Ginger Baker

born on 19/8/1939 in Lewisham, London, England, United Kingdom

died on 6/10/2019 in Canterbury, Kent, England, United Kingdom

Ginger Baker

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Ginger Baker

Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker (born 19 August 1939 in Lewisham, South London) is an English drummer, best known for his work with the rock band Cream. He is also known for his numerous associations with World music, mainly the use of African influences.[1] He has also had other collaborations such as with Blind Faith, Gary Moore, Hawkwind, Masters of Reality and Public Image Ltd.

Baker's drumming attracted attention for its flamboyance, showmanship and his use of two bass drums instead of the conventional single bass kick drum (following a similar set-up used by Louie Bellson during his days with Duke Ellington). Although a firmly established rock drummer and praised as "Rock's first superstar drummer",[2] he prefers being called a jazz drummer.[3] Baker's influence has extended to drummers of both genres, including Billy Cobham, Peter Criss, Bill Ward, Ian Paice, Alex Van Halen, Nick Mason,[4] and John Bonham. AllMusic has described him as "the most influential percussionist of the 1960s" and stated that "virtually every drummer of every heavy metal band that has followed since that time has sought to emulate some aspect of Baker's playing." [2]

While at times performing in a similar way to Keith Moon from The Who, Baker also employs a more restrained style influenced by the British jazz groups he heard during the late 1950s and early 1960s. In his early days as a drummer, he performed lengthy drum solos, the best known being the five-minute drum solo "Toad" from Cream's debut album Fresh Cream (1966). He is also noted for using a variety of other percussion instruments and for his application of African rhythms. He would often emphasize the flam, a drum rudiment in which both sticks attack the drumhead at almost the same time, giving a heavy thunderous sound.

Biography

Baker formed and recorded with Ginger Baker's Energy and was involved in collaborations with Bill Laswell, jazz bassist Charlie Haden, jazz guitarist Bill Frisell, and pioneering afro beat musician Fela Kuti. He was also member of Hawkwind, Atomic Rooster, Masters of Reality, and Public Image Ltd..

Baker gained fame as a member of the Graham Bond Organisation and then as a member of the rock band Cream from 1966 until they disbanded in 1968. He later joined the group Blind Faith. In 1970 Baker formed, toured and recorded with fusion rock group Ginger Baker's Air Force.

He lived in Nigeria from 1970 until 1976.[5] Baker sat in for Kuti[6] during recording sessions in 1971 and these were released by Regal Zonophone as Live! (Fela Kuti album) (1971)'[7] Fela also appeared with Ginger Baker on Stratavarious (1972) alongside Bobby Gass,[8] a pseudonym for Bobby Tench[1] from The Jeff Beck Group. Stratavarious was later re-issued as part of the compilation Do What You Like.[9] Baker formed Baker Gurvitz Army in 1974 and recorded three albums with them before the band broke up in 1976.

In the early 1980s, Baker joined Hawkwind for an album and tour, and in the mid-1980s was part of John Lydon's Public Image Ltd.

In 1992 Baker played with the hard-rock group Masters of Reality on the album Sunrise on the Sufferbus, yielding the top-ten hit "She Got Me (When She Got Her Dress On)".

In 1994 he formed The Ginger Baker Trio and joined the bassist known as Googe in Masters of Reality formed by producer, singer and guitarist Chris Goss.

In 1994 Baker joined BBM, a short-lived power trio with the lineup of Baker, Jack Bruce and Irish blues rock guitarist Gary Moore. On 3 May 2005 Baker was reunited with Eric Clapton and Bruce for a series of concerts at the Royal Albert Hall and Madison Square Garden. The London concerts were recorded and released as Royal Albert Hall London May 2356 2005 (2005),[10] In a Rolling Stone article written in 2009, Bruce is quoted as saying: "It's a knife-edge thing between me and Ginger. Nowadays, we're happily co-existing in different continents [Bruce lives in Britain, Baker in South Africa] ... although I was thinking of asking him to move. He's still a bit too close."[11]

Baker lived in Parker, Colorado, a rural suburb of Denver, between 1993 and 1999, in part due to his passion for polo. Baker not only participated in polo events at the Salisbury Equestrian Park, but he also sponsored an ongoing series of jam sessions and concerts at the equestrian center on weekends.[12]

In 2008 a bank clerk, Lindiwe Noko, was charged with defrauding him of almost one-half million Rand ($60,000).[13] The bank clerk claimed that it was a gift after she and Baker became lovers. Not so, insisted Baker, who explained, "I've a scar that only a woman who had a thing with me would know. It's there and she doesn't know it's there."[14] Noko was convicted of fraud and in October 2010 was sentenced to three years "correctional supervision" (a type of community service).[15]

Baker's autobiography Hellraiser was published in 2009.[1]

Baker has COPD, a lung disease.

In 2013 Baker toured with the Ginger Baker Jazz Confusion, a quartet comprising Baker, saxophonist Pee Wee Ellis, bassist Alec Dankworth and percussionist Abass Dodoo.[16]

In 2014 Baker signed with record label Motéma Music to release a new jazz album. The album will feature members of the aforementioned quartet he toured with in 2013.[17]

Documentaries

In 2012 the documentary film Beware Of Mr. Baker of Ginger Baker's life by Jay Bulger had its world premiere at South By Southwest in Austin, Texas where it won the grand jury award for best documentary feature.[18][19] The film was nominated for the Grierson Award at the 2012 British Film Institute Awards.

Ginger Baker in Africa (1971) documents Baker's drive from Algeria to Nigeria (across the Sahara desert by Range Rover), where in the capital, Lagos, he sets up a recording studio and jams with Fela Kuti.

Discography

The Storyville Jazz Men and The Hugh Rainey Allstars

  • Storyville Re-Visited (1958) also featuring Bob Wallis and Ginger Baker

Graham Bond Organisation

  • Live at Klooks Kleek (1964)
  • The Sound of 65 (1965)
  • There's a Bond Between Us (1965)

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, May 23, 5-6 2005 Reprise (2005)

Blind Faith discography

  • Blind Faith Polydor (1969)

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)

Solo discography

  • 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 live album ITM (1987)
  • Middle Passage Axiom (1990)
  • Unseen Rain Day Eight (1992)
  • Going Back Home Atlantic (1994)
  • Ginger Baker's Energy ITM (1995)
  • 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 ITM (2001)
  • African Force: Palanquin's Pole Synergie (2006)

Other

  • Live! Fela Ransome-Kuti and The Africa'70 with Ginger Baker, Regal Zonophoneas/Pathe Philips (1971) / Polydor (1972)
  • Band on the Run Paul McCartney and Wings, Capitol/EMI (1973)
  • Levitation Hawkwind, Bronze (1980)
  • Zones Hawkwind, Flicknife (1983)
  • This Is Hawkwind, Do Not Panic Hawkwind, Flicknife (1984)
  • Album 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 Records (1993)
  • Around the Next Dream by BBM, Capitol (1994)
  • Synaesthesia by Andy Summers, CMP Records (1996)
  • Coward of the County Ginger Baker and the Denver Jazz Quintet-to-Octet (DJQ2O), Atlantic (1999)

Instruments and sound

Baker's current kit is made by Drum Workshop. He used Ludwig drums until the late 1990s. All of his cymbals are made by Zildjian; the 22" rivet ride cymbal and the 14" hi-hats he currently uses are the same ones he used during the last two Cream tours in 1968.[20]

Drums

1960s
  • 20"x 14" Bass (right foot)
  • 22"x 14" Bass (left foot)
  • 12x8" & 13x9" top toms
  • 14x14" & 16x14" floor toms
  • 1940's 6.5" x 14" black finished Leedy Broadway wood Snare

Snare tuned high, toms and bass tuned low

In May 1968 Baker purchased a new Ludwig drum kit with 20"x14" & 22"x14" bass drums, a 14"x5" metal Super-Sensitive snare and the same-sized toms for Cream's farewell tour.

Current drums
  • 10"x 8",12" x 9",13" x 10",14" x 12", Toms on front rack stands
  • 20"x 14" & 22" x 14" Bass drums
  • 13"x 5,5" DW Craviotto Snare
  • 14"x 6,5" Leedy Snare (Spare)
  • DW 5000 Accelerator Bass Drum Pedals
  • 4 DW cymbal stands
  • 1 DW 5000 HiHat Stand
  • 1 DW Snare Stand
  • Zildjian Ginger Baker 7a sticks

Cymbals

1963present made by Zildjian[21]

1960s
  • 16" crash left upper
  • 13" crash left lower
  • 14" hi-hats left
  • 20" ride right front lower
  • 14" crash right front upper
  • 22" rivet crash/ride right back upper
  • 18" crash right back lower
  • 8" which Ginger once called a "joke effect" splash right of middle
Current
  • 16" K Dark Thin Crash
  • 15" A New Beat Hi Hats
  • 8" A Splash
  • 8" A Fast Splash
  • 10" A Splash
  • 8" A Splash
  • 13" Top Hat
  • 22" A Series Medium Ride Rivet Ride
  • 18" China
  • 18" A Medium Crash
  • Cow bells front right

Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Baker, Ginger and Ginette. Hellraiser The autobiography of the World's Most Famous Drummer, John Blake Publishing.
  2. 2.0 2.1 [Ginger Baker at All Music Guide Ginger Baker]. allmusic.com. Retrieved on 2010-10-15.
  3. Baker, Ginger. (2006), Cream: Classic Artists, Image Entertainment, Inc.
  4. Phil Sutcliffe (July 1995). The 30 Year Technicolor Dream. Mojo Magazine. Retrieved on 2011-07-23.
  5. Jay Babcock (2009-11-02). GINGER BAKER on Fela Kuti (1999) | Arthur Magazine. Arthurmag.com. Retrieved on 2012-12-11.
  6. Dougan, John. [Ginger Baker at All Music Guide Fela Ransome-Kuti]. allmusic.com. Retrieved on 2010-02-13.
  7. [Ginger Baker at All Music Guide Ginger Baker. Live with Fela Kuti]. allmusic.com. Retrieved on 2010-02-13.
  8. [Ginger Baker at All Music Guide Stratavarious]. allmusic.com. Retrieved on 2010-02-13.
  9. [Ginger Baker at All Music Guide Ginger Baker compilations]. allmusic.com.
  10. [Ginger Baker at All Music Guide Cream, The Royal Albert Hall London May 2356 2005 album]. allmusic.com. Retrieved on 2010-02-13-10.
  11. The Devil and Ginger Baker. www.rollingstone.com. Retrieved on 2009-290-08.
  12. Hooper, Joseph. Harmonic Convergence? Ginger Baker's Crazy Story. The New York Observer. Retrieved on 3 March 2014.
  13. Bank clerk defrauds drummer, news24.com, 31 August 2008. URL accessed on 2008-08-31.
  14. Cream drummer may flash ginger nuts in court, The Register, 11 June 2008. URL accessed on 2008-06-11.
  15. Ginger Baker's assistant avoids jail over theft, The Daily Telegraph, 2010-10-20. URL accessed on 2014-04-22.
  16. Ginger Baker Jazz Confusion. The Apex, Bury St Edmunds. Retrieved on 10 June 2013.
  17. http://motema.com/motema-signs-legendary-drummer-ginger-baker/
  18. Murphy, Mekado, 'Beware of Mr. Baker' and 'Gimme the Loot' Win Grand Jury Prizes at SXSW, New York Times, 14 March 2012. URL accessed on 26 March 2012.
  19. Meeting Ginger Baker: an experience to forget (2013-05-15). Retrieved on 2014-04-22.
  20. Ginger Baker's drum kit. ginger-baker.com. Retrieved on 2010-02-13.
  21. Ginger Baker Artist Page. Retrieved on 2014-04-22.

References

  • Baker, Ginger and Ginette. Hellraiser: The Autobiography of the World's most Famous Drummer. John Blake Publishing (2009). ISBN 978-1-84454-817-0

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ginger Baker

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 - Those Were the Days - 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)
Blind Faith
(Baker/Clapton)
This page was last modified 22.04.2014 13:56:14

This article uses material from the article Ginger Baker from the free encyclopedia Wikipedia and it is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.