On October 6th, The legendary rock n roll trio Cream lost another member . This time, it was their game changing, cocky, at times frightening , but all around immaculate drummer who was Ginger Baker . Baker died on Sunday, October 6th after being checked into the hospital for 2 weeks for being "critically ill" . Baker was known for having notorious health issues , but the cause of death is still unknown .
Ginger Baker, born Edward Baker on August 19th, 1939 in Lewisham, South London , his parents were blue collard workers and he picked up drumming at age 15 and was influenced by Jazz drummers Elvin Jones , and Art Blakely . Before his pre Cream days, he was the drummer for the R&B group The Graham Bond Organization with future Cream bassist Jack Bruce.
Baker officially came to fame as co-founder along with bassist Jack Bruce in Cream with Eric Clapton on guitar, who previously came from John Mayhall and the Bluesbreakers. Baker became the musical backbone for Cream with his tight, sharp pocket fills and unorthodox playing when the band played live . His greatest moment in Cream was a live performance of the bands instrumental song "Toad" which was recorded at the Fillmore West in 1968. His searing solo lasted a full 15 minutes and it's credit to be the first official drum solo for rock and roll.
After Cream disbanded in 1968, Baker would continue his successes with other groups . Most notable, he and Clapton formed the brief Blind Faith with fellow Traffic and Spencer David Group singer Steve Winwood . In 1969, Bind Faith released their first and only album and spawned hits like "Had To Cry Today" and the now fan favorite " Can't Find My Way Home"
Outside of music , Baker had a reputation of being extremely harsh and cranky and would seldom give interviews let alone be in the spotlight . The last public appearance we officially saw of Baker was in the 2012 documentary Beware of Mr. Baker which was directed by Jay Bulger. The doc came about because of Bulger's Rolling Stone article "The Devil and Ginger Baker" which Bulger traveled to South Africa where he stayed with Baker over a number of weeks interviewing him and asking in depth questions . It was a stellar and eye-opening documentary and although some scenes were hard to watch because of Ginger's bitterness , it was worth every minute .
Ginger Baker. One of the quintessential if not greatest rock drummers of all time . I hope you find peace in your White Room.
