘That’ll do.’”
