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 flamboyance, 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, the legendary British jazz drummer Phil Seamen and from recordings by Max Roach (as 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, Baker was also capable of more restrained playing informed by years of work with British jazz groups during the late 1950s and early 1960s. 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), and the Ginger Baker Trio, which included legendary jazz bassist Charlie Haden and jazz iconoclast Bill Frisell on guitar (recordings released in 1994 and 1996), 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.
In 1994 Baker joined BBM (Bruce-Baker-Moore),a short-lived power trio formed along with Jack Bruce and guitarist Gary Moore.
Highlights of Ginger Baker's solo career include:
[edit] Gear
Ginger's kit is DW; all cymbals are Zildjian. The rivet Ride cymbal and the HiHats were used on the last Cream shows in '68.
Drums 10"x 8" 12" x 8" 13" x 10" 14" x 12" Toms (all on stands) 20"x 14" & 22" x 14" Bass Drums 13" Craviotto DW Snare 14" Leedy Snare (Spare) DW 5000 Bass Drum Pedals 4 DW cymbal stands 1 DW HiHat Stand 1 DW Snare Stand Zildjian Ginger Baker 7a sticks
Cymbals: 16" K Crash 14" Hi Hats 8" Splash 8" EFX #1 Splash 10" EFX #1 Splash 8" Splash 13" Hat 23" Rivet Ride 18" China 18" Medium Crash
2 Cowbells
We used DW heads for the Albert shows but as from now Ginger will be using Remo heads.
This information was provided by Ginger's drum technician Yard Gavrilovic.
[edit] 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 replaced Charlie Watts in Blues Incorporated. Watts later became the drummer for the Rolling Stones.
| Cream | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ginger Baker - Jack Bruce - Eric Clapton Pete Brown - Felix Pappalardi - Martin Sharp |
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| Discography | |||||
| Fresh Cream - Disraeli Gears - Wheels of Fire - Goodbye Live Cream - Live Cream Volume II - BBC Sessions - Royal Albert Hall 2005 |
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| 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 |
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| Related bands | |||||
| The G.B.O. (Baker/Bruce) |
The Bluesbreakers (Bruce/Clapton) |
The Powerhouse (Bruce/Clapton) |
Blind Faith (Baker/Clapton) |
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