Influential guitarist Etta Baker dies

MORGANTON, N.C. - Etta Baker, an influential blues guitarist who recorded with Taj Mahal and was awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, has died, her family said. She was 93.

No cause of death was given, but her health had been failing for years, The News & Observer of Raleigh reported on its Web site.

Baker was raised in a musical family in western North Carolina. She made her first mark in music in 1956, when she appeared on a compilation album called “Instrumental Music of the Southern Appalachians.” The recording influenced the growing folk revival, especially her versions of “Railroad Bill” and “One-Dime Blues.”

If you like old time blues, she was one of the best. She’ll be missed.

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