Jo Baker (singer)

Jo Baker
Origin	Brockton, Massachusetts San Francisco, California
Genres	Blues rock
Years active	1964 - 1992
Labels	Fillmore Epic Warner Bros.
Associated acts	Elvin Bishop Stoneground

Jo Baker (1948 – November 11,1996) was a vocalist and songwriter, notable primarily for her work with Elvin Bishop and Stoneground.

Jo Baker was named after performer Josephine Baker. She was born and spent her childhood and adolescence in Brockton, Massachusetts, near Boston, as a member of one of the founding families of the community. Her paternal grandfather, General Baker, a descendant of slaves, was the founding Deacon of Lincoln Congregational Church, established in 1897. Her aunt, Mary E. Baker (d. 1995), the youngest daughter of the twelve children of General Baker and his wife Nannie, was the first African-American to work at Brockton City Hall, following her graduation from Brockton High School in 1941. In her honor, a new Brockton school was named after her in 2008, with Mary E. Baker being the first woman and the first African-American to be so honored by the city.

Jo Baker was from a family of six children. She had four sisters and a brother. She also came from a family with a significant military tradition. Her father, Harrison, was a veteran of World War II, decorated for service in the Pacific, followed by a lifelong involvement with veterans organizations.The family later moved from Brockton to the Teaticket community of Falmouth, Massachusetts.

Baker began performing publicly in Boston in 1964. Baker first met Elvin Bishop in 1967, when she was singing at a jam session of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, of which Bishop was then a member. She moved to San Francisco in 1968, living with one of her sisters, and joined Elvin Bishop in his new band, which he formed in January of 1969. Prior to forming his band, Bishop had searched for Baker by placing an ad in Rolling Stone in 1968, stating "Jo Baker, wherever you are, please call Elvin Bishop", followed by a San Francisco telephone number.

Baker was not listed as a band member and did not record with the Elvin Bishop Band until the band's second album, Feel It!, released in 1970, to which she contributed her song, "I Can't Go On". The band's eponymously-titled first album, released in 1969, had been subject to criticism in relation to the quality of Bishop's vocals. Baker thereafter became a lead vocalist on much of the band's material, as well as a general harmony vocalist. Her position as a black female lead vocalist in an otherwise all male and predominantly white blues band was rare. During 1970 and 1971, Baker was joined on vocals by the Pointer Sisters, prior to their professional debut as a separate act, which occurred as a result of their association with Bishop.

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