We remember Ginger Baker. ‘The Fabulous Baker Boy’

Wikipedia : This day (October 6, 2019), in Canterbury, England, died Peter Edward Baker a.k.a Ginger Baker, an English drummer, known for his work with Cream and Blind Faith.

Ginger Baker : Over a cup of tea at his mother-in-law’s flat, Jack agreed to let ‘bygones be bygones’ & the three of them got together for the first rehearsal in Ginger’s ground floor maisonette at 154 Braemar Avenue, Neasden in North West London, just a stone’s throw from Wembley Stadium where English football history was very soon to be made. It was an auspicious summer. The three musicians found that playing together was instant ‘magic’ & so good was the sound that kids from miles around could be seen dancing out in the fields that bordered The Welsh Harp Reservoir nearby. Yeah, man we’re the Cream! said Eric. Ginger’s last gig with The GBO was up in Bradford & he managed to write his new Rover 2000 off in an accident on the way back. It was the end of an era & the beginning of a new age.The first Cream rehearsal proper, happened at St Ann’s Town Hall, Brondesbury, North London, with Liz, the journalist Chris Welch & a bemused Robert Stigwood (who had no idea of the phenomenon that was about to be unleashed upon the world) in attendance. In no time the story was leaked to The Melody Maker under the heading ‘Eric, Jack & Ginger Team Up’ and as neither Manfred Mann (Jack Bruce), The Bluesbreakers (Clapton) or The GBO (Baker) were aware of this new development, this caused some immediate friction within the embryo unit.

@allmusic : There were other drummers who were well-known to the public before him, including the Beatles’ Ringo Starr ..but they were famous primarily for the groups in which they played and for attributes beyond their musicianship.

@last.fm : Ginger made top-selling records with Cream and Blind Faith for a period of only about three years at the end of the 1960s. Still, essentially every drummer for every metal band that has followed has tried to emulate some aspect of Baker’s playing. His nickname of “Ginger” came along as a result of his red hair.

@Discogs :

Photo : Zoran Veselinovic