Autographs for this scan were signed on a "MICKEY BAKER Teaches JAZZ" book
that I've had since the middle 70's. I've listed (below) by NAME first, some basic
INFO about the artist, then any dialogue that may be written in the autograph.
Whenever possible, I've included a picture (if it's directly related to ME) as well. You might want to
"zoom" in on some of these, if you're so inclined (..computer literate, and are
into that sort of thing).
Starting from the top row reading right by "rows".
Ben Cauley - 
Trumpeter for the "original" BAR-KAYS band, most
of whom were killed in a plane crash which also killed OTIS REDDING.
Fortunately, Ben was NOT killed on that historical flight,
and has inched out quite a "history" for himself . Their big hit of the mid 60's
was "SOUL FINGER", an instrumental tune basically
with some "party" chanting, applause, laughter, etc.. Ben is featured on 5
separate tracks on 3 different original songs of mine on an up-coming CD release entitled "A". He even wrote out
part of a chart for one of the songs. Dialogue reads, "Ben Cauley of the original Bar-Kays.
Elmer Hooper 
- Singer for THE PLATTERS.
Elmer was with the group when I toured with PAUL ROBI'S "World Famous
Platters" in 1984. His birthday was 3 days after mine, so we (my Band mates AND
The PLATTERS) celebrated our birthday together. We both turned 30. Ask me sometime about the NUDE party that he and I
"stumbled" on in the Americana Hotel in Kansas City, MO after one of our gigs at
the "Rain Forest", a club located in the hotel. Dialogue
reads, "To Mike, all the best, Elmer Hooper 1984 The Platters Platters.
Rick Derringer 
- Guitarist once associated with THE McCOYS (of Hang On Sloopy
fame), JOHNNY and EDGER WINTER, etc. I met Rick in 1991 at the Omni - New Daisy
Theater (where I once opened for David Alen Coe) in Memphis,
TN. I have another autograph that he signed on an
old McCoys LP.. my personal favorite: "Infinate McCoys". Dialogue reads, "Rick Derringer '91".
Beverly Hanson 
- Singer for THE PLATTERS.
Beverly was married to (it was rumored) the "Owner" of the most
successful car dealership in Hollywood, CA. She was the 1st one to get close to ALL
band members in OUR group that played backing them up. Dialogue
reads, "Thanks so much - Love Beverly Hanson 1984 The PLATTERS.
Paul Robi 
- Original vocalist
for THE
PLATTERS. Paul was the most humble person I've probably ever met when it came
to his past "fame". He was a humorous "clown" onstage (I still
use some of his jokes on MY performances from time to time) and the most involved (small
wonder) in making sure our band had the material just right. He was an excellent R
& B piano player and would explain the "difficult" parts by banging it out
for US. Our own private show! Here is an additional autograph, though it's a bit hard to read. It says,
"To Mike - All the best, Paul Robi" . You'll have to tilt
your head a bit to read it, but the Dialogue on THIS page reads,
"Thanks for asking - Paul Robi The PLATTERS 1984. (I told you he was humble.
;-)
Bill Marshall 
- Probably the oldest friend of
mine (from 68-69 era) that did REAL GOOD in the
music biz. He played with ALL the great Memphis bands in 60's and 70's (such as LARRY RASBERRY & The HIGHSTEPPERS..
who brought Greg "Fingers" Taylor.. harmonica, to JIMMY BUFFETT'S
attention), recorded with most of them, was referred to HANK WILLIAMS Jr., and the rest
was history. Drumming with Mr. Williams for 15 years, as well as the
"offshoot" Country Rock band (containing MOST of the members of Hank's band): THE BAMA BAND. I found the band's CD "Takin' Off
The Edge" once at a used CD store for $2.99 (on it he coments in the
"autograph", "To Mike, What a deal on this CD. Enjoy - Merry Christmas -
Bill Marshall". I hope he wasn't being sarcastic.
;-) He now plays with SURVIVOR - the the more "popular" JIMI
JAMMISON (also a Memphian) version. Bill still lives in Memphis and in fact plays in
a few local bands when he is not touring. Bill is
featured on drums on 4 of my songs (and "overdubbed" timbales on one
of those tracks!) on the "A" CD.
Dialogue on THIS page reads, "To my Bud,
Mike - Bill Marshall".
Carlton "Carlos" Morales
- Carlos
played and recorded with JULIAN LENNON, John
Lennon's son (yes.. THE J. L.) and toured the USA as a guitarist with Julian's 1st World
Tour. Carlos is from one of the "Virginia's" (I forget which) in the USA,
but somehow wound up in England.. first linking up with PETER GREEN of Early
FLEETWOOD MAC fame. He met and joined up with Julian somehow through Peter (or one
of Peter's friends). Julian and Carlos, along with Julian's lifelong friend and
guitar buddy Justin Clayton co-wrote Julian's 1st released SINGLE entitled:
"VALOTTE", a title that Carlos had suggested as an ALBUM title, which Julian
ultimately did. He was "The Bass Player" in Julian's Music Video:
"TOO LATE FOR GOODBYES". In addition to "Valotte", Carlos also
co-authored: "O.K. FOR YOU" from the same LP. He then co-wrote a song that
wound up on the flip side of a European released single (which never made it to the
States, that I don't know the name of..). On Julian's next ALBUM: "THE SECRET
VALUE OF DAYDREAMING", he helped write: "EVERYDAY". I met him because
Mike Morales, his "bass playing" brother lives here. He met the
daughter of MARGUERITE PIAZZIA (the World Class OPERA singer) at a local Memphis
"volunteer" TV station during a "Video" taping of one of the
Public Access Channel's featured shows where she was a volunteer, running a TV
camera. Afterwards (a love thing), he decided to move here, met me, played in one of
MY bands at the time: The "MIKE STRICKLAND BAND"
for about 5 months.. while he "lived" off his "royalty" checks.
He CERTAINLY didn't get rich with me!! I've recorded numerous cassette tapes of just
he and I playing acoustic guitar on MY original songs in some clubs
we played. Maybe I'll post some snippets someday. Dialogue
reads, "Carlton Morales - J.L. '85 (for Julian and the year).
Bo Diddley 
- I met Bo when I played guitar in
a 5 piece JAZZ band at MUD ISLAND, a local Memphis attraction. He was playing there
later that evening at the Mud Island Amphitheater on the River and was out strolling the
"river walk", which is a scale model of the Mighty Mississippi on the grounds in
front of where OUR band: "TIGHT FIT" was playing. Again, you'll have to
tilt your head some to read his signature. Dialogue reads
(I think!), "How's things - Bo Diddley 1982.
Bea Jaye Mitchell 
- Singer for
THE PLATTERS.
Bea Jaye was the most recent addition to The PLATTERS.. he'd been with them about 2
or 3 months when I joined. He sang Bass and could rattle the walls, especially when
he was the "featured" soloist on the Tennessee Ernie Ford tune: "16
Tons". I have a hilarious antic dote about Bea Jay, but I can't tell you on THIS page!
Dialogue reads, "Bod Bless Ya - B. J. Platters -
84.
Sonny Shroyer 
- Starred as
"ENOS STRATE" in hit TV series of the middle to late 70's "The Dukes Of
Hazard". My band played in Halls, TN for an annual town celebration which
Sonny MC'd. I think I remember him saying HE was from Halls (or from the
"general" area). Dialogue reads, "*To
Mike - Love yall! Enos - Sonny Shroyer.
Andrew Love - Tenor sax player with "THE MEMPHIS HORNS".
You'll have to tilt your head again to read this as well. Too numerous to mention
ALL the people that this music giant has be associated with. Andrew is a local
musician without a large ego.. if that were NOT the case, I would probably only WISH that
I could be able to play with someone so talented. He and Ben are old friends, and
Ben was picked by Andrew to play trumpet because WAYNE JACKSON has
since moved to Nashville. I was overwhelmed REGARDLESS of the
"choice". While eating pizza during a break in the recording session
Andrew commented, "I've NEVER had to work
like this!" A reference to some of the "swells", note selections,
etc., that I had suggested.. which they were more than happy to comply with. Dialogue reads, "Best wishes - Andrew Love.
Larry Lee 
- Second guitarist with JIMI HENDRIX on the WOODSTOCK concert in
Woodstock, NY. Larry met Jimi (then known as "Jimmy Hendrix") in
Memphis when Hendrix played the "chitlin' circuit" prior to moving to New York
in the middle 60's. When Jimi played Woodstock, his JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE had just
broke up, so he ask a few "old friends" to play the concert. Besides the
well known BILLY COX, Larry Lee was the "other" guitarist Jimi called.
Larry still lives in Memphis, and we have actually played at Mud Island Amphitheater
(here's a pic of ME a full year before the park actually
opened) in DIFFERENT bands (his was blues, mine was jazz) during the parks opening
season. The park used 3 bands at once, the other being a Blue Grass band. Mr.
Lee was hired by me for my" "A" CD
for one song, but had such a good time that he played an additional tune FOR FREE.. just
because the "moment" was right. He signed
my HENDRIX CD for me as well. Dialogue reads,
"Larry Lee - to Mick (a "nickname" for me.. I suppose!!)
is from the back of the same book.. inside cover. It is signed by TODD RUNDGREN and so far his is the ONLY signing on the page. I have two additional autographs by him.. 1 - the first time I met him in the early 70's - it simply reads, "Hi, Todd R, and 2 - the second time I met him. This one is signed on a "flyer" that was passed to the concert goers, and also features an autograph by: MARK "MOOGY" KLINGMAN - a keyboard player that once had a song released by BETTE MEDLER. (The one posted here is the THIRD from his "solo" tour here a few years back.) I am a HUGE Todd fan (my oldest son's first name is TODD) and have seen him in concert 6 times. That's only the half of it... I've MET him 3 of the 6 times !! The last time we met, I hand delivered a "demo" tape with 4 of my original tunes on it to him. He stated, "No expectations!?!" I never expected a miracle.. but you still never know. I own probably 45 or so releases by Todd including bootlegs, imports, and even a copy of: "The Todd Rundgren Radio Show"... a promotional LP released only as a radio promo for his latest project at the time... "Something, Anything". Dialogue reads, "R - TR-i", which means "Todd Rundgren interactive". Oh yea..
for the 3rd anual "Jack & Laura Kelley's: SO LONG TO SUMMER PARTY". I've played ALL three years, and "health" willing, I'll do the next 100. A flatbed trailer was set up for the band, I supplied music on the "patio" before and after their performance. Phil (lead singer) and Mac (drummer) also sang with me and some friends that dropped by. Dialogue reads, "MOLLY HATCHET - Mack --- then to be honest, I have NO IDEA! If YOU figure it out TELL ME.
