Thomas Baker Knight Jr. (July 4, 1933 –) was an American songwriter and musician. Perhaps best known for penning the Elvis Presley hit "The Wonder of You," Baker Knight ranks among the most prolific songwriters of the rock & roll era, authoring well over a thousand songs.
Born Thomas Baker Knight, Jr. in Birmingham, Alabama, he lost his father at the age of six, and spent much of his childhood in the care of a series of relatives. After serving three years in the U.S. Air Force (during which time he learned to play guitar) Knight studied technical illustration at the University of Alabama but in his spare time began writing songs, and in 1956 formed a rockabilly combo dubbed the Knightmares, signing to the tiny Kit label to release "Bop Boogie to the Blues." The follow-up, "Bring My Cadillac Back," proved a regional hit and was licensed for national distribution by Decca before it was banned from radio on the grounds it was nothing more than a free commercial for Cadillac. Decca next teamed Knight with arranger Ray Ellis for 1957's "Reelin' and Rockin' (Bippin' and Boppin' Over You)." The record attracted little attention, and when the same fate met "Just a Little Bit More" and "Love-A, Love-A, Love-A," the label terminated his contract.
Knight relocated to Hollywood in 1958 in pursuit of a film career that did not materialize. He nevertheless made fast friends with rockabilly great Eddie Cochran, and according to legend was even asked to contribute to Cochran's immortal "Summertime Blues," but fell asleep and did not awake until the song was completed. With the aid of Cochran's girlfriend, the songwriter Sharon Sheeley, Knight began peddling his own original compositions, initially hoping to interest the Everly Brothers in his evocative ballad "Lonesome Town"; teen idol Rick Nelson recorded the tune instead with support from the brilliant guitarist James Burton, and the end result was a Top Ten pop hit in 1958.
The Knight-penned B-side "I Got a Feeling" cracked the Top Ten as well. In all, Nelson recorded 21 of his songs, including the million-selling "There'll Never Be Anyone Else But You," "Mighty Good," and "Sweeter Than You." Nelson also wished to cut Knight's "Just Relax," but its writer refused, instead opting to record the song himself for Coral, with Cochran sitting in on guitar. The 1959 single proved a flop, and after the follow-up, "Pretty Little Girl," also went nowhere, Coral cut its losses and dropped Knight from its roster.
