Ginger Baker

Ginger Baker
Baker on 21 March 1980, Zemun, Serbia
Background information
Birth name	Peter Edward Baker
Born	(1939-08-19) 19 August 1939 London, England
Genres	Jazz, blues rock, psychedelic rock, hard rock, jazz fusion
Occupations	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Drums, percussion, vocals
Years active	1958–present
Labels	Polydor, Warner Bros., Island, Universal, Atlantic
Associated acts	Blues Incorporated, Ginger Baker and Friends, Cream, Blind Faith, Baker Gurvitz Army, Ginger Baker's Air Force, Hawkwind, Public Image Ltd., Atomic Rooster, Masters of Reality, Ginger Baker Trio, BBM, Fela Kuti
Website	www.gingerbaker.com

Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker (born 19 August 1939 in Lewisham, South London) is an English drummer who played with Cream and Blind Faith. He is also known for his numerous associations with World music, mainly the use of African influences. He has also had other collaborations such as with Gary Moore, Hawkwind 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", he prefers being called a jazz drummer. Baker's influence has extended to drummers of both genres, including Billy Cobham, Peter Criss, Bill Ward, Ian Paice, Nick Mason, 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."

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

Cream, 1967. L-R: Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce, and Eric Clapton

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

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 2–3–5–6 2005 (2005), 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."

In 2008 a bank clerk, Lindiwe Noko, was charged with defrauding him of almost one-half million Rand ($60,000). 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." Noko was convicted of fraud and in October 2010 was sentenced to three years "correctional supervision" (a type of community service).

Baker's autobiography Hellraiser was published in 2009.

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. The film was nominated for the Grierson Award at the 2012 British Film Institute Awards.

Movie Poster for Beware Of Mr. Baker

1971. Ginger Baker in Africa - Ginger Baker sets up shop in a recording studio he built in Nigeria's Lagos in 1971. (netflix) Documents the drive from Algeria to Nigeria through the Sahara and is filled with an hour of jamming with Fela Kuti.

Discography

Ginger Baker's Handprints at the Hollywood Rock Walk of Fame

The Storyville Jazz Men and The Hugh Rainey Allstars

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

Graham Bond Organisation

• Roarin' with Don Rendell (Jazz) (1961)
• 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 2–3, 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.

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" Edge Snare drum Snare
• 14" 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

1963–present made by Zildjian

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

Percussion

• 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

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

• Official Site and Online Store
• The Ginger Baker Site
• Beware Of Mr. Baker site
• Biography & Discography at Musicianguide.com
• Ginger Baker at the Internet Movie Database
• Ginger Baker Article by Jay Bulger
• "Ginger Baker: 'I came off heroin something like 29 times'", Edward Helmore, The Observer, 5 January 2013