Ginger Baker
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
"When I started listening to Cream and stuff, I started to read interviews with people like Ginger [Baker] about where they were getting their stuff from. Just like Clapton was getting ideas from blues guys, I realized that rhythm musicians were getting a lot of information from Africa. I immediately started looking for the records, especially Afrobeat. Just that syncopation, the up feel." --Bill Laswell interviewed by Jay Babcock in Mean Magazine (October 1999) |
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Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker (19 August 1939 – 6 October 2019) was an English drummer and a co-founder of the rock band Cream. His style melded jazz and African rhythms and pioneered both jazz fusion and world music.
Baker cited Phil Seamen, Art Blakey, Max Roach, Elvin Jones, Philly Joe Jones and Baby Dodds as main influences on his style.
Known for playing on compositions as "Sunshine of Your Love" (1967), he also played with Fela Kuti on Fela's London Scene ( 1971), Why Black Man Dey Suffer (1971), Live! (1972) and Stratavarious (1972) and recorded two album with Bill Laswell: Horses & Trees (1986) and Middle Passage (1990).
Overview
Baker began playing drums at age 15, and later took lessons from English jazz drummer Phil Seamen. In the 1960s he joined Blues Incorporated, where he met bassist Jack Bruce. The two clashed often, but would be rhythm section partners again in the Graham Bond Organisation and Cream, the latter of which Baker co-founded with Eric Clapton in 1966. Cream achieved worldwide success but lasted only until 1968, in part due to Baker's and Bruce's volatile relationship. After briefly working with Clapton in Blind Faith and leading Ginger Baker's Air Force, Baker spent several years in the 1970s living and recording in Africa, often with Fela Kuti, in pursuit of his long-time interest in African music. Among Baker's other collaborations are his work with Gary Moore, Masters of Reality, Public Image Ltd, Hawkwind, Atomic Rooster, Bill Laswell, jazz bassist Charlie Haden, jazz guitarist Bill Frisell and Ginger Baker's Energy.
Baker's drumming is regarded for its style, showmanship, and use of two bass drums instead of the conventional one. In his early days, he performed lengthy drum solos, most notably in the Cream song "Toad", one of the earliest recorded examples in rock music. Baker was an inductee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Cream, of the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 2008, and of the Classic Drummer Hall of Fame in 2016. Baker was noted for his eccentric, often self-destructive lifestyle, and he struggled with heroin addiction for many years. He was married four times and has fathered three children.
Discography
Solo
- Ginger Baker at His Best (1972)
- Stratavarious (Polydor, 1972)
- Ginger Baker & Friends (Mountain, 1976)
- Eleven Sides of Baker (Sire, 1977)
- From Humble Oranges (CDG, 1983)
- Horses & Trees (Celluloid, 1986)
- No Material (ITM, 1989)
- Middle Passage (Axiom, 1990)
- Unseen Rain (Day Eight, 1992)
- Ginger Baker's Energy (ITM, 1992)
- Going Back Home (Atlantic, 1994)
- Ginger Baker The Album (ITM, 1995)
- Falling Off the Roof (Atlantic, 1995)
- Do What You Like (Polydor, 1998)
- Coward of the County (Atlantic, 1999)
- African Force (2001)
- African Force: Palanquin's Pole (2006)
- Why? (2014)
Blind Faith discography
- Blind Faith (Polydor, 1969)
Cream discography
- Fresh Cream (Polydor, 1966)
- Disraeli Gears (Polydor, 1967)
- Wheels of Fire (Polydor, 1968)
- Goodbye (Polydor, 1969)
- Live Cream (Polydor, 1970)
- Live Cream Volume II (Polydor, 1972)
- BBC Sessions (2003)
- Royal Albert Hall London, 2–3 and 5–6 May 2005 (Reprise, 2005)
The Storyville Jazz Men and the Hugh Rainey Allstars
- Storyville Re-Visited (1958) also featuring Bob Wallis and Ginger Baker
Alexis Korner Blues Incorporated
- Alexis Korner and Friends (1963)
Graham Bond Organisation
- Live at Klooks Kleek (1964)
- The Sound of '65 (1965)
- There's a Bond Between Us (1965)
Ginger Baker's Air Force discography
- Ginger Baker's Air Force (Atco, 1970)
- Ginger Baker's Air Force II (Atco, 1970)
Baker Gurvitz Army discography
- Baker Gurvitz Army (Janus, 1974)
- Elysian Encounter (Atco, 1975)
- Hearts on Fire (Atco, 1976)
- Flying in and Out of Stardom (Castle, 2003)
- Greatest Hits (GB Music, 2003)
- Live in Derby (Major League Productions, 2005)
- Live (Revisited, 2005)
With Fela Kuti
- Fela's London Scene (EMI, 1971) – uncredited
- Why Black Man Dey Suffer (African Sounds, 1971)
- Live! (Regal Zonophone, 1972)
- Stratavarious (Polydor, 1972)
With Hawkwind
- Levitation (Bronze, 1980)
- Zones (Flicknife, 1983)
- This Is Hawkwind, Do Not Panic (Flicknife, 1984)
With others
- Stratavarious with Bobby Gass (Polydor, 1972)
- Album by Public Image Ltd (Elektra/Virgin, 1986)
- Unseen Rain with Jens Johansson and Jonas Hellborg (Day Eight, 1992)
- Sunrise on the Sufferbus by Masters of Reality (Chrysalis, 1992)
- Cities of the Heart by Jack Bruce (CMP, 1993)
- Around the Next Dream by BBM (Capitol, 1994)
- Synaesthesia by Andy Summers (CMP, 1996)
- Coward of the County by Ginger Baker and the Denver Jazz Quintet-to-Octet (DJQ2O) (Atlantic, 1999)