Ginger Baker

Paul Wade · Post by **Paul Wade** » 6 Oct 2019 4:51 am

Drummer Ginger baker has passed at 80
Saw him live many times. RIP Ginger
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/ob ... story.html

HowardR · Post by **HowardR** » 6 Oct 2019 6:08 am

He finally found his way home.....

Joachim Kettner · Post by **Joachim Kettner** » 6 Oct 2019 6:11 am

One of my first records was Fresh Cream. May he RIP.
He spoke nice Cockney:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fHO5cCfI04

Brooks Montgomery · Post by **Brooks Montgomery** » 6 Oct 2019 6:53 am

He sure outlived the rumors. I remember stories about him being on the verge of death due to drugs in 1968.
RIP Ginger

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 6 Oct 2019 12:56 pm

As the 2011 documentary "Beware of Mr. Baker" makes clear, he was not a nice guy. Band members were afraid of him and in the doc, he actually breaks the interviewer's nose with his cane right on camera!

Ian Rae · Post by **Ian Rae** » 6 Oct 2019 2:11 pm

He was such an unusual drummer that he was almost bound to be an "unusual" person too!
I think Disraeli Gears was the first album I bought. Baker said in one interview that the job of the drummer was to make the other guys sound good, and there was much truth in that; I was knocked out by Clapton and Bruce for a long time before I noticed the drums, extraordinary though they were.

Nic Neufeld · Post by **Nic Neufeld** » 6 Oct 2019 3:05 pm

Cream was one of my first favorite bands when I discovered them as a teenager...the atypical part perhaps was that this was in the late 90s. You could say I wasn't particularly hip with trends of my generation

But the creative/improvisational stuff was what made me come to terms with being "stuck on bass" when I wanted to be the guitarist...

RIP Mr. Baker. Such a unique player. And quite a fiery personality too! Maybe he's up there throwing chairs at Jack Bruce during a rehearsal or something like that

Godfrey Arthur · Post by **Godfrey Arthur** » 7 Oct 2019 10:53 am

Godspeed Ginger.

I noticed the drums right off for the Cream tunes.

We can easily forget that when these sounds were first heard, they were ground breaking. We must never lose sight of that for those that were there when it happened.

Dan Robinson · Post by **Dan Robinson** » 11 Oct 2019 7:52 pm

I was at the Back Bay Theater, 1968 in Boston, waiting for Cream to come on stage. Someone came out with a hammer and nailed Mr. Baker's drum kit to the floor. Then the fun began. It was a uniquely memorable experience. Great performance by three virtuosos!

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 13 Oct 2019 4:24 am

yep personality aside, I believe that GB will go down in the history books as one of the greatest of all times. Its hard to imagine how many NEW drummers he influenced from HIS early days with Cream

Saw him several times, watched him play TOAD with that rhythmic dual bass drums and toms a few times. Pretty intense !

RIP Ginger

Remembering GB
http://www.tprior.com/GB_cream.mp3

Andy Sandoval · Post by **Andy Sandoval** » 30 Oct 2019 12:10 am

The wheels of fire album really got a workout on my old record player back in the 60's great times and memories thanks to Ginger Baker and friends RIP bro