Ginger Baker
Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker (born August 19, 1939, Lewisham, London) is an English drummer who gained fame as a member of possibly the world's first supergroup "Cream" from 1966 until 1968 with Jack Bruce and Eric Clapton. He later joined Clapton, 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, possibly influenced by the jazz drummer Sam Woodyard or the jazz great Louie Bellson. He is also noted for applying other percussion instruments rarely heard of before in rock music and for his application of African rhythms to much of his drumming, influenced by his drum tutor Phil Seaman (this can be witnessed on "Sunshine of Your Love" by Cream). While at times performing in a bombastic manner similar to that of Keith Moon of The Who and Carlo Little, Baker was also capable of more restrained playing informed by years of work with British jazz groups during the late 1950s and early 1960s. He established the standard for which all rock drumming conforms to today. Baker also performed lengthy improvisational drum solos, his most famous of all is 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 rumors emerged through the years that he had died, although interview footage of him in the 90's and the recent Cream reunion shows in London and New York have proven otherwise. In addition, Baker was addicted to heroin for over twenty years, kicking the habit in the early 1980s.
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), and Ginger Baker's Energy (1976), Baker has also at various times been a member of Hawkwind (1980), Atomic Rooster (1980), Public Image Ltd (1986), and Masters of Reality (1990).
Highlights of Ginger Baker's solo career include:
Horses and Trees (1986)
Middle Passage (1990)
Going Back Home (1994)
Coward of the County (1999)
Source Name: Ginger Baker Entry in Wikipedia.org
Source Link: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginger_Baker
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