Biography Ginger Baker

1 biography

1.1 life , career
1.2 cream
1.3 blind faith
1.4 ginger baker s air force
1.5 1970s
1.6 1980s , 1990s
1.7 2000s , 2010s

biography

baker performing cream on dutch television program fanclub in 1968


early life , career

baker born in lewisham, south london. mother worked in tobacco shop; father, frederick louvain formidable baker, bricklayer , lance corporal in royal corps of signals in wwii died in 1943 dodecanese campaign.

an athletic child, baker began playing drums @ 15 years old outlet restless energy. in 1960s took lessons phil seamen, 1 of leading british jazz drummers of post-war era. gained fame member of graham bond organisation future cream bandmate jack bruce. graham bond organisation r&b/blues group strong jazz leanings.

cream

baker founded rock band cream in 1966 jack bruce , guitarist eric clapton. fusion of blues, psychedelic rock , hard rock, band released 4 albums in little on 2 years before breaking in 1968.

blind faith


baker (second right) blind faith, 1969

baker joined short-lived supergroup blind faith, composed of clapton, bassist ric grech, , steve winwood on keyboards , vocals. released 1 album before breaking up.

ginger baker s air force

in 1970 baker formed, toured , recorded fusion rock group ginger baker s air force.

1970s

baker lived in north harrow 1970 until 1976. in 1976 ginger crossed sahara keith gerrard pioneering cross sahara trucking company.this trip took 4 days , blue print first paris dakar rally in 1978. sat in fela kuti during recording sessions in 1971 released regal zonophone live! (1971) fela appeared ginger baker on stratavarious (1972) alongside bobby gass, pseudonym bobby tench jeff beck group. stratavarious later re-issued part of compilation like. baker formed baker gurvitz army in 1974 , recorded 3 albums them before band broke in 1976.

1980s , 1990s

ginger moved italy , set olive farm.

baker in march 1980

in 1980s, baker joined hawkwind album , tour, , in mid-1980s part of john lydon s public image ltd., latter leading occasional collaborations bassist/producer bill laswell.

in 1992 baker played hard-rock group masters of reality bassist googe , singer/guitarist chris goss on album sunrise on sufferbus. album received critical acclaim sold fewer 10,000 copies.

baker lived in parker, colorado, rural commuter town @ southeastern corner of denver metropolitan area, between 1993 , 1999, in part due passion polo. baker not participated in polo events @ salisbury equestrian park, sponsored ongoing series of jam sessions , concerts @ equestrian centre on weekends.

in 1994, formed ginger baker trio bassist charlie haden , guitarist bill frisell. joined bbm, short-lived power trio line-up of baker, jack bruce , irish blues rock guitarist gary moore.

2000s , 2010s

on 3 may 2005, baker reunited eric clapton , jack bruce series of cream concerts @ royal albert hall , madison square garden. london concerts recorded , released royal albert hall london may 2–3–5–6 2005 (2005), in rolling stone article written in 2009, bruce quoted saying: s knife-edge thing between me , ginger. nowadays, re happily co-existing in different continents [bruce, died in 2014, lived in britain, baker in south africa] ... although thinking of asking him move. s still bit close .

in 2008 bank clerk, lindiwe noko, charged defrauding him of half million rand ($60,000). baker said had hired noko personal assistant, paying £7 per day (about 100 rand) performing various errands, , alleged used position uncover private banking information , make unauthorized withdrawals. noko claimed money gift after , baker became lovers. baker replied, ve scar woman had thing me know. s there , doesn t know s there . noko pleaded not guilty, convicted of fraud , in october 2010 sentenced 3 years of correctional supervision, type of community service. baker responded sentence travesty .

baker s autobiography hellraiser published in 2009.

throughout 2013 , 2014, baker toured ginger baker jazz confusion, quartet comprising baker, saxophonist pee wee ellis, bassist alec dankworth , percussionist abass dodoo.

in 2014, baker signed record label motéma music release new jazz album. album, why?, released in may 2014 , featured aforementioned quartet.

in february 2016, baker announced had been diagnosed serious heart issues , cancelled future gigs until further notice. writing on blog, said, seen doctor... big shock... no more gigs old drummer... off... of things never thought heart... little known baker s sudden , serious illness. in late march 2016, revealed baker set pioneering treatment after explaining: there 2 options surgery and, depending on how strong old lungs are, may both.

he added: cardiologist brilliant. yesterday inserted tube artery @ right wrist , fed way heart – quite experience. taking pictures of heart inside – amazing technology... says s going me playing again! support. heart operation done in july 2016 baker reported on road recovery.