Ginger Baker

Ginger Baker is most famous as the drummer of supergroup Cream, though he was also in Blind Faith, the super-supergroup that fused Cream with Traffic. He is seen as a pioneer of the double bass drum kit, and one of the the most influential drummers of his time, with a list of drummers citing him that’s so long it would be a pain to list and link to them all here.

Baker got his professional start in the British Blues incubator known as Blues Incorporated, where he replaced Charlie Watts, who was joining The Rolling Stones. There he met and played with Jack Bruce. The two joined with Eric Clapton to form Cream, and then Blind Faith.

After that, Baker got fed up and did his own thing for a while, forming Ginger Baker’s Air Force, a moderately successful project including Steve Winwood and Ric Grech from Blind Faith and Denny Laine from The Moody Blues. Confused yet?

Baker became a fan of African music, recording Ginger Baker in Africa and setting up a recording studio in Nigeria, which was by numerous major acts, including Paul McCartney and the Wings for Band on the Run.