· January 11 at 7:52am · London, United Kingdom · When I was at Sorceror Sound in NYC with my Dad recording one of his records, c.2000, I remember him wanting to track down David Bowie to come in and 'play a bi...t of sax', suffice to say it never happened (what DID happen with that Kip , do you remember that conversation?). Here's a quirky version of 'I Feel Free' that David recorded on Black Tie White Noise, he gave it go, that's all I will say.. although I like some of the obtuse harmonies on the saxes. I much prefer the original, which I feel is one of Jack's greatest and most original songs from the Cream days.. anyway, this in tribute to the late great David Jones :-) Ginger Baker - Drummer - Biography.com Ginger Baker Considered one of the greatest drummers of all time, Ginger Baker played with the bands Cream and Blind Faith. He is known for using two bass drums in his kit. IN THESE GROUPS Famous British People Synopsis Peter "Ginger" Baker was born in London in 1939.

He began playing drums as a teen, and by age 16 he was touring. He formed the band Cream in 1966, and when it dissolved, he formed Blind Faith. Ginger Baker's next years were marked by addiction and fights with bandmates, and he fled to Nigeria to get clean. Financial troubles ultimately drove him to settle in South Africa, where he still lives and raises polo ponies. Early Life Ginger Baker was born as Peter Edward Baker on August 19, 1939 in London, England. He grew up in a poor family; his mother worked in a tobacco shop, and his father was a bricklayer who was killed in World War II. Rambunctious at an early age, he spent his youth focused on cycling until he discovered the drums at the age of 15. At 16, he left school and began touring with jazz bands. Early Career As he passed through several bands on the London jazz scene, Baker took too easily to the hard-partying lifestyle: He was drinking heavily, doing drugs, crashing cars and getting in trouble with the police. In 1959, he met and married Liz Finch, with whom he had two daughters and a son.

In 1962, Baker joined Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated, followed by the Graham Bond Organisation in 1963. It was here that hostilities first developed between Baker and bass player Jack Bruce. The two became known for sabotaging each other's instruments and fighting on stage, and Bruce was ultimately forced out of the band. Cream and Blind Faith Baker met Eric Clapton in 1966, and Clapton suggested they recruit Jack Bruce for a new band. Despite their tumultuous history, Baker agreed, and Cream was formed. The band dissolved in 1968, in large part because of the animosity between Baker and Bruce. Shortly after the break-up of Cream, Baker and Clapton joined with Steve Winwood and Ric Grech to form Blind Faith. The band was an instant success, but lasted less than a year. Baker and Winwood went on to form the fusion band Ginger Baker's Air Force in 1970. That same year, Baker suffered a near-fatal overdose—on the night his friend Jimi Hendrix died—and he decided to leave the music scene to get clean. He went to Lagos, Nigeria, set up a music studio and learned to play polo.

Baker's experience in Africa is documented in the 1971 documentary Ginger Baker in Africa. He made enemies there, and was ultimately forced out of Nigeria by his business partners. He sold his studio at a loss, and with little cash left, returned to London and started selling cocaine. Later Years By this point, Baker was estranged from his wife and in debt for back taxes. He fled to Italy with his 22-year-old girlfriend at the time, in hopes of succeeding at olive farming. The trip led to another failed marriage and more head-bumping with neighbors, this time in the form of disagreements with the mafia, and Baker was soon accused of selling drugs. After someone killed one of his dogs in 1988, Baker returned to the United States, and settled in Los Angeles. In L.A., Baker intended to become an actor. He had little success in the industry, but he married for the third time. His stint in L.A. was short-lived; after he settled a lawsuit with his recording company over royalties, he moved to Colorado in 1993 to raise polo ponies, the same year that he and his Cream bandmates were elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Friends called Baker's work with polo ponies his "new expensive habit," and he soon found himself broke again. When he encountered problems with the IRS in the late 1990s, he sold his ranch and moved to South Africa, ultimately settling in the wine country of Tulbagh. In 2009, Baker published his autobiography, Ginger Baker: Hellraiser, which he called an attempt to set the record straight. In it, he also announced that he has a degenerative spine condition and emphysema. The following year, he married Kudzai Machokoto, a Zimbabwean woman 42 years his junior, who had been helping to take care of him. A documentary about Baker's life, Beware of Mr. Baker, debuted at South by Southwest in 2012. Fact Check We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us !

Citation Information Q&A: Ginger Baker on Why 'the Rolling Stones Are Not Good Musicians' - Rolling Stone Q&A: Ginger Baker on Why 'the Rolling Stones Are Not Good Musicians' Q&A: Ginger Baker on Why 'the Rolling Stones Are Not Good Musicians' 'I won’t go within 10 miles of a Stones gig,' says former Cream drummer Ginger Baker performs in New York City. Credit: Al Pereira/WireImage All Stories Former Cream drummer Ginger Baker's life has changed since he starred in the 2012 documentary Beware of Mr. Baker. He moved to England with his wife and teenage daughter after decades of living on a South African polo ranch with 38 horses. He also formed a new group, Ginger Baker's Jazz Confusion, with saxophonist Pee Wee Ellis, bassist Alec Dankworth and percussionist Abbas Dodoo out of an impromptu jam session in England – and now they're in the middle of a run at New York's Iridium Jazz Club, ending October 13th.

More News Baker talked with Rolling Stone by phone about his new project, the weaknesses of his Sixties peers the Rolling Stones and why Cream will never play again after their 2005 reunion. How are you doing? I'm doing the same as ever. I wanted to ask you about Jazz Confusion and how the recent gigs went. Every gig we've done has gone extremely well. Did anything surprise you about playing with them? No. How did you put the group together? It was a roadie friend of mine really, who got it together. Edgar, he's not really well at the moment. Abbas and I have been together for over five years now. But Edgar got Alec Dankworth, who's my favorite bass player of all time. He's the best bass player I think I've ever played with. He's just great. He's got a great sense of humor. It's really a joy to play with him and it's really good music. Why is Alec your favorite bass player? Because of the way he plays! Did you have any expectations going into it? I just wanted to play again. How did that decision start? I don't know! Do you remember where you got the idea to do this?

No, not really. Are you living in England now? Yes. That's where I am right now. You just phoned me so you know that this is an English phone number. I know, I just wanted to ask. Well why ask me questions if you know the answer? I thought you might be playing gigs or rehearsing or something. Anyway, why did you want to go back and live in England again? Because that's where the musicians are. Do you still have a home in South Africa? No. When did you sell it? A couple of years ago. Do you miss it? Yeah, I miss a lot of it, but that's the way life goes sometimes. Has your life changed at all since Beware of Mr. Baker [Jay Bulger's 2012 award-winning documentary] in any way? No. Did you get a lot of good feedback from the film? I don't know! I have nothing to do with it. Did you like it? Some of it is very good and some of it is annoying. Like what? Like some of the people he interviewed. One of them I specifically told him I didn't want the guy on the film.

(mentions a former manager) He was a lazy bastard and cost me a fortune. But at the same time you had people like Eric Clapton and Charlie Watts. Yeah, that was very nice. That was very good. You've played the Iridium before and you played for Max Roach there. Are you excited to play… I played with who there? You played for Max Roach there. No I didn't. Well he came to your show. He came to two or three of the shows. Max is a great friend of mine. Do you have good memories from playing in New York, specifically at this club? Yeah, that was a great band. The DJQ was a really great band. How long has it been since you played a show in the States [besides Cream's reunion]? I don't know. A long time. Probably the last actual show I played was at the Iridium. I don't know when it was. 1997, I think. What is it like coming back and playing again? I don't know! What is it like – ? Is it exciting? I don't know. I don't get excited anymore. Why not? Because I don't! I never have done.

How is your health nowadays? Not good. Are you feeling okay though? No. It's troubling. At the end of the gig I'm absolutely exhausted. It's amazing that you still have the stamina to do this. Well, I don't! (laughs) Then why do it? Because I enjoy the music. Is that one place where you are happy? When you're playing with a group of people? When we're actually playing, it's the good bit, and after is not so good. Are there any health issues right now that you're concerned about? Yes. I've got degenerative osteoarthritis, which is extremely painful and I'm on a regiment with a health service pain management control. Apart from that I've got COPD from smoking. Are you still smoking? You look good and you're playing well though. I look good because of my wife. She makes sure I look good. The film and some articles made a big deal about your financial situation. Is that one of the reasons you're touring again? One of them, yeah. You have to earn money to live, don't you? I'm not a super rich person. The Stones just wrapped up a tour.

Have you heard them lately or what do you think of how they're playing nowadays? (laughs) You're joking right? No. I mean Charlie is a great friend of mine. I think the world of Charlie. When I was living in the States, Charlie came to see me at my house and he said, "I'd give you some tickets but I know you would never go!" I won't go within 10 miles of a Rolling Stones gig. Why is that? They're not good musicians, that's why. The best musician in the Stones is Charlie by a country mile. I agree he is. But the way they play together, people argue, is greater than the parts. People can argue what they like. Do you agree they're great songwriters, though? No, not really. Is it crazy that they're still doing it? They are earning lots of money. Are you a fan of the Who ? No. I knew Pete Townshend's dad better than I knew Pete Townshend. I worked with Pete Townshend's dad in the early Sixties and late Fifties. Keith Moon was a friend of mine but I wouldn't say he was a great drummer. Dylan is still on the road.

Is he? Yes. Were you a big Dylan fan? I'm not a big anybody fan. What was the last record that excited you? God knows. I don't know. I don't listen to music. Why? It's what you do, though. Yeah. So when you're talking about a bus driver, his holiday is driving? Something I watch fairly regularly is the Cream Royal Albert Hall film from 2005. Yeah. That was really good. I wanted to see what that was like for you and what it was like to go back to that place. The question I find the most annoying is, "What was it like?" Why? "What was it like?" I played the drums, man! But you were with people that you have a deep history with and recorded a lot of music that people really love. Yeah. . . So that meant a lot to a lot of people, so it's interesting to hear what it meant to you. Well, it was very enjoyable. I've read that you've gotten offers to do it again. Who did? Would you do it again? No. We've done it. But it was only six shows. You wouldn't want to do anymore?

Well, it was actually seven shows, but never mind. You guys always get everything wrong. This sort of rubbish that people publish about news is quite extraordinary. We'll do our best to get it right. I guess it just comes with being a respected figure. I don't know whether it's being respected or not. I get more bad press than I do good press. (laughs) For a band that was only together for a couple years, you made such an impact on people that are still emulating that music. It's one of the most influential groups ever. Yeah but that was it. Nobody's ever gonna do that again. The only people that can do that was us. But I felt like in 2005 you found a new way to play together that wasn't exactly the same as the old way but you sounded like you – you guys had so much experience and it was kind of laid-back, which was cool. We're older. That's why. (Laughs) Do you keep in touch with any current music on the charts or any pop music? No. (pause) I do like some of the girl singers though, like Kelly Rowland, Emeli Sandé. Do you like any new rock bands?

No, I don't listen to them. Most of them are pretty bloody awful. Well they can't really match what you guys did. Nobody ever could. Do you think that there's so many distractions today that most people don't really put in enough time to be great musicians? (grumbles) Oh God. Musicians are born. You can't become a great musician if you haven't got the gift. But a lot of practice helps though, right? No, it doesn't. Really? I practiced for a couple of years, in 1958 and '59, and since I haven't practiced at all. The only time I bang my drums is when we're on a gig. Wow. What do you mean, "Wow?" To play the way you play, you would think you would have to keep up with it. Keep up with what? Being able to play the way you play. I've always been able to play the way I play. Do you keep a drum set in the house now? Yeah. Just one. Does that get harder as you get older to play without practicing a lot or no? (laughs) We play the music. That's what I do. I'm the drummer.

I play the drums. Enough. Do you still try to get better though? Are you still trying to do new things? No. You can play what you want to play. What's the point of trying to play things that are difficult just for the fact of doing it? Do you still have your horses? No, I don't. I lost them all. How? ‘Beware of Mr. Baker’ Traces the Rock Drummer Ginger Baker - The New York Times The New York Times Movies |An Outsize Talent for Drums and Trouble Search An Outsize Talent for Drums and Trouble ‘Beware of Mr. Baker’ Traces the Rock Drummer Ginger Baker Beware of Mr. Baker Photo "Beware of Mr. Baker" includes archival footage and animated sequences. Credit Joe Scarpulla and David Bell Right at the beginning of the new documentary “Beware of Mr. Baker,” the film’s director, Jay Bulger, is attacked by his subject, the rock drummer Ginger Baker. Not verbally attacked, mind you — though there will be plenty of that — but physically, with a metal cane that draws blood when applied to the bridge of the filmmaker’s nose. Mr.

Baker, whom we will subsequently encounter in less agitated moods, is upset about the direction of Mr. Bulger’s project. “I don’t want those people in my film,” he shouts, though, like most of his utterances, this one is not fully quotable here. “Those people” are fellow musicians who, in due course, show up on screen to testify to Mr. Baker’s artistic prowess and also to his less appealing traits. They include erstwhile band mates like Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Steve Winwood, and also fans and acolytes like Stewart Copeland of the Police and Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols. Mr. Baker has never been, to understate the matter, an easy person to get along with, a point that “Beware of Mr. Baker” returns to as it follows him through four marriages, at least a half-dozen bands, roughly one million cigarettes and countless burned bridges. Animated sequences depict a ship, rowed by the drummer’s red-haired avatars, zigzagging the globe — from London to Nigeria to Los Angeles and other spots on the way to his current home in South Africa — leaving a trail of not entirely metaphorical smoldering wreckage.

Photo The drummer Ginger Baker. Credit Barrie Wentzell/Barrie Wentzell Photography The facts of Mr. Baker’s life describe a familiar tale of modest beginnings, early triumph, wild excess and at least partial recovery. After a wartime childhood during which his father was killed in action, Mr. Baker survived a rebellious adolescence, nearly two decades of heroin addiction and the standard diet of touring, feuding and sexual abandon that used to be synonymous with rock ’n’ roll. Now 73, he has aged but not necessarily mellowed, living in pastoral semi-seclusion with his family and dozens of dogs and polo ponies. Continue reading the main story But Mr. Bulger, a former boxer and model before he turned to journalism and then filmmaking, does not let “Behind the Music” sensationalism overwhelm the music itself, which is Mr. Baker’s great passion and the only reason anyone should take an interest in him. Relying on the judgment of many experts — notably a squad of veteran drummers that includes Lars Ulrich of Metallica, Max Weinberg of the E Street Band, Neil Peart of Rush and many others — the film makes a persuasive argument that Mr.

Baker was the greatest of all rock drummers. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Anticipated objections from the partisans of Keith Moon and John Bonham are brusquely answered: “No, no, no, no, no,” says Mr. Clapton, who survived two supergroups ( Cream and Blind Faith) in Mr. Baker’s company. For his part, Mr. Baker asserts: “If they were alive, ask them. They’d tell you I was better.” The case for Mr. Baker is complicated by the fact that as awesome as Cream may have sounded if you were young and stoned in 1968, the band did not have the staying power of Led Zeppelin or the Who. Some of that had to do with trouble between Mr. Baker and Mr. Bruce, the bassist, but Cream was also, somehow, less than the sum of its prodigiously gifted parts. Still, “Beware of Mr. Baker” invites you to listen again, and to attend to the rhythmic power and complexity that this drummer brought to the group’s thunderous (and often ponderous) variations on the rhythm and blues playbook. Photo An animated scene from "Beware of Mr.

Baker." Credit Joe Scarpulla and David Bell Mr. Baker was a rocker, in a sense, by accident of birth and association. If you were young, musical and British in the 1960s, rock ’n’ roll was an irresistible career path, and Mr. Baker certainly, at least for a while, lived out the rock star legend to its fullest. But he was by taste and temperament more of a jazzman, captivated at an early age by African polyrhythms and the expansive approach of American drummers like Max Roach and Elvin Jones. Rather than keeping the beat, Mr. Baker opened it up, adding layers and nuances without sacrificing his innate, unerring sense of time. He was wilder than steady rhythm players like Charlie Watts, and also far more disciplined and subtle than showboating wild men like Moon and Bonham. And now, in his 70s, Mr. Baker is hardly in a mood for classic-rock nostalgia. “That was the birth of heavy metal,” he says of the Cream years. “It should have been aborted.” Asked about his first impression of Mick Jagger, he responds with a summary, unpublishable judgment and a raised middle finger.

An earlier videotaped interview shows him choking up with emotion when he speaks of Roach, Jones, Art Blakey and Phil Seamen, jazz idols who came to recognize him as a peer. And in the 1970s, when he might have cashed in and become an arena-rock superstar, Mr. Baker went to Lagos to play with Fela Anikulapo-Kuti , the great Nigerian singer, bandleader and political troublemaker, who at the time was very far from being the subject of a Broadway musical. Mr. Bulger tracks down Mr. Baker’s friends, ex-wives, children and admirers to create a detailed portrait of a man who may not really be all that complicated. Artists with messy, ugly lives and less-than-admirable personalities are not as paradoxical as we sometimes think. At the drums, Mr. Baker is in control, and everything makes sense. The rest of it is the usual noise. Beware of Mr.

Baker Stars Ginger Baker, Femi Kuti, Eric Clapton, Stewart Copeland Rating Not Rated Ginger Baker | Biography & History | AllMusic google+ Artist Biography by Bruce Eder Ginger Baker was rock's first superstar drummer and the most influential percussionist of the 1960s. There were other drummers who were well-known to the public before him, including the Beatles ' Ringo Starr and, in England at the end of the '50s, the Shadows ' Tony Meehan , but they were famous primarily for the groups in which they played and for attributes beyond their musicianship. Baker made his name entirely on his playing, initially as showcased in Cream , but far transcending even that trio's relatively brief existence. Though he only cut top-selling records for a period of about three years at the end of the '60s, virtually every drummer of every heavy metal band that has followed since that time has sought to emulate some aspect of Baker 's playing. He was born Peter Edward Baker in Lewisham, London, in 1939. The nickname "Ginger" came along later, a result of his red hair.

As a boy, Baker had a special interest in bicycle racing, but by his mid-teens, his interests had switched to music, especially percussion. A rebel even at that age, he became devoted to modern art and contemporary jazz, transforming himself into something of a beatnik during the mid- to late '50s. A natural musician, he talked himself into his first professional gig when he was 16 and was on the road that year, working full-time. Baker 's idol during the late '50s was Phil Seaman , a jazz drummer who was probably the best percussion player in England; his own playing tended toward an aggressiveness and articulation that were unusual in juxtaposition with each other. By the end of the '50s, Baker had passed through several of what were known in England as trad jazz bands -- "trad" was the English designation given to what Americans and the rest of the world know as Dixieland jazz. It was the dominant form of popular jazz in England from the mid-'50s onward and it provided employment.

He'd been a member of Terry Lightfoot 's and Acker Bilk 's bands, but the fit was an awkward one, owing to the passion that Baker often displayed in his work and his own personally outspoken nature. Instead, he turned toward the budding British blues scene coalescing around the work of Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies -- less bound in tradition and built largely around younger players, this music was growing and being played in a much more open environment. In 1962, on the recommendation of Charlie Watts , Baker was selected as the latter's replacement in Blues Incorporated , the band started by Korner and Davies . It was here that Baker first crossed paths with two musicians -- saxman and organist Graham Bond and bassist Jack Bruce -- who were to play a key role in his professional career. Their work with Blues Incorporated was successful enough, but it was while the two were playing with a side group, the Johnny Birch Octet, that they began jamming with saxophonist Dick Heckstall-Smith (another Blues Incorporated alumnus) and began getting a very positive response from the crowds.

It was out of those jams that Baker , Bond , Bruce , and (joining a little later) Heckstall-Smith formed the Graham Bond Organization in 1963, the former three quitting Korner 's group all at once. The Graham Bond Organisation was never as popular as such Blues Incorporated offshoots as the Rolling Stones or the Small Faces , being more jazz-oriented in their approach to R&B, and, thus, a little too complex to find a huge audience, but they were successful and respected on-stage; Baker 's reputation among blues aficionados and more scholarly British rock listeners can be traced to his work with the group. Their recordings, however -- with the obvious exception of the Klooks Kleek concert album -- were never as exciting as their live performances. Its name aside, Ginger Baker was the de facto leader of the Graham Bond Organization . Bond himself was temperamentally unsuited to a leadership role, a condition made worse by the spells of substance abuse and addiction that blighted his life.

The Bond group also hooked Baker up in the same rhythm section with Jack Bruce for an extended period of time, and few relationships between constant bandmates -- with the exception of siblings Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey 's efforts at working together in the early '30s -- have been so tumultuous and productive. The two genuinely hated each other on a personal level, and stories of each wrecking (or trying to wreck) the other's instruments and attacking each other on-stage abound. Still, the group's sound was extraordinary, a jazz-based R&B built around four powerful players, each displaying varying degrees of virtuosity and assertiveness that was quite daringly complex. And their manager, Robert Stigwood , saw them all as talents worth keeping an eye on in the future. Baker eventually fired Bruce , who jumped to John Mayall's Bluesbreakers , which, fatefully, allowed him to cross paths with Eric Clapton for a short time, and then to Manfred Mann , as well as doing session work that even had him playing on records by the Hollies .

By early 1966, the Graham Bond Organization had run its commercial course (though it was still sufficiently viable to turn up on a poster outside of the club that David Hemmings ' character enters in Blow Up), and Baker was searching for a new gig. He'd observed John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers in action and had known lead guitarist Eric Clapton for a couple of years, having jammed with him once in 1964 as part of the Graham Bond Organization , and approached him initially to write together and perhaps form a group. Baker had, in effect, been running the Graham Bond Organization while Clapton had emerged in Mayall 's group so far into the spotlight that he'd eclipsed Mayall himself; they discovered that they were in exactly the same place. The great irony was that Clapton , impressed with Bruce 's musicianship in both the Bluesbreakers and a short-lived group called Eric Clapton & the Powerhouse , insisted that the bassist come aboard as the third member of the trio. Baker agreed, somewhat reluctantly, acknowledging Bruce 's daunting musical ability and willing to overlook their past animosities.

The proposed trio, christened Cream , was signed up by Reaction Records, a record label founded by Robert Stigwood , who had been the manager of the Graham Bond Organization , knew of Baker 's and Bruce 's virtuosity intimately, and was equally impressed by Clapton and as eager as any executive in England to get the three together and see what would happen. What happened initially was "Wrapping Paper," a pop-style single released in late 1966 that didn't impress too many people -- although even there, one could hear a swing element to the group's sound, reminiscent of '40s jazz, that showed off one (albeit minor) component of what went into their sound. Baker was barely audible in the mix, though what one could hear of the drumming did have a signature of sorts, a loose, jazzy element that was unusual. Within the next year, the band would become a chart-topping act and then a cultural phenomenon, however, and at its core was Baker .

He and Bruce continued to argue without let-up while Clapton mediated and refereed, and on their records everyone got to shine, but Baker 's playing was special even in that context -- on "Rollin' & Tumblin'," a Muddy Waters blues standard that the trio took into the stratosphere from the first note, Baker 's playing sounded like it was on another planet, matching Clapton 's rapid-fire quoting of the main riff and Bruce 's frenzied singing and quietly overpowering the listener; his playing on "I'm So Glad," by contrast, had a lyrical, almost melodic quality, like a veiled orchestral accompaniment to the bass and guitar -- he kept a beat, but his drumming also played the kind of role that a harpsichord continuo played in Baroque music. And then there was "Toad," in its original studio version, an offshoot of several pieces dating back to the Graham Bond days that featured Baker in a solo; here, as on "Oh Baby" from the first Graham Bond album, Baker made his drum kit sing. In concert, the piece would become the basis for a ten-minute drum solo that was no less impressive.

The trio's live sound was, alas, limited somewhat by the technology of the day, especially when they become too popular to play small clubs (which was very early), but Baker set a new standard for playing on record, and at those shows, that every drummer with more than an ounce of ambition sought to emulate. A lot of critics in later years also felt that Baker also had a lot to answer for -- that the 15-minute live version of "Toad," 13 minutes of which was Baker solo, opened the way to gargantuan drum solos by the metal bands that came up after Cream , culminating with the infamous (and extremely funny) drum solo interlude in the movie This Is Spinal Tap . Baker can hardly be faulted, however, for the excesses of those who followed after him -- his studio work with Cream , and at least the live material that was authorized for release, never showed him playing lengthy solos for their own sake but rather depicted a drummer coaxing beautiful voices out of his instrument. The mere fact that he could do it for ten minutes or more at a stretch was impressive, to say the least.

Cream made (and still generates) a huge amount of money, but couldn't last long with the egos involved -- in just over two years, they were history. It turned Baker into a permanent superstar, however. Such was his influence that he was able to turn young admirers of his playing on to older drummers such as Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich , whose careers dated to the '30s and '40s, respectively. For a time at the end of the '60s, teenagers who hadn't even been born when Krupa retired the last of his big bands were seeking out the drummer's work, all based on Baker 's professed admiration for him. What followed next for Baker was Blind Faith , one of the most celebrated still-born bands in history -- many millions of records sold, and millions of dollars earned, despite their having only about an eight-song repertory of their own. Initially planned as a linkup between Clapton and singer/guitarist/keyboard player Steve Winwood , Baker came along and cashed in Clapton 's promise to include him in his next project and the resulting business and publicity frenzy pushed the band too far, too quickly.

In seven months they were gone, but out of the ashes of Blind Faith rose the group eventually known as Ginger Baker's Air Force . Ironically, Air Force 's history was an exact reversal of that of Blind Faith -- initially put together for two live gigs in England, the group suddenly found its life extended to a tour and a second album; in contrast to Blind Faith , however, whose hype had merely reflected an expectant audience eager to see a band made up of two superstars ( Clapton and Baker ) and one star ( Winwood ), Air Force 's hype was the product of promoters desperately hoping that it would be another Blind Faith . The group, which included Baker 's mentor Phil Seaman and his old bandmate Graham Bond , was much too eclectic ever to have achieved the kind of popularity that Cream or Blind Faith had enjoyed, embracing jazz, traditional African music, blues, folk, and rock. The ten-piece band lasted less than a year before breaking up, leaving behind a genuinely fascinating and exciting live album and an interesting studio LP (both combined on the Ginger Baker double-CD set Do What You Like .

In 1971, Baker decided to indulge his longtime fascination with African music first-hand and moved to Nigeria, where he built the first modern recording studio in western Africa. Over the next three years, he worked with a huge range of acts, including Fela and Paul McCartney 's Wings , as well as recording the solo album Stratavarious -- he ultimately lost the studio and most of his money (and has claimed that McCartney stiffed him for the use of the studio in the recording of Band on the Run ). During 1974, Baker formed the Baker-Gurvitz Army Band with guitarist Adrian Gurvitz and bassist Paul Gurvitz , which made an initial splash in America before fading out commercially over the next three years. He finally re-emerged in 1986, with bassist/guitarist Bill Laswell on the album Horses & Trees . By that time, a new generation of star drummers had emerged, most notably Carl Palmer of Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Bill Bruford of Yes and King Crimson , but Baker 's reputation, thanks to the continued catalog sales of Cream 's work, continued to resonate with fans and casual listeners.

Over the next few years, Baker reappeared through various projects, including Ginger Baker's African Force and Middle Passage, that freely mixed African and Western musical influences. And in 1991, Baker surprised onlookers with the release of Unseen Rain , a free-form instrumental album done almost entirely on acoustic instruments. Finally, in 1994, he returned to Atlantic Records -- which had been the U.S. outlet for Cream 's recordings -- and to what he realized were his jazz roots with the triumphant Going Back Home , which featured the Ginger Baker Trio . Baker had hooked up with jazz trumpeter Ron Miles on Coward of the County , a hugely successful showcase for his jazz side which also included a tribute to the late Cyril Davies , the British blues enthusiast who co-founded Blues Incorporated in the early '60s. Baker , like his ex-bandmates, has seen fit since the '70s to keep the legacy of Cream at arm's length or further -- the trio's induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame reportedly did little to change his feelings, and he is also said to be astonished at the emergence of Eric Clapton to mega-stardom during the '90s.

Despite some of the financial and other troubles that have dogged him since the '60s, he has been content to go his own way musically for the benefit of any who cares to hear. He issued two albums with his African Force band in 2001 (ITM) and 2006 ( Palanquin's Pole ). In 2009, a video and audio document of a live show entitled Ginger Baker Plus Special Friends Live at the Jazz Cafe London was released, followed by director Jay Bulger's documentary Beware of Mr. Baker in 2012: a film in which the subject was an active participant, both confirming and exploding the various myths surrounding his persona. Surpising everyone, Baker signed to Motema Records in 2014. His debut for the label, Why?, was co-produced by drummer Alec Dankworth and Abass Dodoo . His lineup included Pee Wee Ellis on saxophones, Dankworth on drums, and Dodoo on percussion. The album was recorded in January and released in May of 2014. Drummerworld: Ginger Baker Ginger Baker Ginger Baker...

Ginger Baker was born Peter Edward Baker in Lewisham, South London on 19 August 1939. As a teen, he trained and competed as a racing cyclist, developing strong leg muscles which later contributed to his skill on the double bass drums. Ginger had always planned on becoming a professional cyclist, until he bought his first drum kit at the age of 15. Baker was keenly interested in modern art and jazz, a rebellious beatnik with an eccentric appearance and artistic flair. Later, he would become interested in sculpture, painting, rally driving and polo. It was his wide range of interests which led Ginger to take up the trumpet in the local Air Training Corp band. Watching the drummer gave Ginger the idea of playing drums himself. Ginger recalls his first experience on drums: "I had been into drums from a listening point of view for quite a time. I used to bang on the table with knives and forks and drive everybody mad. I used to get the kids at school dancing by banging rhythms on the school desk! They kept on at me to sit in with this band. The band wasn't very keen, but in the end I sat in and played the bollocks off their drummer.

And that was the first time I'd sat on a kit. I heard one of the band turn round and say: 'Christ, we've got a drummer' and I thought, 'Hello, this is something I can do'." After playing for only a few months, Ginger got a job with a local trad jazz band led by Bob Wallis. At the age of 16, he quit his job, left home, and spent a year on the road. After some time, Ginger got fed up with his kit. With his characteristic achiever's attitude, he decided to make his own: "I got this great idea for using Perspex," recalls Ginger. "It was like wood to work on, but it was smooth, and it would save painting the inside of the drum shell with gloss paint. So I bent the shells and shaped them over a gas stove." Ginger made the kit in 1961 and used it until 1966, when he bought his first Ludwig set. Sadly, it was this home-made set that Jack Bruce would demolish with his upright bass in an on-stage brawl with Baker during the Graham Bond days. Bruce later recalled that the kit sounded spectacular -- like no other kit he'd heard before.

Listening to records, Ginger absorbed the playing of Baby Dodds and Alton Red. Then he discovered Max Roach. Applying Roach's technique, Ginger's wild and unconventional playing got him fired from a few bands, but ultimately it would develop into the rhythmic genius that would astound drummers around the world. Moving on to London's West End, he got another band job: "I got a reading gig, and I couldn't read. I had to learn to read music in a fortnight, to get the gig. It took me a week to find out what a repeat sign meant. I couldn't figure out why I was getting to the end of a part and the band was still playing!" During the early 1960s, Ginger played in many jazz ensembles, striving to become a part of London's modern jazz circuit. His passionate and unconventional style, not to mention his short temper, were considered too disturbing. Says Ginger, "In those days I played like a madman and got emotionally involved with the music. Some people don't like that. They feel they are losing control of the band. A lot of drummers played what they heard on record. I was always playing myself.

I had influences, obviously, but when I was playing modern jazz I was always accused of being a rock'n'roller because I need to lay down an off-beat. But then, so did Art Blakey. They didn't like this loud drummer playing off-beats, and getting the audience clapping their hands, and dancing about. That was most uncalled for. You were supposed to sit up and listen and drink your drink. But I never considered myself a rock'n'roller, I was always a jazzer." In 1962, Ginger entered the R&B scene, joining Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated in August of that year, taking over as drummer on the recommendation of Charlie Watts. One night, the late great modern jazz drummer Phil Seamen came to hear Ginger. They later practised and talked together. "Phil heard me play in the All-Niter Club which used to be the Flamingo on Wardour Street," Ginger recalls. "Tubby Hayes (the sax player) had apparently been in there and heard me and ran over to Ronnie Scott's Club and told Phil to come down and hear me.

When I got off stage I was suddenly confronted by my hero." In February 1963, Ginger, Graham Bond, and Jack Bruce left Alexis Korner to form the Graham Bond Organisation. Ginger stayed with Bond until 1966 when he formed CREAM. The Bond years were tremendously exciting for Ginger and for the British R&B scene; jazz guitar great John McLaughlin would join the Graham Bond Organisation, then later tenor sax man Dick Heckstall-Smith. During those years, Ginger developed a ferocious approach to drumming which would stun the world during his high-profile days with CREAM. Ginger would add a touch of jazz technique to the rock form, becoming probably the first true jazz-rock fusion drummer. Even today, great musicians hail Ginger as the greatest drummer of the rock genre, though thepublic at large has given him less credit than he deserves. Ginger Baker Turns 75: The Strange Life of Rock's Wildest Drummer Ginger Baker Turns 75: The Strange Life of Rock's Wildest Drummer 1.5k Legendary drummer Ginger Baker poses for a photo on his horse around 1975.

Image: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images 2014-08-19 23:24:13 UTC The percussive genius behind the legendary British rock trio Cream turned 75 on Tuesday. Ginger Baker, born Peter Edward Baker on Aug. 19, 1939, is regarded as not only one of the greatest drummers to ever grace the instrument — a man many have called a natural with the sticks — but also one of the rock world's craziest musicians off the stage. On his 75th birthday, let's take a look back at some of the wildest turns in Baker's long and bizarre life. See also: 42 Trippy Rock Songs to Psych You Up He had early dreams of becoming a Tour de France cyclist. Before the redheaded Baker became a Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, he wanted to be a professional cyclist. But a car accident at the age of 16 would dash that dream. His bike was crushed and, thanks to a dare by his friends, he sat at the drums for the first time.

He would soon become the father of the rock drum solo — and there's more of a connection between cycling and drumming than you might think. "Long-distance cycling conditioned me for playing the drums," Baker told Rolling Stone. He went to Africa to quit his heroin addiction. The life of a rock star (first with Cream, then Blind Faith) soon led Baker to get hooked on heroin. As part of an attempt to get clean following the death of Jimi Hendrix, Baker traveled to Africa — by car, no less — in 1971. In this archive photo, Ginger Baker plays the drums during an unspecified performance. Image: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images "Every time I went to Africa I got off [heroin]," Baker told The Guardian . "You have to get a good two years clear, and those two years are the most difficult. You reach a point where you can say 'no'. Then you say 'no' again. The third time a little thing goes off in your brain, 'I wish I'd said yes.' Then on the fourth time you just say 'yes' and you're back on it again.

I came off something like 29 times." He eventually arrived in Nigeria, where he would set up West Africa's first 16-track recording studio, became friends with the Afrobeat music star Fela Kuti, and develop a love for the game of polo. His trip to Nigeria ended when he was forced out of the country by threats from business partners with ties with the local police force. He tried to become an olive farmer, which got him in trouble with the mafia. After returning to England from Nigeria, Baker moved to Tuscany to become an olive farmer with his then-22-year old girlfriend. A spell of bad luck resulted in terrible crops for Baker. Then local farmers falsely accused Baker of selling drugs. This reportedly caused a dispute with the local mafia — and later, someone would kill one of Baker's dogs. After that, Baker moved to Los Angeles, hoping to become an actor. He became the subject of local legend — in South Africa Eventually Baker returned to Africa, settling on a farm in South Africa in the 1990s. Upon entering his farm land, visitors were greeted with a "Beware Mr. Baker" sign.

The sign would give rise to the 2012 documentary about Baker's life, Beware of Mr. Baker. He only agreed to participate because he was broke, Baker said in an interview with The Guardian after a screening of the documentary. Baker certainly had a reputation — one his ex-wives knew well. "If a plane went down and there was one survivor, it would be Ginger," Elizabeth Ann Baker, his first wife, told the Rolling Stone . "The devil takes care of his own." In South Africa in 2009, Baker was known by many in the local villages — and was rumored once again to be the "biggest local drug dealer." Locals claimed he always had "three black women by his side" and that he "only lives here" because he was run out of everywhere else. He doesn't think the Rolling Stones are good musicians.

In an interview with the Rolling Stone in October 2013, Baker said he won't "go within 10 miles of a Rolling Stones gig." Rather, Baker enjoys the musical stylings of Kelly Rowland and Emeli Sandé; he stays away from today's rock music because it is "pretty bloody awful." He can't tell you how he does what he does; he just does it. For all his iconic status, Baker couldn't tell you why he's so talented. "I just do what I do," Baker told The Guardian . "I don't think about it." Ginger Baker, formerly of Cream and Blind Faith, performing live on stage at the Jazz Cafe on Nov. 4, 2009 in Camden, London. He continued: "That's the problem with so many people — when they think. They spend all day practicing something and then go to the gig and play what they practiced." Happy birthday Ginger, you mad genius of a musician. Ginger Baker Rankings & Opinions 26 lists Ginger Baker Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker is an English drummer, best known as the founder of the rock band Cream.

Baker's work in the 1960s earned him praise as "rock's first superstar drummer", although his individual style melded a jazz background with his personal interest in African rhythms. Baker is an inductee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Cream and is widely considered one of the most influential drummers of all time. Baker began pla...

Question: Ginger Baker was the drummer from which band?
Answer: Cream