Ginger Baker
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Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker (born August 19, 1939, Lewisham, London) is an English drummer who gained fame as a member of possibly the world's first supergroup "Cream" from 1966 until 1968 with Jack Bruce and Eric Clapton. He later joined Clapton, Ric Grech and Steve Winwood in the 1969 group Blind Faith. In the early 1970s, Baker toured and recorded with a fusion rock group, Ginger Baker's Air Force.
Baker's drumming attracted attention for its flamboyancey, virtuosity, showmanship, and his pioneering use of two bass drums instead of the conventional single 'kick' drum, possibly influenced by the jazz drummer Sam Woodyard or the jazz great Louie Bellson. He is also noted for applying other percussion instruments rarely heard of before in rock music and for his application of African rhythms to much of his drumming, influenced by his drum tutor Phil Seaman (this can be witnessed on "Sunshine of Your Love" by Cream). While at times performing in a bombastic manner similar to that of Keith Moon of The Who and Carlo Little, Baker was also capable of more restrained playing informed by years of work with British jazz groups during the late 1950s and early 1960s. He established the standard for which all rock drumming conforms to today. Baker also performed lengthy improvisational drum solos, his most famous of all is the 16 minute drum solo "Toad" which can be heard on the Cream double album of Wheels of Fire.
Baker was known for taking excessive amounts of amphetamines during the 1960s; as a result rumors emerged through the years that he had died, although interview footage of him in the 90's and the recent Cream reunion shows in London and New York have proven otherwise. In addition, Baker was addicted to heroin for over twenty years, kicking the habit in the early 1980s.
Since 1986, Baker has released several albums of ethnic fusion and jazz percussion, and has toured with various jazz, classical music, and rock ensembles, including a reunited Cream. He has collaborated often with Bill Laswell. As well as bands carrying his own name, such as Ginger Baker's Air Force, Baker Gurvitz Army (1974-1976), and Ginger Baker's Energy (1976), Baker has also at various times been a member of Hawkwind (1980), Atomic Rooster (1980), Public Image Ltd (1986), and Masters of Reality (1990). For a detailed chart of Ginger Baker's band membership, see [this page].
Highlights of Ginger Baker's solo career include:
Trivia
- He and Cream bandmates Jack Bruce and Eric Clapton have all played together in other musical groups. Baker and Bruce played together in the Graham Bond Organisation and Blues Incorporated, Bruce and Clapton played together near the end of Clapton's tenure with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, and Clapton and Baker played together in the short-lived supergroup Blind Faith right after Cream's breakup.
- Prior to the Cream reunion at the Royal Albert Hall, the band had never played "Pressed Rat & Warthog" live.
- Baker always insisted on having his two bassdrums nailed to the floor at the venue he was playing live. There are many venues around the world with ruined floors to prove it.
- Baker once auditioned for the part of the bum in "Weird Al" Yankovic's movie UHF, a part that would ultimately go to Vance Colvig Jr., the son of Pinto Colvig.
| Cream | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ginger Baker - Jack Bruce - Eric Clapton Pete Brown - Felix Pappalardi - Martin Sharp Gail Collins - Janet Godfrey - George Harrison - Mike Taylor | |||||
| Discography | |||||
| Fresh Cream - Disraeli Gears - Wheels of Fire - Goodbye Live Cream - Live Cream Volume II - BBC Sessions - Royal Albert Hall 2005 Heavy Cream - [[Strange Brew: The Very Best of Cream|Strange Brew]] - The Very Best of Cream - Those Were the Days - [[20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection: The Best of Cream|20th Century Masters]] - Cream Gold | |||||
| Songwriters covered by Cream | |||||
| William Bell - James Bracken - Howlin' Wolf - Tony Colton - Willie Dixon - Skip James Robert Johnson - Booker T. Jones - Blind Joe Reynolds - Ray Smith - T-Bone Walker - Muddy Waters | |||||
| Related bands | |||||
| The G.B.O. (Baker/Bruce) | The Bluesbreakers (Bruce/Clapton) | The Powerhouse (Bruce/Clapton) | Blind Faith (Baker/Clapton) | ||
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