George Strait performs at the Grand Ole Opry

George Strait’s ‘Baby Blue’ Songwriter Shares the Heartwarming Story Behind his No. 1 Hit

George Strait released “Baby Blue” in April 1988 as the second single from the album If You Ain’t Lovin’ You Ain’t Livin’. It went on to become the second number one from the album and Strait’s fourteenth chart-topper overall. It’s a beautifully-arranged tune about a woman who changed a man’s world forever before leaving him.

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For King George, it was another great single and another notch on his belt. However, for songwriter Aaron Barker, “Baby Blue” was life-changing. The song opened many doors in Music City for the Texas-based songsmith and became the beginning of a long hitmaking career. And, it all started with an accident.

In a recent interview with the Tennessean, Barker told the story of how his song landed in the hands of George Strait and how that changed his life.

How “Baby Blue” Made Its Way to George Strait

Today, Aaron Barker is a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. He has written or co-written several hits for George Strait including “Love Without End, Amen” and “I Can Still Make Cheyenne.” He has also penned tunes for Lonestar (“What About Now”), Clay Walker (“You’re Beginning to Get Me”), and plenty more. However, back in the 80s, he was a struggling musician just trying to make ends meet.

Looking back, Barker said he was “just an idiot off the street in a rock and roll band playing cover music across the country…  I mean, it was an amazing time in my life, and it went on for twenty years.”

Barker wrote the song, recorded a work tape of it, and showed it to his friend Ernie Lobello. Then, Lobello convinced Barker to take it to a small Texas studio and cut a demo with a full band. They also recorded four more of the songwriter’s tunes. Later, Lobello took the tape to Bill Butler who passed on all five tracks.

Every year, Butler would take a trip to Nashville with a stack of demos to meet with a handful of people. One of those people happened to be Erv Woolsey, George Strait’s manager. That year, Butler accidentally took the cassette containing “Baby Blue” to Nashville. “God comes in, the angels start moving things around, and it got into Erv Woolsey’s hands. He heard it and played it for George. George loved it,” Barker said, summing things up.

Strait Unwittingly Saves the Day

At the time that George Strait recorded “Baby Blue” Aaron Barker was in a bad spot. His band broke up, he was about to lose his house, and he was making about forty bucks a day selling oranges on the side of the road. Then, he got a phone call from Erv Woolsey.

“He left a message,” Barker recalled. “He said, ‘Call me. George Strait wants to record one of your songs.’ But I didn’t know what that meant. I didn’t know who George Strait was. I thought, ‘Well if he does any good with this, maybe he’ll send me, like, 500 bucks.’”

Months later, Barker went to check his mail and found a check for $54,000 from BMI. He thought it was a mistake. As a result, he called Harry Warner at BMI to confirm. He quickly learned that not only was the check his, but he would also be getting one of those in the mail every few months. The money helped him fix his financial problems and keep his house. However, that was just the beginning.

“It bought me a ticket to Nashville, and it put me in the club,” Aaron Barker said about the song.