Ginger Baker

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Ginger Baker
Background information
Birth name	Peter Edward Baker
Born	August 19, 1939 (age 67) London, England
Genre(s)	Blues-rock Hard rock Psychedelic rock Jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician Drummer
Instrument(s)	Drums Percussion Vocals
Years active	1958-present
Associated acts	Cream Blind Faith Ginger Baker's Air Force BBM John Mayall's Bluesbreakers
Website	[1]

Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker (born August 19, 1939, Lewisham, South London) is an English drummer and singer who gained fame as a member of the Graham Bond Organisation (GBO) and Cream from 1966 until 1968. He later joined Cream bandmate Eric Clapton along with 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. He is also noted for using a variety of other percussion instruments and for his application of African rhythms to much of his drumming. Evidence of this African influence can be appreciated in Ginger Baker's work in association with Fela Anikulapo Ransome Kuti where he sat in for Fela's drummer Tony Allen in recording sessions published in 1971 by the Regal Zonophone / Pathe Marconi Label under the record title, Fela with Ginger Baker Live !

While at times performing in a grandiloquent manner similar to that of Keith Moon of The Who, Baker was also capable of the more restrained playing he had heard with British jazz groups during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Baker also performed lengthy improvisational drum solos, his most famous of all being 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 rumours emerged over the years that he had died.^{[citation needed]} In addition, Baker was addicted to heroin for over twenty years, kicking the habit in the early 1980s.^{[citation needed]}

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), 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). In 1994 Baker joined BBM (Bruce-Baker-Moore),a short-lived power trio formed along with Jack Bruce and guitarist Gary Moore.

Contents 1 Discography 1.1 Cream Discography 1.2 Solo Discography 2 Gear 3 Trivia 4 External links

[edit] Discography

[edit] Cream Discography

• Fresh Cream (1966)
• Disraeli Gears (1967)
• Wheels of Fire (1968)
• Goodbye (1969)

[edit] Solo Discography

• Ginger Baker's Air Force (1970)
• Ginger Baker's Air Force II (1970)
• Stratavarius (1972)
• Eleven Sides of Baker (1977)
• From Humble Oranges (1983)
• Horses & Trees (1986)
• Middle Passage (1990)
• Going Back Home (1994)
• Coward of the County (1999)
• African Force (2001)

[edit] Gear

Baker's kit is DW but used to be Ludwig back in the 60's and 70's; 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

DW heads were used for the Albert shows, but now Ginger will be using Remo heads.

[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.^{[citation needed]}

• Baker replaced Charlie Watts in Blues Incorporated. Watts later became the drummer for the Rolling Stones.

[edit] External links

• Detailed chart of Baker's band contributions

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)	The Powerhouse (Bruce/Clapton)	Blind Faith (Baker/Clapton)