Ginger Baker Throwback Thursday From the MI Vault 

Steve Gadd is brilliant indeed

How's it coming ?

What's funny is that Cream's reunion concert predated Led Zeppelin's reunion concert by two years, as well. :'D Symmetry is beauty.

Jesse Jay Allen try telling that to any zeppelin fans. Similar to beatle fans in the era of the 60s and 70s, they didn't get the whole picture.

@@VegetabIeMan well as a member of the Led Zeppelin cult (often mistaken for satanism) i can recognise Ginger's playing and ground breaking drumming but that may also be because i do actually play drums so...

@@rainsong7327 well that's fair enough, I think his playing is like that since its very African inspired, the solo could be danced to but it isn't anything like Bonham's solos etc

In my personal opinion, people have surpassed him, but you’re completely right about people not realizing how important he was for that time

If u listened to Ginger talking earlier, he said the drummer is there to compliment the other musicians. The drummer can actually help make the musicians play better. That is exactly Ringo’s style. Ringo was no Ginger Baker, but he understood what his job was in the Beatles. No one at the time could have been better for that particular job. Except possibly Charlie Watts.

True

Huxxy - Ginger doesn’t know what drumming is about. Please explain why he doesn’t. And explain who does.

@@huss03 That one video has only 6k views and it was upload 13 years ago wtf!! Never made it on the algorithm

@@huss03 Dude relax man. I was confused on why it had such low views compared to the other shit videos that get millions. I was actually impressed by that guys drumming.

@@huss03 Plus I'm the one who liked your comment

Finally, someone who understands basic drum rudiments and what his solos were about. Good comment. As a drummer myself I understand. Thank you.

I feel very bad for Ginger because as he fields the audience members' questions a professional healthcare provider can readily hear his poor pulmonary function (shortness of breath). In virtually every photo or video of him, there's the ubiquitous cigarette, either between his lips or in one of his hands. By the time he quit using smack, the damage to his heart and lungs was irreparable. Over the years, heroin weakened him significantly, but chain smoking was his death knell. 😢

​@@Roy-or6ev That is so true.. RiP Ginger

It's sad he only lived to the young age of 80.@@Roy-or6ev

Yes that's Ginger Baker! be well sir

MorbidManMusic Ginger’s hi-hat cut time into symmetrical little pieces. His most inhuman quality is his sense of time.

One of the best comments i've ever heard.

It’ll still drag towards the end of the vid.

Amen brother. Doesn't matter what the hands are doing, that foot keeps time. Only time it stops is to use the other bass to produce even more magic..

Maybe THE best drummer of all time. Only Art Blakey and Max Roach could argue that with him, in my humble opinion. Half human, half octopus.

theclash435 he lived and studied drumming styles in Africa.

Yeah, that African beat. Boil a big pot of water and get ready to throw whitey in so the cannibals can have a tasty meal.

like he said, phil seaman introduced him to it and said he was the only one who got it

@@duncansutherland47 only after Crean he was into African drumming long before and as Clapton said the emphasis is on the first beat not the second like western drummers

All of you have seen "Beware of Mr.Baker".. Obviously we all know......

Gradually, all of those cats came to appreciate Ginger's prowess as a skins man. 👍

etc

Deagledrumzz Wow, great comment! Thanx for that!!!

Ginger and Billy definitely have a style that's massive and very intense but they also knew when to lay it back and flow with the music. I hold them very high for sure!

I have concluded that the fusion genre is a fusion of funk and jazz; fusing together swing shuffle grooves and funk (also called soul) grooves. For me Ginger Baker might have time and swing but is not a funky groove drummer with soul and did not influence the development of fusion

Actually your take is wrong, fusion is 2 or more musics that are joined together. It does not matter if it's flamenco and reggae ,or reggae and latin ,or jazz and ska ,or jazz ,rock,reggae,world beat and samba. Once you fuse things together it's fusion, if funk is not in the music it still can be fusion. And if you take funk and fuse it with reggae, samba,latin etc it is also fusion.As for Baker not influencing fusion, man I suggest you understand the meaning of fusion music. Probably the most important drummer of the 60's because of what he brought to the table.

Yeah, that's why Cobham called Ginger the first fusion drummer...

He kept a constant rhythm and beat throughout his solos using his high-hat, not his bass. This left him open for double bass rolls when needed. How many of us could do this?

Well said man. Ginger made the drums sing

Tssss! these are 6 ply "modular" all maple shells, nothing to do with the original 1968 three ply maple/poplar/maple /re-rings shells.

@@frankfertier34 Yeah but that's about the best I've heard those sound. I had some. They work for him.

or his quote about keith moon..."he couldn't swing a cat"

The skinny, ginger, argumentative tw&t would never have said that to Bonham in person.

Ginger Baker is one of the greatest and most influential drummers ever. Too bad he was unnecessarily jealous of John Bonham

Agreed.

Exactly Ginger is one of the greats regardless of who's techincally better

Amazing

Comparing one ARTIST to another ARTIST is like comparing "BLONDES" to "REDHEADS"

Yes, it was a good buy for sure. Spell-check- it's a concept

this buy buy buy

ThE GREATEST

Great choices 😊

Grame Edge was real mean with his kit back in the day.

He was nice when Jack wasn't around!!!

The best ever

He had degenerative arthritis of the spine. Probably in the early stages, here, but in his last few years he was in permanent pain. He used to say “God is keeping me alive - and in as much pain as possible - to punish me for my past deeds” I think that had a lot to do with why he was so cranky near the end.

I was thinking the same. This seems to be the perfect period where he's old enough to be experienced but not as cranky as he got a little later.

Yes drum rudiments was the basis of his overall playing. As a young drummer in the late 60s and early 70s, it took me awhile to figure this out, but I did. Also listening to Carmine Appice was a great instructor also.

@@ufafgd I have the original Carmine Appice book as well as I attended a drum clinic conducted by Carmine Appice..a great drummer in his genre of music. I still use some of his grooves and figures taught to me by my first drum set instructor who's style was very much influenced by Carmine Appice.

That applies to all the greats who play any instrument. Good point.

Exactly

@David Roberts not so, heroin dulls your senses, it usually would just leave you incapable. I’ve seen Ginger play both straight and out of his head and he is just head and shoulders above any other drummer I’ve heard. This video is a perfect example - he is playing several rhythms at once. Incredible. I love. It that he intersperses his playing with talking about his early career with Graham, Dick, Jack, alexis - that’s in my days of living in London and doing all the jazz and blues clubs. Great days.

@@lizbourn4192 Right about Ginger, but Lestrum B is also right about any great musician being wired differently in their brain, drugs or no drugs

Arguably so, but arguably not. I don't care for his playing, but each to her/his own taste.

why? argue about it then

This video is a jewel.If you don't believe that he is the best or you aren't turned on by his playing it all boils down to a personal opinion,which everyone is entitled to and I don't try to change anyone's cause it's not my business.I think this video is very informative and shows a very polite and courteous Ginger Baker that is always overshadowed by his genuine disdain for nonsensical interviews and interviewers with the same questions he's answered a hundred times over.I have yet to see a clip where he has disrespected anyone seeking knowledge about his craft.Let us not forget that his last 10 years or so were days of agonizing pain and illness and I truly believe battling regrets for his reckless years of carefree living and alot of poor decisions which he freely admits.Those who have fallen from the top usually hide and fall into obscurity.Not so with Mr Baker who had no problem telling the world I was broke at the time, or am currently broke.That takes humility and integrity,two words rarely seen in a Ginger Baker story.Frankly I am so sorry I missed the opportunity to get to see him play live or at the functions such as this.One of my regrets.Love ya Ginger and thank you for the music and advice.May you rest in peace.

Without a doubt. He would have told you so.

Without a doubt. He would have told you so.

Lol Jack Bruce

@DadisDad were you not loved as a child

@DadisDad so this prick had a few music lessons & thinks he's Bach,dude,stop talking shit, your embarrassing yourself 😂"I've had music lessons" I mean really 🙄

LOL, I was there; graduated PIT in '89. He was definitely drunk and a lot more sloppy than this video. For some reason I remember that he sounded kind of silly explaining to a room full of music students that if you divide a note up into three equal parts it's called a triplet. Was it Paul Gilbert or Chris Wyatt?

I also remember someone asking him if he moved to Africa because he wanted to study the drumming and his was response was no, he just wanted to live in Africa.

Ginger Baker and Tim Bogert is one hell of a combo! One of the greatest drummers and imo the greatest rock bass player playing together. Must have been nice 👍🏻

@@bartmuller7727 GINGER BAKER = one of the greatest drummers ever, NO ONE even comes close to his originality. Drunk or not drugs or not, crabby guy or not, a legendary drummer like NO one else

incredibly underrated

No doubt. He has no predecessors.

Like Charlie Watts....he's a jazz drummer. That's why he wipes the floor with rockers

Stephen Kane underrated? 😂

This is laughable! Baker is excellent without question. However, there are many significantly better. In no way is he the Hendrix of drumming. Btw, SRV plays much cleaner and blows Hendrix away. Hendrix would say that himself. Actually, Hendrix called Terry Catz the greatest guitarist ever.

It's the drummer playing that makes a kit sound good but yes they sound awesome I agree. Biased as I own a Ludwig kit myself.

Absolutely ThE GREATEST.

The best in every genre of music

Great drummer and a naughty crabby guy, doesn't make him a bad person like lesser people think

Very true. Hahahha

first thing i noticed. double bass is too often, it's just 4/4 that looks awesome but is not much to listen to.

In the " heavy rock / blues " world he s an original with Carmine . But as he said in clinic , Louie bellson , Dave Black , Sam Woodyard. ED shaughnessy and even Buddy rich at times used Double bass before Ginger .

"It's not how fast you play, it's what you say!"

It's not how fast you play it's what you say!!

+finn casey-knight ain't even the word brother,

nate smith

His analysis was very good. I would have asked him about African versus Arabic rhythms. African makes your hips go forward and aft. Arabic drums make your hips move right to left. Why? Interesting. Should have asked if both bass drums are the same? What did he think of modern double pedals on one bass drum with two strikers?

MorbidManMusic Ever hear the Ginger Baker Trio-Ramblin’ ? Print out the tabs and try to play that, if I can read.... ginger could read and arrange

+Itsa Farce ????????

timpepper peters If all you can do is "????????" then you don't know about Ginger Baker!

+Itsa Farce Screwthat dude hes just another dousche bag whos trying to get a rise out of people!!!Ginger is one of the best!!!

Pay the haters & trolls no mind because none of them can do this. Talk is cheap lets hear it.

The other 4 might be Max Roach, Elvin Jones, Tony Williams and Steve Harris

Is a right definition

Because you can play with melodic with a drum kit

Tonally it's not clean but as far as tempo goes it's clean as fuck