Ginger Baker
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Frostie Jack
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{{Infobox musical artist
|Name = Ginger Baker
|Img =
|Img_size =
|Img_capt =
|Background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
|Birth_name = Peter Edward Baker
|Alias =
|Born = {{birth date and age|1939|8|19|df=y}}<br>[[London]], [[England]]
|Instrument = [[Drum kit|Drums]], [[Percussion]]
|Genre = [[Blues-rock]], [[hard rock]], [[psychedelic rock]], [[jazz]]
|Occupation = [[Musician]], [[Songwriter]]
|Years_active = 1958-present
|Label =
|Associated_acts = [[Cream (band)|Cream]]<br />[[Blind Faith]]<br />[[Ginger Baker's Air Force]]<br />[[BBM]]<br />[[John Mayall's Bluesbreakers]]<br />[[Masters of Reality]]
|URL = [http://www.ginger-baker.com ginger-baker.com]
}}
'''Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker''' (born [[19 August]] [[1939]], [[Lewisham]], [[South London]]) is an [[England|English]] [[drummer]].
Baker gained fame as a member of the [[Graham Bond|Graham Bond Organization]] (GBO) and [[Cream (band)|Cream]] from 1966 until 1968. He later joined Cream bandmate [[Eric Clapton]] along with [[Ric Grech]] and [[Steve Winwood]] in the 1969 group [[Blind Faith]]. In the early 1970s, Baker toured and recorded with a [[jazz fusion|fusion]] rock group, [[Ginger Baker's Air Force]].
Baker's drumming attracted attention for its flamboyance, showmanship, and his pioneering use of two bass drums instead of the conventional single 'kick' drum. He is also noted for using a variety of other [[Percussion instrument|percussion]] instruments and for his application of African rhythms to much of his drumming. Evidence of this African influence can be appreciated in Ginger Baker's work in association with [[Fela Kuti|Fela Ransome-Kuti]] where he sat in for Fela's drummer Tony Allen in recording sessions published in 1971 by the Regal Zonophone / Pathe Marconi Label under the record title "[[Live ! (with Ginger Baker)|Fela Ransome-Kuti and The Africa '70 with Ginger Baker Live!]]"
<!-- Image with inadequate rationale removed: [[Image:Cream1993.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Cream backstage at their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction]] -->
While at times performing in a grandiloquent manner similar to that of [[Keith Moon]] of [[The Who]], Baker was also capable of the more restrained playing he had heard with British [[jazz]] groups during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Baker also performed lengthy improvisational drum solos, his most famous of all being the thirteen-minute drum solo from "[[Toad (song)|Toad]]", heard on Cream's double album ''[[Wheels of Fire]]''.
Since 1986, Baker has released several albums of ethnic fusion and jazz percussion, and has toured with various jazz, [[european classical music|classical music]], and rock ensembles, including a reunited [[Cream (band)|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), [[Ginger Baker's Energy]] (1976), and the [[Ginger Baker Trio]], which included jazz bassist [[Charlie Haden]] and [[Bill Frisell]] on guitar (recordings released in 1994 and 1996), Baker has also at various times been a member of [[Hawkwind]] (1980), [[Atomic Rooster]] (1980), [[Public Image Ltd]] (1986) and [[Masters of Reality]] (1990). In 1994 Baker joined [[BBM]] (Bruce-Baker-Moore), a short-lived power trio formed along with [[Jack Bruce]] and guitarist [[Gary Moore]].
==Discography==
===Blind Faith Discography===
*''[[Blind Faith (album)]]'' (1969)
===Cream Discography===
*''[[Fresh Cream]]'' (1966)
*''[[Disraeli Gears]]'' (1967)
*''[[Wheels of Fire]]'' (1968)
*''[[Goodbye (Cream album)|Goodbye]]'' (1969)
*''[[Live Cream]]'' (1970)
*''[[Live Cream Volume II]]'' (1972)
<!-- Image with inadequate rationale removed: [[Image:Cream2005.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Cream in 2005]] -->
*''[[Royal Albert Hall London May 2-3-5-6 2005]]'' (2005)
===Solo Discography===
*''[[Ginger Baker's Air Force (album)|Ginger Baker's Air Force]]'' (1970)
*''[[Ginger Baker's Air Force 2|Ginger Baker's Air Force II]]'' (1970)
*''[[Stratavarious]]'' (1972)
*''[[Eleven Sides of Baker]]'' (1977)
*''[[From Humble Oranges]]'' (1983)
*''[[Horses & Trees]]'' (1986)
*''[[No Material]]'' (1987)
*''[[Middle Passage (album)|Middle Passage]]'' (1990)
*''[[Going Back Home]]'' (1994)
*''[[Ginger Baker's Energy]]'' (1995)
*''[[Ginger Baker's Do What You Like|Do What You Like]]'' (1998) - compilation
*''[[Coward of the County (album)|Coward of the County]]'' (1999)
*''[[African Force]]'' (2001)
===Other===
* ''[[Levitation]]'' by [[Hawkwind]] in (1980)
* ''[[Zones]]'' by [[Hawkwind]] in 1980-1982
* ''[[This Is Hawkwind, Do Not Panic]]'' by [[Hawkwind]] in 1980-1984
* ''[[Album]] by [[Public Image Limited]] in (1986)
* ''Unseen Rain'' with [[Jens Johansson]] and [[Jonas Hellborg]] in (1992)
* ''[[Sunrise on the Sufferbus]]'' by [[Masters of Reality]] (1993)
* ''[[Around The Next Dream]]'' by [[BBM]] in (1994)
* ''[[Band On The Run]]'' by [[Paul McCartney]] and [[Wings]] in 1973
* ''[[The Africa 70 with Ginger Baker LIVE]]'' by [[Fela Kuti]] and [[The Africa 70]]
==Gear==
Baker's kit is [[Drum Workshop|DW]] but used to be Ludwig back in the 1960s and 1970s; all [[cymbals]] are [[Zildjian]]. The rivet Ride cymbal and the [[HiHat]]s were used on the last Cream shows in '68.
Drums- 1960s-
20"x 11" Bass (right foot), 22"x 11" Bass (left foot), 12x8" & 13x9" top toms, 14x14" & 16x14" floor toms. 1940's 6.5" x 14" black finished Leedy Broadway wood Snare. Snare tuned high, toms and bass low.In 1968 ginger got a new drum kit with 20"x14" & 22"x14" for the farewell tour.
Drums- today
10"x 8" 12" x 8" 13" x 10" 14" x 12" [[Tom drum|Tom]]s (all on stands)
20"x 14" & 22" x 14" [[Bass Drum]]s
13" Craviotto DW [[Snare drum|Snare]]
14" Leedy Snare (Spare)
DW 5000 Bass Drum Pedals
4 DW cymbal stands
1 DW HiHat Stand
1 DW Snare Stand
Zildjian Ginger Baker 7a sticks
Cymbals 1960s:Zildjian
16" crash,
left lower - 13" crash,
14" hi-hats; right front top -
14" crash, front lower -
20" ride, back top -
22" rivetted crash/ride,
back lower - 18" crash
Cymbals Now:Zildjian
16" K Crash
14" Hi Hats
8" Splash
8" EFX #1 Splash
10" EFX #1 Splash
8" Splash
13" Hat
23" Rivet Ride
18" China
18" Medium Crash
2 Cowbells
now
DW heads were used for the Albert shows, but now Ginger will be using Remo heads.{{Fact|date=June 2008}}
1960s- 1970s
Remo/Ludwig drum heads on all drums
==Trivia==
{{Trivia|date=June 2007}}
* He and [[Cream (band)|Cream]] bandmates [[Jack Bruce]] and [[Eric Clapton]] have all played together in other musical groups. Baker and [[Jack Bruce|Bruce]] played together in the [[Graham Bond Organisation]], [[Blues Incorporated]] and [[BBM]], [[Jack Bruce|Bruce]] and [[Eric Clapton|Clapton]] played together near the end of [[Eric Clapton|Clapton]]'s tenure with [[John Mayall's Bluesbreakers]], and [[Eric Clapton|Clapton]] and Baker played together in the short-lived [[Supergroup (music)|supergroup]] [[Blind Faith]] right after Cream's breakup.
*Baker always insisted on having his two bass drums nailed to the floor at the venue he was playing live.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} In 1965 he played at the Shaftesbury Hall, Cheltenham which was then a part of St. Paul's College. The stage boards were new and of high theatrical quality. Baker pulled a hammer and four inch nails from his bag and proceeded to nail his drums to the floor. The caretaker flipped and started to shout at him, but Baker persevered and completed the task.--[[User:RodNeep|RodNeep]] ([[User talk:RodNeep|talk]]) 06:09, 13 June 2008 (UTC)<ref>First hand knowledge, from a member of the resident R&B group, "The Educators"</ref>
*Baker replaced [[Charlie Watts]] in Blues Incorporated.
* As a firmly established jazz drummer, he dislikes being referred to as a "rock drummer."<ref>{{cite video
| people = Baker, Ginger
| title = Cream: Classic Artists
| medium = DVD
| publisher = Image Entertainment, Inc.
| location =
| date = 2006}}</ref>
*When Bruce Springsteen was looking for a drummer for the E Street Band, which Max Weinberg eventually took over, the ad required "No Junior Ginger Bakers."
*The drummer that Paul Mccartney is supposed to be impersonating on his Coming up's musical video clip is Ginger Baker.
==External links==
*[http://www.ginger-baker.com The Ginger Baker Site]
*[http://members.tripod.com/rant58/id368.htm Detailed chart of Baker's band contributions]
*{{allmusicguide | id=11:aifqxqw5ldse~T0}}
*[http://www.musicianguide.com/biographies/1608000595/Ginger-Baker.html Biography & Discography] at Musicianguide.com
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[[Category:English rock drummers]]
[[Category:English blues musicians]]
[[Category:Ginger Baker's Air Force members]]
[[Category:Blind Faith members]]
[[Category:Hawkwind members]]
[[Category:People from Lewisham]]
[[Category:Music from London]]
[[Category:1939 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
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