Carroll Baker

Carroll Baker entered the world in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, and went on to rank among Canada’s leading female country vocalists. As the daughter of an old-time country fiddler, she initially favored rock & roll over country sounds until her family relocated to cosmopolitan Ontario, where exposure to country music triggered homesickness. Encouraged by her husband, she entered a bar band in Oakville, Ontario, in 1969, only to be dismissed three weeks later. Soon afterward she secured a spot on a local radio program, where sculptor George Petralia heard her; he had composed the song “Mem'ries of Home” and invited her to record it, producing a hit that remained on the charts for 26 weeks in 1970. Baker captured Canada’s Top Female Singer Juno award in 1977—an honor she ultimately received five times through 1995—while also hosting her own series, The Carroll Baker Jamboree, and three additional CBC specials. In 1983 she signed with Tembo, the new imprint founded by her manager Ed Preston, and sustained strong popularity throughout Canada. Stateside she achieved two country-chart successes: “Mama What Does Cheatin' Mean” in 1981 and “It Always Hurts Like the First Time” in 1985.