Ginger Baker - Drummer

It’s been a little over a month since Ginger Baker, my favorite drummer of all time, went to meet his maker.  After eighty years and change, Ginger Baker has finally joined the choir invisible.  If anybody in the history of rock was destined to join the ’27 Club’ it would have been, SHOULD have been Ginger Baker, even more so than Keith Richards.  I don’t remember how many times it was wrongly reported that Ginger was found dead of a heroin overdose in a hotel room somewhere, but it is ironic that one who ‘died’ so many times in his youth, one who was a heroin addict for over 30 years, lived to a ripe old age and died quietly in his sleep.  Ginger himself said that God kept him alive and in much pain for so long [arthritis in his back] was so that he could pay for so many years of wickedness.  I don’t think Ginger was wrong.  At least he was self-aware enough to know that he was a miserable human being.

If one really wants to learn about Ginger Baker’s excesses with illicit substances, I highly recommend the documentary “Beware of Mr. Baker”.  Everything you ever wanted to know about Ginger’s legendary excesses, his volcanic temper [he broke his documentarian’s nose with a metal cane – on camera], and his general mistreatment of every human being with whom he ever came into contact [to include his own children], it’s in that movie.  The day he died I watched that movie again and I couldn’t escape the thought that he treated his beloved polo ponies and his dogs better than people.  He burned so many bridges [musical, professional, personal] it is a wonder that anyone would care to bury his mortal remains.  His ex-wife Karen said that if he was on a plane that crashed, he would be the one to walk away because “the Devil takes care of his own”.  That’s pretty harsh, but when you hear the stories of how he treated others, that comment goes from being harsh to being “spot on”.

I write not to condemn Ginger Baker for being Satan Incarnate – I write about Ginger Baker the musician, and a fabulous one he was.  As one who claimed always to be a jazz drummer and not a ‘rock’ drummer, he sure faked it pretty well in the rock context.  One did not put Ginger Baker in a musical box – he was the musical box around whom music was formed.  Neil Peart of Rush [who knows a thing or two about drumming in a rock band] said that there was no archetype for Ginger Baker – he was the archetype.  He told Rolling Stone writer [and Ginger’s documentarian] Jay Bulger “his playing was revolutionary – extrovert, primal and inventive. He set the bar for what rock drumming could be. Every rock drummer since has been influenced in some way by Ginger – even if they don't know it”.  Ginger Baker has been credited for ‘inventing’ the drum solo.  Jazz drummers had been playing solos for years before Ginger Baker came along [Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa come to mind].  But he is, for better or worse, the guy that made the drum solo a “thing” in the rock world.  Of all the drum solos in rock, there are only two that I listen to.  The first is Ringo Starr’s drum solo in ‘The End’ [and Ringo hates drum solos], and only because it’s integral to the song – every Beatle got a solo on that song.  Ginger Baker’s Toad is the other.  Ginger made his drums swing, and he made them sing.

Much has been written about Ginger Baker’s time in Cream and Blind Faith.  I won’t re-write it here.  I will say this – of all the times he was this superhuman force of nature on he drums, one of his most quiet moments is my favorite Ginger drum track – Blind Faith’s Can’t Find My Way Home.  Instead of sticks, Ginger used the brushes.  He kept time with the hi-hat.  With all the bombast that made him famous, his playing on this acoustic song is a model of restraint and taste.  I’ll add another word – perfect.

When asked how he would like to be remember, Ginger said “a drummer”.  Of all the tracks I have of Ginger Baker post-Blind Faith [and there are many], I’ve been making compilation CDs of the tracks I like.  I’m up to about 9 CDs worth now.  I’ve been screwing around with Google Translate to see how many different ways the words “the drummer” is said in other languages.  If Google Translate can be believed, there’s Der Schlagzeuger [German], El Baterista [Spanish], Trommeslageren [Danish & Norwegian].  Knowing that Ginger spent a few years in Nigeria hanging out and playing with Fela Kuti, I found “the drummer” is Ilu Naa in Fela’s native Yoruba. For grins, I asked Google Translate to translate “drummer” into Swahili.  The word I got back was…drummer!  I’m not sure how accurate Google Translate is, but I’ll go with it for now.  When Ginger Baker first met his idol jazz drummer Phil Seaman, one of the first things Seaman did [besides show Ginger how to shoot up heroin] was to play him records of African Watusi drumming.  For Ginger, that was the hook.

He’ll be forever remembered as the guy who played drums in Cream and Blind Faith, but his career was more varied than the work he did for those three years.  He has had a more interesting recording career and those of Jack Bruce and Eric Clapton.  After the superstardom of Cream and Blind Faith, Ginger swiftly assembled a unique jazz-rock big band, Ginger Baker’s Air Force, which initially included Steve Winwood, Ric Grech, Graham Bond, Moody Blues guitarist Denny Laine, Traffic reed and woodwind man Chris Wood, and his old mentor Phil Seamen on drums.  It was a ten-piece band, and they recorded their second gig at the Royal Albert Hall in January 1970.  The recording quality was that of a good bootleg by today’s standards [an excellent bootleg by 1970 standards].  The two albums the group did mixed jazz, Afro-fusion, blues-rock, and percussion – lots of percussion.  The problem with a band this size [ten pieces] was taking it on the road.  They played about forty shows in the UK and Europe, but keeping all these musicians paid and fed must have taken a huge bite out of Ginger’s wallet.  When the Air Force was done, Ginger took off for Nigeria in his quest to get to the source of the African beat.  He took a film crew with him as he drove his Range Rover across the Sahara.  Once he got to Nigeria, he hooked up with Fela Kuti, whom he had known since the early 1960s.

Ginger made a few records with Fela Kuti - Fela's London Scene [1971], Why Black Man Dey Suffer [1971], Fela with Ginger Baker Live! [1971], and his own Stratavarious [1972].  He established his own recording studio in Lagos.  Paul McCartney recorded part of Band on the Run there.  Things went sour between Ginger and Fela because Ginger discovered he liked polo.  Not only did he like polo, he played the game with Nigerian regime figures against whom Fela often spoke out.  Fela saw this as Ginger giving aid and comfort to the enemy.  Coincidentally or not, Ginger and his studio were persona non grata in Lagos, so he hopped in his Range Rover and hauled ass back across the Sahara.  If you’re interested in flowing Ginger Baker’s musical journey through Africa, all but Stratavarious are available on iTunes.

Soon after, Ginger hooked up with Paul and Adrian Gurvitz to form the Baker-Gurvitz Army.  This group recorded three studio albums [Baker Gurvitz Army, 1974; Elysian Encounter, 1975; and Hearts on Fire, 1976].  All three are pretty good, but I like the first album the best.  That band came to an end when their manager died in a plane crash.  The Baker-Gurvitz Army put out a two-disc retrospective in 2003 - Flying In And Out Of Stardom.  It’s basically all their recorded output put into one package.  If you’re interested, iTunes has it.  To pay the bills, Ginger joined Hawkwind for one album and tour – Levitation [1980].  Throughout its history, Hawkwind’s vocalists have left something to be desired.  When the best vocalist in the band’s history is Lemmy Kilmister, that fact speaks volumes.  There is one really good instrumental on Levitation – Space Chase.  It’s worth seeking out.  I would ignore the rest of the album.

After Ginger’s fling with Hawkwind, he dropped out of sight to go into olive farming in Italy. It was his way of kicking heroin for good.  He scoffed at the idea of “rehab”.  His thinking was that if an addict had to really want to get the monkey off his back in the worst way, that addict would have to work extremely hard to do it.  He thought rehab clinics are a scam, so he opted to get away from heroin by going to an olive farm without electricity to make it happen. To give him his due, his cure worked.  There he stayed until 1986, when producer Bill Laswell found him so that he could play on John Lydon’s Album.  Ginger stayed in Bill Laswell’s orbit for a while and recorded with other Laswell-connected artists like Nicky Skopelitis, Jonas Hellborg, Bernie Worrell, Sonny Sharrock, and Senegalese drummer Aïyb Dieng.  During this time, Ginger recorded two albums under his own name [Horses & Trees, 1986; and Middle Passage, 1990].  Amongst all of the fusion players and African tribal drummers, Ginger is the rock-solid backbone for all the music.  Both of these albums are well worth having.  Ginger also worked with an ensemble called African Force.  He had four West African percussionists [Thomas Akuru Dyani, Kwaku A. Mensa, Ansoumana Bangoura, and Ampofo Acquah] with some European players [a guitarist, bassist, and keyboard player].  African Force and African Force: Palanquin's Pole are great drumming records that get to the heart of African music.  Like Horses & Trees and Middle Passage, these albums are well worth having in their entirety.

An album that was hard to find was a unique acoustic trio record [acoustic bass, acoustic piano, and drums] he did with Swedish bassist Jonas Hellborg and fellow Swede Jens Johansson [Unseen Rain, 1992] is a rewarding listen.  It fits nicely with the two jazz albums he did with guitarist Bill Frisell and bassist Charlie Haden as the Ginger Baker Trio [Going Back Home, 1994; and Falling Off The Roof, 1996].  He did three more “rock” records.  After Cream’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Ginger teamed up with Jack Bruce and Gary Moore to form a power trio [BBM] that lasted one album - Around the Next Dream [1994].  This album was like “Cream light”.  Had other players beside Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce had been involved, lawyers would have been called.  It’s an “okay” record, but not essential listening.  There are three songs on it that I like. 

A far more engaging record [better songs, too] was the one Ginger recorded with Masters of Reality - Sunrise on the Sufferbus [1992]. Included is a spoken-word vocal where Ginger expressed his exasperation at Americans’ inability to make a good cup of tea [T.U.S.A.].  From the first song, She Got Me (When She Got Her Dress On), Ginger set a furious pace which makes one wonder if his bandmates who were half his age could keep up.  Too bad he didn’t do another record with him.  Sunrise on the Sufferbus is pretty damn good. The final “rock” record documented the 2005 Cream reunion at the Royal Albert Hall.  The solo excesses that one heard in the 1960s were absent.  It is a fitting capstone to Cream’s career.  He did an instrumental record with Andy Summers in 1995 – Synaesthesia.  The opening song, Cubano Rebop, sounds like it could fit on the Police’s Synchronicity.  Low Flying Doves also sounds like a Police outtake.  I could picture Stewart Copeland playing these songs.

Ginger had two more jazz records in him – Coward of the Country [with the Denver Jazz Quintet to Octet (DJQ2O) – 2000 and Why? [with his Jazz Confusion quartet].  It’s interesting to hear both groups’ interpretation of Ginger’s song Cyril Davies, a tribute to the U.K. blues pioneer.  The DJQ2O had trumpeter Ron Miles, tenor saxophonist Fred Hess, pianist Eric Gunnison and bassist Artie Moore round out the quintet with organist Shamie Royston, guitarist Todd Ayers, and pedal steel guitarist Glenn Taylor.  That’s quite a few soloists to choose from.   Jazz Confusion had but the one soloist, James Brown saxophonist Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis, in addition bassist Alec Dankworth, and percussionist Abass Dodoo from Ghana.

What else is there to say?  Ginger Baker had a great career.  He had “the gift” of “time”, not that he lived to old age, but that he was a human metronome.  As a white Englishman, it is uncanny how he understood the essence of rhythm in African culture, and he embraced it.  He claimed to be a “jazz drummer”, but in listening to his body of work, his musical home wasn’t in jazz, it was Africa.  He is revered as a drum god, just not as a human being.  He burned a lot of bridges, and always had to find a new gig because he spent his money as fast as he earned it.  But because he was always in search of that new gig, his musical legacy is as wide as it is varied.  For us “old guys”, the world is a little less musical with Ginger’s passing.

What would a Ginger Baker, post-Blind Faith playlist look like?

1.      Cubano Rebop [Andy Summers, Synaesthesia (1995)]

2.      The Great Festival of Destruction [Ginger Baker/Jonas Hellborg/ Jens Johansson, Unseen Rain (1992)]

3.      East Timor [Ginger Baker Trio, Going Back Home (1994)]

4.      Rain And The Rhinoceros [Baker/Hellborg/ Johansson, Unseen Rain (1992)]

5.      Brain Damage [Ginger Baker’s Africa Force, 2001]

6.      Sokoto [Ginger Baker’s Africa Force, 2001]

7.      Low Flying Doves [Andy Summers, Synaesthesia (1995)]

8.      I Lu Kron [Ginger Baker Trio, Going Back Home (1994)]

9.      Aïn Témouchent [Ginger Baker Trio, Going Back Home (1994)]

10.  Mirror of Steel [Baker/Hellborg/Johansson, Unseen Rain (1992)]

11.  Abyssinia / 1.2.7. [Ginger Baker’s Africa Force, Palanquin's Pole, 1987]

12.  She Got Me (When She Got Her Dress On) [Masters of Reality, Sunrise on the Sufferbus (1992)]

13.  Memory Lane [Baker-Gurvitz Army (1974)]

14.  Space Chase [Hawkwind, Levitation (1980)]

15.  Mad Jack [Baker-Gurvitz Army (1974)]

16.  T.U.S.A. [Masters of Reality, Sunrise on the Sufferbus (1992)]

17.  Waiting in the Wings [Bruce/Baker/Moore, Around the Next Dream (1994)]

18.  City of Gold [Baker/Bruce/Moore, Around the Next Dream (1994)]

19.  Tilt-A-Whirl [Masters of Reality, Sunrise on the Sufferbus (1992)]

20.  Ants in the Kitchen [Masters of Reality, Sunrise on the Sufferbus (1992)]

21.  Ease [Public Image Ltd, Album (1986)]

22.  Why Does Love (Have to Go Wrong?) [BBM, Around the Next Dream (1994)]

23.  Interlock [Horses & Trees (1986)]

24.  Mektoub [Middle Passage (1990)]

25.  Time Be Time  [Middle Passage (1990)]

26.  Aiko Biaye [Ginger Baker’s Jazz Confusion, Why? (2014)]

27.  Ansoumania [Ginger Baker’s Africa Force, 2001]

28.  Adoa [Ginger Baker’s Africa Force, 2001]

29.  The Sign [Baker/Hellborg/Johansson, Unseen Rain (1992)]

30.  Skeleton [Ginger Baker Trio, Going Back Home (1994)]

31.  Open Secret [Baker/Hellborg/Johansson, Unseen Rain (1992)]

32.  To Each His Darkness [Baker/Hellborg/Johansson, Unseen Rain (1992)]

33.  Ramblin' [Ginger Baker Trio, Going Back Home (1994)]

34.  Ginger Blues [Ginger Baker Trio, Going Back Home (1994)]

35.  Cyril Davies [Ginger Baker & DJQ2O, Coward of the County (1999)]

36.  Cyril Davies [Ginger Baker’s Jazz Confusion, Why? (2014)]

37.  Da Da Man [Ginger Baker’s Air Force (1970)]

38.  Ye Ye De Smell [Fela Kuti, Fela with Ginger Baker Live! [1971]

39.  Toad [Cream, Royal Albert Hall London May 2-3-5-6, 2005 (2005)]