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pam,ollaxu aaoq o? sluaos aH 'a?n to stna.t' ?!Êna ,t'ltot ty

OINOER BAKER

"...(at the great age of sixteenI came home and told me mum

that I was leaaing the job next week,

and I was leaaing home as toell."-Musician Magazine

adventurous musicians, hence the rather ego-tistical name. Their stripped-down, threepiece format was blues-rooted and sometimesexperimental in the studio and highly improvi-sational live. They quickly got such mundanetasks as singing out of the way, in order toconcentrate heavily on over-ampliÍied jam-ming, that turned nearly every song into awailing cacophony of sound, a musical free-Íor-all, with each member fighting the othertwo in a power struggle for victory. ln theirheyday, Cream could be electrifying at best.Toward the end, on their final tour of theStates in the fall of '68, they were excessive,overbearing, sloppy, tasteless, and finally, bor-ing beyond belief, a huge disappointment totheir worshipping Íans. They were also not onspeaking terms with one another. Sometimes,as in the case oÍ The Who, personal differ-ences produce memorable music amidst thetension. ln Cream's case, it produced a lot ofunlistenable live trash.

From there, Baker went on to play withBlind Faith, Ginger Baker's Air Force, TheBaker-Gurvitz Army, (he seems to like militarynames, eh?), worked with African musicians,drummed for Hawkwind, Atomic Rooster, andJohn Lydon's band, Public lmage Ltd. Nothingthat Baker has done since Cream hasequalled his success with that band.

Perhaps you are now asking yourself justwhy Baker was included in this volume?Simple, he belongs here. I don't know theman personally, but his reputation has fol-lowed him for years. Firsthand accounts byjournalist friends and acquaintances conÍirmedthe rudeness with which Baker conducted him-self. He was not a pleasant individual to dealwith.

ïhis author does, however, have a greatdeal oÍ respect for Ginger Baker, the drummer.The man brought a real savageness to rockthat has barely been equalled since. He wasmore than a mere timekeeper, he was verymusical behind the kit. His African, jungle-inspired tom tom work guarantees a place inthe Rock Drummers Hall Of Fame. Even hisslashing patterns alone on "Sunshine Of YourLove," earned Peter "Ginger" Baker the right tostand with the very best. ln his wilder days,Ginger undoubtedly would have been the Íirstio tell you allthis anyway.

Born August 19, 1939 in Lewisham,London, England, Ginger later moved with hisfamily to New Eltham, a quieter suburb. Hegained a reputation for eccentric behavior andsupposedly Íound drumming to be a very natu-ral, easy thing to do. His family was not musi-cal at all and were all tradesmen-bricklayers,builders, and so forth. Ginger developed astrong interest in bicycling and for a while,planned a career as a cyclist.

ONE OF CREAM'S EARLIEST PROMO SHOTS, 1966.

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orlrcË"BAÍERFrom there, Ginger purchased a recording studio in

Africa and moved to the so-called "Dark Continent" to playand record African musicians like Fela Ransome-Kuti,with whom Baker collaborated.

When his Íascination with AÍrican music waned,Baker moved back to England in the mid-Seventies andformed The Baker-Gurvitz Army with brothers Adrian andPaul Gurvitz, later adding vocalist Snips, Íormerly of TheSharks. The music was the most commercial hard rockBaker had ever played, a calculated money-making ven-ture that produced two decent albums that promptly wentnowhere. They broke up shortly after.

At this time, Baker quit music altogether and took upthe game of polo, with the intention of pursuing it Íull time.

His biting sarcastnand obaious contenxpt

for some of the musicianshe has played u)ith

ouer the years,has lent considerable

creedence to the image.

He bought a stable Íull of polo ponies (or is that polo-ponies, Honeymooners fans?) Írom an Argentinian horsedealer and was unmerciÍully ripped ofÍ, as the horsesproved unsuitable Íor polo.

He spent Íour years away Írom the drums in a futileattempt at establishing himself as a top polo player. HebrieÍly formed another band called Energy, and developedan interest in rally driving.

ln 1980, it was reported in Melody Maker that Gingerwas to join Atomic Rooster. He worked with them Íor sixmonths and leÍt to temporarily join Hawkwind, where hestayed for another six months only to leave in disgust attheir lack oÍ musicality.

ln 1983, Baker found himself broke with no work insight. On top of all that, the British government said heowed sixty thousand pounds in back taxes. With no wayof paying his debt, Ginger had two options; stay inEngland and Íace the music, or skip the country Íast. Hechose the latter, packed all his possessions ands his girl-friend into an old Landrover and drove across Europe,where he settled in southern ltaly. He got a deal with theItalian label, CGD Records, and Íormed a new trio,Bakernband, with New Jerseyite Doug Brockie on guitar,and Chicagoan Carl Hill on bass. This band Íell apartquickly too. (Brockie immediately returned to the Jerseyclub scene, where he unsuccessÍully tried to capitalize onhis association with Baker).

Since '1983, Ginger has released a couple of soloalbums that received only limited distribution in America.

He bought an old farm, rebuilt the dilapidated house onthe property and began tending some two hundred olivestrees in his Íields. Suddenly, the wild man found himselÍ afarmer with a prospering business in southern ltaly. Thisis the liÍe he lives to this day. Although he occasionallyplays a few gigs for some extra money, Baker now con-siders himselÍ a farmer first, a drummer second.

As far as equipment, Ginger has used Ludwig drumssince the early Sixties and swears by them. The silversparkle set he used with Cream consisted of two bassdrums, a 22" and a 24," 8x12" and 9x13" rack toms,mounted with Rogers Íittings, and most likely two 16x16"floor toms. He has owned and used a very old woodyLeedy 5" snare for years. He still uses it almost exclu-

sively. His cymbals have always been Avedis Zildjians,that include a20" Earth ride , a 20" ride, 16," 18'crashes,a 22" riveted crash, a 13" flat crash, 8" splash and 15" hi-hats. Ginger now also uses a China type cymbal, EvansHydraulic heads and Ludwig sticks. He currently ownstwo Ludwig sets, one at home in ltaly and one in storagehere in the States. Both are mahogany finished and aremost likely smaller sets than what he used in the Sixties.

Since his Ílight from England, Baker has toned downthe drumming histrionics to concentrate more on playingstraight time with more solidity than ever before. He wasprofoundly afÍected by the dance music craze and hisplaying today shows it.

And there appears to be evidence that Ginger TheBad Boy has drastically toned down his attitudes as well.At forty-eight years oÍ age, he seems to have mellowedquite a bit and has owned up to his early days oÍ rage andobstinacy, appearing apologetic. The drug and alcoholabuse are apparently over and he seems happy and set-tled on his Íarm. There is no reason to believe he willever return to music as a full time pursuit, but whoknows?

No one approached the drums the way Ginger Bakerdid in the Sixties. He was a total original, one of the mostdistinctive drum stylists in the history oÍ rock.

Let's remember him Íor that alone.

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GINGER WITH JACK BRUCE AND ERIC CLAPTON, CIRCA 1968

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