Ginger Baker |
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Thu. August 19.1999 1:24 AM EDT |
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Ginger Bakerby Frank Tortorici |
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Ginger Baker was one of the first rock drummers to engage in lengthy drum solos and use third-world rhythms. ( ) |
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Though Ginger Baker has been more active lately in the music world than he was in the '80s, he is still primarily heralded for his drum work alongside Eric Clapton's blazing guitar and Jack Bruce's intricate bass in the influential '60s blues-rock
Baker was one of the first rock drummers to engage in lengthy drum solos and to use third-world rhythms. He was born Peter Baker 60 years ago today in Lewisham, England. As a young man, he began playing drums in jazz outfits led by such artists as Acker Bilk and Terry Lightfoot. In 1962 Baker joined Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated (replacing Charlie Watts, who joined the Rolling Stones). There he met singer/bassist Jack Bruce, with whom he played in the Graham Bond Organisation. In 1966 Baker left Bond to form a band with the already-famous Clapton, who had made a name for himself in the UK as part of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. Clapton suggested Bruce — with whom he'd played briefly in the Bluesbreakers and who was then playing with Manfred Mann — as the new band's bassist, and Cream were born. Cream debuted at the 1966 Windsor Jazz and Blues Festival. The trio quickly became famous for the virtuoso improvisation of their live performances, which emphasized solos and instrumental interplay. The band's first LP, 1966's Fresh Cream, yielded the top-20 U.K. hit "I Feel Free." Disraeli Gears (1967) made Cream superstars in the rest of the world, especially the U.S. The album spawned the hits "Strange Brew" and "Sunshine of Your Love" (RealAudio excerpt), the group's first U.S. chart single. Wheels of Fire (1968), a mix of studio and live cuts from San Francisco's Fillmore West, topped the album chart in the U.S. for four weeks. It featured Baker's live showcase, "Toad." But Cream's personal relationships were volatile. Tensions, particularly between Bruce and Baker, led to the band's dissolution. In 1969 the trio issued its final studio LP, Goodbye, featuring "Badge," which Clapton wrote with George Harrison. Baker and Clapton soon formed Blind Faith, featuring Traffic's keyboardist/guitarist/singer Steve Winwood and Family bassist Rick Grech. Hailed as the first rock "supergroup" (although ironically some gave that honor to Cream) the band only made one album, its 1969 eponymous debut, and did one tour. The LP, which featured such classics as "Can't Find My Way Home" and "Presence of the Lord," became notorious for its cover, which depicted a nude adolescent girl. In 1970 Baker formed the percussion-heavy Ginger Baker's Air Force, which at times included Bond, Winwood, Grech and Denny Laine, formerly of the Moody Blues and later of Wings. A host of top British session musicians also sat in. Air Force featured three drummers: Baker, Phil Seaman and Remi Kabaka. Getting into African rhythms, Baker moved to Lagos, Nigeria, in 1971 to build and run the first 16-track studio in West Africa (Paul McCartney later recorded Band on the Run there). Baker began playing with local musicians and formed a band, Salt, before taking a lengthy hiatus from music. In 1974 Baker formed the Baker-Gurvitz Army (with Adrian and Paul Gurvitz), which cut three jazz-rock LPs. Beginning in the late '70s, Baker began devoting most of his time to polo, and eventually moved to Milan, Italy. Though he set up a drum school there and formed a band, he spent the bulk of the '80s running an olive farm and recovering from a lengthy heroin addiction. In 1986 Baker played on Public Image Ltd.'s Album. He then moved to California and recorded albums, with producer Bill Laswell playing bass. Baker also cut two albums with hard-rockers Masters of Reality. Baker, Bruce and Thin Lizzy's Gary Moore teamed as BBM for the LP Around the Next Dream (1994). Baker then returned to world-beat music on Going Back Home. Falling off the Roof, billed to the Ginger Baker Trio and also featuring Bill Frisell and Charlie Haden, followed in 1995. In 1998 Baker issued the double album Do What You Like. Earlier this year he released the jazzy Coward of the County with the Denver Jazz Quartet-to-Octet. Baker was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Cream in 1993. Bruce said: "Eric, Ginger and I wanted to turn each other on. The only good music is when good musicians play for each other. I believe that's what made Cream so different from the other rock groups." Other birthdays: Johnny Nash, 59; Billy J. Kramer, 56; Ian Gillan (Deep Purple), 54; Elliott Lurie (Looking Glass), 51; John Deacon (Queen), 48; Jason Starkey, 32; and M.C. Eric, 29. |
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