Chet Baker Research Paper

723 Words3 Pages
Baker began using heroin in the 1950s, resulting in an addiction that lasted the remainder of his life. At times, Baker pawned his instruments for money to continue his habit. In the early 1960s, he served a year in prison in Italy on drug charges. He was then expelled from both West Germany and the United Kingdom for drug offenses. Baker was eventually deported from West Germany to the United States after breaking the law there a second time. He settled in Milpitas in northern California, there he played in San Jose and San Francisco between jail terms for faking prescriptions. In 1968, Chet Baker was beaten after a gig while trying to buy drugs, in The Trident Restaurant in Sausalito, California. He gained severe cuts on the lips and broken…show more content…
He stated in the film Let's Get Lost that a friend attempted to rob him one night but backed off. They returned the next night with a group of several men who chased him. Chet Baker entered a car and the men surrounded him. Instead of rescuing him, the people inside the car pushed him back out onto the street, and he was beaten to the point that his teeth were knocked out, leaving him without the ability to play his horn. He did some odd jobs to pay for dentures, such as pumping gas. Meanwhile he was fitted for dentures and worked on his embouchure. Three months later he got a gig in New York. 1966 to 1974, Baker mostly recorded music that could mostly be classified as West Coast jazz. Even though Chet Baker had an addiction he still worked hard to be a great musician. For example he did not have to go back into the music business after losing his teeth in the horrible…show more content…
He relocated to New York City and began performing and recording again with guitarist Jim Hall. Later in the 1970s, Baker returned to Europe, where he was assisted by his friend Diane Vavra, who took care of his personal needs and helped him during his recording and performance dates. Chet Baker played in Europe from 1978 until his death. This was Baker's most productive era as a recording artist. However, his recordings never reached a wider audience, even though many of them were well received by critics. In 1983, British singer Elvis Costello a longtime fan of Baker, hired the trumpeter to play a solo on his song "Shiphuilding”, from the album Punch the Clock. The song exposed Baker's music to a new audience. Later, Baker often featured Costello's song "Almost Blue” in his concert sets, and recorded the song for Let’s Get Lost, a documentary film about his life. At about 3:00 A.M. on May 13, 1988, Chet Baker was found dead on the Prins Hendrikkade, near the Zeedijk, the street below his second-story room of Hotel Prins Hendrik in Amsterdam, with serious wounds to his head. Heroin and cocaine were found in his hotel room, and an autopsy also found these drugs in his body. A plaque is outside the hotel symbolizing him and the room he was staying in. They call it “The Chet Baker Room”. He was buried in Inglewood,

    More about Chet Baker Research Paper

      Open Document