1,038.) Sun Oct.6, 2019

RIP Ginger Baker (1939-2019)

The Song of the Day is:

Ginger Baker’s Air Force – “Toady”

From the album Ginger Baker’s Air Force 2 (1970)

Tell me, tell me the story
Tell me, tell me the story

Toady, Toady is corny
Toady, Toady is corny

Sell me, sell me to glory
Sell me, sell me to glory

Ginger Baker

For anyone hotly anticipating the name of Junior’s other new fish, I will resume that topic soon, but in the meantime: We lost one of the all-time great drummers today. Just don’t call him a “rock” drummer, he would have hated that. The legendary Peter “Ginger” Baker was a fierce talent on the drums and had an attitude as fiery as his red hair. Of the drummers who laid the groundwork for hard rock and heavy metal (John Bonham, Mitch Mitchell, Keith Moon), Ginger was the longest surviving. He spent his final years in South Africa, far removed from his origin in England, but perhaps where his heart found its home due to all the African rhythms. Baker would begin his career as a member of Blues Incorporated and then in the Graham Bond Organisation. In both of these bands he was paired with the late Jack Bruce on bass. Though Bruce and Baker would spend much their time together with an intense dislike for one another, they did, along with Eric Clapton, form one of the most legendary trips in rock. As Cream, they were rock’s first supergroup (as in, each member had previously found success in a previous act) and combined blues and jazz improvisation with hard-driving psychedelic rock. They became known for the classic rock staples “Sunshine of Your Love”, “White Room”, “Strange Brew”, their cover of Robert Johnson’s “Crossroads” and Ginger’s drumming showcase “Toad”. “Toad” was one of the very first extended drum solos in rock music, and the live version of the song from the album Wheels of Fire extended to sixteen minutes long (with Baker getting the majority of that time to himself). After Cream broke up, Baker and Clapton would join Steve Winwood and Ric Grech for the one-off Blind Faith. After Blind Faith’s disbandment, Baker formed a jazz-rock supergroup called Ginger Baker’s Air Force, a group that featured (at various points) Winwood and Grech, Chris Wood (of Traffic), Denny Laine (of the Moody Blues/Wings), Baker’s former bandleader Graham Bond and his original drum teacher Phil Seaman. With the Air Force he indulged in all of his polyrhythmic and jazz tendencies. The group had two albums, the first a live one which featured a horn-heavy version of “Toad” and the second, a studio album, which contained the most tricked out, brassy, psychedelic vocal version of the song, now dubbed “Toady”. The live version of “Toady”, attached below, simply must be seen for its dated production and gonzo execution. Following the Air Force, Baker would perform some legendary collaborations with Fela Kuti for four albums. After that, Baker’s profile became a bit less public, but he still released music under his own name, as well as working with artists such as Public Image Ltd, Baker Gurvitz Army, Hawkwind, and even Jack Bruce one again in the 1990’s. Cream did reform twice, once for their Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction and once for a series of concerts at the Royal Albert Hall in 2006, but any further activity ceased when Bruce died in 2014. Old age did little to tame the beast in Baker, as he was seen using his cane to break the nose of the documentarian who was filming Beware of Mr. Baker, about the legendary disposition of one Ginger Baker, in 2012. Baker has had a number ailments in the years leading up to his death, but he managed to hit the milestone of his eightieth birthday this past summer.

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