Claude Baker

[Scarre]

There aren't many things that I really hate...cancer is one of them. My mother had surgery 4 weeks ago. They said that they managed to get it all out...I truly hope they did.
Claude, rest in peace.
Cancer truly sucks.
My prayers go out to the family and friends...

[G.C.]

So sorry to read this news. My condolences to Mr Bakers family and friends.

[Sergio Luiz]

Im so , so sad. I,m shocked. I just e-mailed him a couple of days ago and I thought it was strange that he didn't reply.
I have never met Claude, and in fact this is the first time I ever saw his face. But I was in contact with him since 1999. Half of my CD collection of over 300 CDs came from him. He was a true gentleman...such a nice person. He kept CDs reserved for me for years, as it was hard to keep with all the releases. I knew his back was given him problems, but I didnt know he had cancer.
I feel like I lost a friend. Everytime I look at my collection now I will see a bit of Claude on it. Thank you my friend, for everything.
May You rest in peace.

[JamieAKelley]

That's so sad!!

Claude was a super nice guy to me, when I was in Quebec for a few months in 2006, I visited Montreal for the Elvis convention (which is where I met my wife, actually!). Claude offered to give me a ride back to Quebec City and even bought me lunch. We talked about the concerts he went to, our shared love for Elvis, and had a great time.

Definitely a true Elvis fan, and he will absolutely be missed.

RIP Claude, my thoughts and prayers are with you, man.

[elvisfan51]

Rest in peace my friend.

[ArtyMorty]

Heaven has a new Angel. R.I.P Claude.

[Mister Mike]

Man, talk about a kick in the gut....

Claude was my «Elvis dealer» for 14 years. From Tucson '76 to The Return To Vegas. Along the way, there were Saturday night «Elvis evenings» at my place, when another friend and I would enjoy listening to Claude tell his stories of following Elvis on tour while sharing a pizza and a few beers. Claude was a great raconteur. However, his stories would often be interrupted by him stepping out for a smoke, but that eventually ended when he finally managed to quit smoking.

I always picked up the latest FTDs in person, driving over to his place. We used to sit in his office, or den, or whatever you want to call it, and just talk. Yes, a lot about Elvis but also a lot about his other passion: movies. The Christopher Lee / Peter Cushing horror movies from the early 70s were a favorite. He was converting his DVD collection into blu-ray, so I couldn't tell you the number of DVDs he gave me over the years. Even a few Elvis bootlegs that he had too many copies of and couldn't sell were generously handed over. That's how he was.

However, it seems that in everyone's life, there are people who come into your life and then quietly drift back out. Unfortunately, for me, Claude was one of them. And all by my fault. What seemed to be never ending repairs to the road to his place made it too much of an hassle for me to go and pick up the latest releases (that and a rethinking of my budget). I thought about having him mail them to me but never got around to asking him to do so. I no longer bought the FTDs that kept us in touch, so I stopped contacting Claude. And he quietly slipped out of my life.... Now for good....

Claude was a gentleman, and a gentle man. Funny. kind and generous. I'm happy for the time we shared. Go gently into the night, my friend. You shine much too brightly to ever be surrounded by darkness. RIP.

P.S. I still have his number on speed dial on my phone. I think it'll stay there for a while. If only as a reminder that you should never put off calling someone you haven't talked to in a while. You never know.

[YDKM]

Yes R.I.P. Claude,
i had a LOT of correspondance with Claude over many, many years and he was always after a certain photo!~ .. one he didn't have,... every timer i opened up a package from him is smelled of Cigarette smoke(and i guess even though he had given up smoking -it did do him in! ) but his generous spirit dedication to Elvis and his 'Crazy Canuck pages' were an amazing read... i saw all the footage shot by him from the Feb 77' tour and it was amazing!~ i feel Paul Sweeny's post is simply 'THE BEST TRIBUTE anyone could ever post about him.He will be sorely missed and in 2016 only aged 60 is dying about 20 years too soon!~ Rest in peace Claude -you spread a LOT of memorable pleasure amongst the Elvis world!~ i must play my Cleveland 23rd October 76' Bootleg today!~

[jessewade]

Reading all your posts, I truly regret not knowing the man . These are beautiful tributes

[Scarre]

Man, talk about a kick in the gut....

Claude was my «Elvis dealer» for 14 years. From Tucson '76 to The Return To Vegas. Along the way, there were Saturday night «Elvis evenings» at my place, when another friend and I would enjoy listening to Claude tell his stories of following Elvis on tour while sharing a pizza and a few beers. Claude was a great raconteur. However, his stories would often be interrupted by him stepping out for a smoke, but that eventually ended when he finally managed to quit smoking.

I always picked up the latest FTDs in person, driving over to his place. We used to sit in his office, or den, or whatever you want to call it, and just talk. Yes, a lot about Elvis but also a lot about his other passion: movies. The Christopher Lee / Peter Cushing horror movies from the early 70s were a favorite. He was converting his DVD collection into blu-ray, so I couldn't tell you the number of DVDs he gave me over the years. Even a few Elvis bootlegs that he had too many copies of and couldn't sell were generously handed over. That's how he was.

However, it seems that in everyone's life, there are people who come into your life and then quietly drift back out. Unfortunately, for me, Claude was one of them. And all by my fault. What seemed to be never ending repairs to the road to his place made it too much of an hassle for me to go and pick up the latest releases (that and a rethinking of my budget). I thought about having him mail them to me but never got around to asking him to do so. I no longer bought the FTDs that kept us in touch, so I stopped contacting Claude. And he quietly slipped out of my life.... Now for good....

Claude was a gentleman, and a gentle man. Funny. kind and generous. I'm happy for the time we shared. Go gently into the night, my friend. You shine much too brightly to ever be surrounded by darkness. RIP.

P.S. I still have his number on speed dial on my phone. I think it'll stay there for a while. If only as a reminder that you should never put off calling someone you haven't talked to in a while. You never know.

I didn't know him...but what a great post.

[norrie]

Sounds like a great guy I wish I had known him.May he rest in peace.

norrie

[burninglove67]

This is sad news for sure. Like many others here, I only new Claude from emails and getting latest releases from him. He was a lovely man and was always very professional about getting new releases to your doorstep asap. He was also someone I could tell was a genuine, kind person. Just the other day I thought, how weird that I hadn't gotten an email from Claude on the latest FTD Releases...now I know why.

May he rest in peace and be free from pain.

My condolences to his family and those he loved....

-Tish

[rlj4ep]

I am shocked and so saddened by this news. I had the privilege of talking to Claude a couple of times. He was so kind. Several Elvis books in my collection are due to the kindness of Claude.

Rest in Peace, Claude. My prayers are offered for his family and friends.

Paul, thank you for sharing your thoughts and for your support of a good man and true Elvis fan.

rlj

[dougkapp]

Very sad news. RIP, Claude.
My prayers are offered for all his family.

[Tony Trout]

I just saw the headline on the home page and am praying this is not true. Please say it isn't true.

Wow, this is a shock:
http://www.elvis-collectors.com/welcome.html

Claude Baker was a HUGE fan, extremely dedicated to Elvis' life and career. His pages on this site are still fun to visit.

My thoughts and prayers go out to his loved ones today.

What Doc said.....I'm in shock....RIP, Claude!!

[Mitch]

Wow, I can't believe the news.

I have known Claude Baker for 20 years. He was one of the nicest people ever.

Rest In Peace my Friend.

I will miss you,

Mitch

[Mike C]

Paul, thank you for sharing your memories and pictures. I know we haven't always seen eye to eye on politics but on Claude I fully share your sentiments.

[Sergio Luiz]

To Claude
..

[Juan Luis]

Reading all your posts, I truly regret not knowing the man . These are beautiful tributes

Same here. Beautiful tributes. Thanks Paul for sharing the photos. May he R.I.P.

[Pat T]

Thank you Claude for getting me hooked on FTD, and for always having the time to chat and providing me with information.
You were always a very generous guy.

RIP

Patrick

[ForeverElvis]

Such surprising and sad news.

I met Claude in 1997 on the old alt.elvis forum. We had a disagreement, on Elvis of course, but soon discovered it was a misunderstanding between his French and my English! At that point we'd trade emails every few months discovering quickly that i could obtain "Import" CDs from Claude, but i couldn't afford them.

I was only married a few months and money was short, next thing I know a box arrives with 4 cassettes, A Profile - The King On Stage copied to cassette by Claude. What a kind and generous thing to do.

This is a good example of Claude's generosity - we had never met, i was just another Elvis fan in British Columbia Canada he didn't know, but he took the time to make those cassettes, package them up and send them cross country just to make another Elvis fan happy. I couldn't thank him enough. Then he offered to copy Imports for me if i provided the cassettes. I was blown away! For about two years cassette tapes traveled back and forth across Canada filling my house with all the imports the Elvis World was talking about.
Once i got a better computer, we graduated to burning the imports onto CDRs.

He never asked for a dime.

He just did it out of the kindness of his heart.

Once FTD started in 1999 i promised myself that i would only buy them from Claude. I couldn't repay him for his generosity but i could make sure i stayed a loyal customer. I did, I happily spent thousands on over 150 CDs in almost two decades.

During the past 18 years i was an email friend - we never met. Traded a few emails every month or so, an Elvis story here and there, asking his thoughts on the newer releases, his stories of the Canuck On Tour etc... His emails always started out asking how i was and the family before Elvis or business. So Kind.

When i was recovering from a heart attack in 2008 a box arrived containing 3 or 4 current Imports "Blazing Into Darkness" was the one i remember most. Just out of the blue, something to aid in my recovery he said.

He wouldn't take money for them - even sending a $50 cheque back that i had sent him towards them.

As my children came along the financial woes of raising a family with my wife grew more difficult and it was hard to afford the FTD releases, Claude ever generous always sent me the FTD CD's and let me pay $20 this week, $30 that week, $50 another month etc... We kept a running account and i never missed a CD or got too far behind. Claude never asked me for money to settle up, he just asked that I make sure I send something when i could.

I can honestly say I've never met a more generous person in the Elvis World than Claude Baker.

Thank you for all of your generosity and Kindness Claude, my Elvis friend - I am really going to miss you.
RIP

PS I have $50 owing on my account with Claude - that is being donated to the Cancer Society in Claude's name.

[drjohncarpenter]

Wonderful post.

Such surprising and sad news.

I met Claude in 1997 on the old alt.elvis forum. We had a disagreement, on Elvis of course, but soon discovered it was a misunderstanding between his French and my English! At that point we'd trade emails every few months discovering quickly that i could obtain "Import" CDs from Claude, but i couldn't afford them.

I was only married a few months and money was short, next thing I know a box arrives with 4 cassettes, A Profile - The King On Stage copied to cassette by Claude. What a kind and generous thing to do.

This is a good example of Claude's generosity - we had never met, i was just another Elvis fan in British Columbia Canada he didn't know, but he took the time to make those cassettes, package them up and send them cross country just to make another Elvis fan happy. I couldn't thank him enough. Then he offered to copy Imports for me if i provided the cassettes. I was blown away! For about two years cassette tapes traveled back and forth across Canada filling my house with all the imports the Elvis World was talking about.
Once i got a better computer, we graduated to burning the imports onto CDRs.

He never asked for a dime.

He just did it out of the kindness of his heart.

Once FTD started in 1999 i promised myself that i would only buy them from Claude. I couldn't repay him for his generosity but i could make sure i stayed a loyal customer. I did, I happily spent thousands on over 150 CDs in almost two decades.

During the past 18 years i was an email friend - we never met. Traded a few emails every month or so, an Elvis story here and there, asking his thoughts on the newer releases, his stories of the Canuck On Tour etc... His emails always started out asking how i was and the family before Elvis or business. So Kind.

When i was recovering from a heart attack in 2008 a box arrived containing 3 or 4 current Imports "Blazing Into Darkness" was the one i remember most. Just out of the blue, something to aid in my recovery he said.

He wouldn't take money for them - even sending a $50 cheque back that i had sent him towards them.

As my children came along the financial woes of raising a family with my wife grew more difficult and it was hard to afford the FTD releases, Claude ever generous always sent me the FTD CD's and let me pay $20 this week, $30 that week, $50 another month etc... We kept a running account and i never missed a CD or got too far behind. Claude never asked me for money to settle up, he just asked that I make sure I send something when i could.

I can honestly say I've never met a more generous person in the Elvis World than Claude Baker.

Thank you for all of your generosity and Kindness Claude, my Elvis friend - I am really going to miss you.
RIP

PS I have $50 owing on my account with Claude - that is being donated to the Cancer Society in Claude's name.

[Sergio Luiz]

When I started buying CDs from Claude I had to send money inside a birthday card and mail it to him. Back in the 90´s early 2000 paypal didnt exist, money wire wasnt a option in Brazil and postal money order would take like a 100 days to arrive. So I would put the money inside a birthday card around a carbon paper so nobody could see the dollar bills inside the envelope. I was in my early twenties and money was short. That worked for like a year until someone discovered and stole the money. It was money for 2 CDs, one of them Night Fever In Vegas. Claude got the empty envelope and told me that the money was stolen, but he refused to be paid again and sent the CDs without ever accepting payment for it again.
Over the years he would sent me CDs before I even sent him payment and he held CDs for me for years, as I couldn't afford to keep it up with all the releases.
I´ll miss my monthly e-mail exchange with him. Collecting Elvis will be a bit sad for a while now.

[JohanD]

Didn't know him, but from reading here, he must have been a wonderful person.
May he rest in peace.

[Lennart]

RIP Claude.