Ginger Baker

Drum solo

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Music

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• Ginger
• Baker

[queersteerbeers]

cream not the cream

[ottowes]

He had an incredible technique and sound. It's amazing the way he did drum rolls with his feet and played very close to the rims on the toms. On top of it all he would get that jungle rhythm with his feet playing the two bass drums while he drummed like mad with his hands. Ginger was in a class all his own.

[ter521fad]

@realrdpone You saw them in 2005 at the MSG? I was at one of those shows.

[garygomesg]

Page considered B.J. Wilson of Procol Harum for Led Zeppelin when Plant recommended he try Bonham (They were in the same band together,) The original Led Zeppelin was Page, Entwistle and Moon (from the Who) and Steve Marriott. Terry Reid recommended Robert Plant. Page wanted Reid. Baker auditioned for ELP, but was never part of the Led Zep plan. Cream in 2006:, Baker has arthritis; Bruce had a liver transplant. I saw Baker (1968) and Bonham (1969)-both good, Baker was MUCH better,

[stacy208]

@foutupourfoutu yeah i know lol w/o bonham zeppelin would definitely not have delivered that in your face way of playing (or not as much). baker's style is based on playing the drums with more of a light touch (at least lighter than bonham's) b/c he was primarily a jazz musician. but yeah i totally agree that bonham completed the zeppelin sound. otherwise he was the whole band practically! :P

[foutupourfoutu]

@stacy208 Baker is great, but I can't imagine Led Zeppelin without Bonham . He's one of the first drummers to play everything in a perfect way. Nobody had this kind of playing, I don't know how to explain this but...y'know, POWER DRUMMING.

[realrdpone]

A drummer with a style all his own. Not polished, not deliberate like Bonham or fast and smooth like Mitchell.Baker accentuated the double bass, where Moon almost hid it. Early on, Baker tilted his tom-toms flat! No one else ever did! Way too hard to reach, consistently for a smooth roll from tom-toms to snare or to the floor tom-toms! Sadly, I saw Cream at Madison Sq. Garden and they were awful! Slow, way too loud, out of sync, sounded terrible and kind of stumbling. Bittersweet for sure!

[JimGawthrop]

I am glad to see Led Zep well remembered by younger folks, and an interest in drummers in general in this age of techno pop, but I'm surprised that John Bonham i even mentioned in the same breath as Ginger Baker. Led Zep had some complex rhythms and tempo shifts. I remember Phil Collins trying to sit in with Zep and play this stuff. He thought it would be easy, and he got lost. But Bonham was an organ grinder's monkey compared to Ginger Baker.

[wheresthebeefheart]

That sounds like urban legend to me. Baker was at his height with Cream in 1968. I doubt he would have seriously considered joining another band, fighting with Jack Bruce and all. How about a reference link??

[stacy208]

you do know that jimmy page was considering hiring ginger baker as the drummer for led zeppelin, but when he saw bonham playing some minor gig, he changed his mind almost instantly

[wheresthebeefheart]

Shirley had kind of a funky style which I also liked. Check out his playing on John Entwistle's 'Bang Your Head Against The Wall'. Cool shit.

[wheresthebeefheart]

Personally I like them both too. Along with many more drummers who don't get their due. Clive Bunker, Fito del a Parra, Carl Palmer, Billy Cobham just to name a few.

I just don't like phase shifting added to miked drums. It met it's match with Itchycoo Park & Matchstick Men.