Ma Baker

Album: Love for Sale (1977)
Charted: 2 96
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Although "Ma Baker" is a typical Boney M song, unlike "Daddy Cool" the lyrics are not totally meaningless because it is based on a real person. Kate Barker, born Arizona Clark, married her husband George in 1892 and bore him four sons who became gangsters in the fashion of Bonny & Clyde and John Dillinger.

    Like many of the crime figures from this era - on both sides of the law - her life has become the stuff of legend. In the song she is portrayed in similar fashion, in particular as the leader of the Barker-Karpis gang, in reality though she was more of an accessory to her sons' crimes. Along with her son Fred, she was killed by the FBI near Ocklawaha, Florida in January 1935. Some 1500 rounds of ammunition were said to have been fired in what was the longest-ever FBI shootout.
  • "Ma Baker" was written by the team of Frank Farian, George Reyam and Fred Jay; it was released in the UK on the Atlantic label backed by "Still I'm Sad." Fred Jay, who wrote the lyric, was living in Germany but had spent many years in America, where he heard the Ma Baker story. >>>
    Suggestion credit:
    Alexander Baron - London, England, for above 2
  • The contributions of Bill Swisher as the Radio Announcer and Linda Blake as Ma Baker were not credited. Swisher was Boney M producer Frank Farian's American friend who was a soldier in Germany at the time; he was later used on "Rasputin." Blake was Swisher's wife.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Guy Clark

Guy ClarkSongwriter Interviews

Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris and Lyle Lovett are just a few of the artists who have looked to Clark for insightful, intelligent songs.

Rupert Hine

Rupert HineSongwriter Interviews

Producer Rupert Hine talks about crafting hits for Tina Turner, Howard Jones and The Fixx.

Sending Out An SOS - Distress Signals In Songs

Sending Out An SOS - Distress Signals In SongsSong Writing

Songs where something goes horribly wrong (literally or metaphorically), and help is needed right away.

Jethro Tull

Jethro TullFact or Fiction

Stage urinals, flute devices, and the real Aqualung in this Fact or Fiction.

Timothy B. Schmit of the Eagles

Timothy B. Schmit of the EaglesSongwriter Interviews

Did this Eagle come up with the term "Parrothead"? And what is it like playing "Hotel California" for the gazillionth time?

Stan Ridgway

Stan RidgwaySongwriter Interviews

Go beyond the Wall of Voodoo with this cinematic songwriter.