Baker was a rat - and there was nothing lower than a rat.
In James Gavin's Deep in a Dream: the long night of Chet Baker (great title) there's a quote from Laurie Pepper:
"I thought it was just common knowledge that Chet was a career police informant. ...It was like pulling teeth to get Art to talk about Chet. I think these guys really believe it's bad karma to talk too much about rats."
But Art actually does mention Baker briefly in Straight Life, but he uses the pseudonym Billy Wilson, who should show up in the Index of your copy - It's in Chapter 6 on page 112 of my copy.
I just finished reading Art Pepper's memoir and I'm surprised that he doesn't mention anything on or about Chet Baker. I wonder why?
Baker was a rat - and there was nothing lower than a rat.
In James Gavin's Deep in a Dream: the long night of Chet Baker (great title) there's a quote from Laurie Pepper:
"I thought it was just common knowledge that Chet was a career police informant. ...It was like pulling teeth to get Art to talk about Chet. I think these guys really believe it's bad karma to talk too much about rats."
But Art actually does mention Baker briefly in Straight Life, but he uses the pseudonym Billy Wilson, who should show up in the Index of your copy - It's in Chapter 6 on page 112 of my copy.
Thanks you Tyler for that bit of information. I’ll look this up.
My pleasure, Tosh. You might like this piece I did back in 2021 on another great Central Avenue player Frank Morgan:
https://sunra.substack.com/p/frank-morgan-and-me
I really enjoy your page here on Substack. Anyone following this chit-chat should go to https://sunra.substack.com/