Baker Knight, 72, Prolific Songwriter

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The New York Sun

Baker Knight, whose hits were recorded by stars including Elvis Presley, Paul McCartney, Frank Sinatra, and Dean Martin, died Wednesday at home in Birmingham, Ala. He was 72.


More than 40 singers recorded his tunes, including the 1970 Presley hit “The Wonder of You” and Martin’s “Somewhere There’s a Someone.” McCartney and Rickey Nelson sang the same Knight hit, “Lonesome Town,” decades apart.


Knight learned to play guitar while in the Air Force. He formed Baker Knight and the Knightmares, who opened for country stars Carl Perkins and Conway Twitty in 1956.


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