Ginger Baker, Cream’s Volatile Drummer, Dies At 80
The family of drummer Ginger Baker, the volatile and propulsive British musician who was best known for his time with the power trio Cream, says he has died. He was 80.
Cream drummer Ginger Baker performing live onstage.
Photographer: David Redfern/RedfernsLondon (AP) -- Ginger Baker, the volatile and propulsive drummer for Cream and other bands who wielded blues power and jazz finesse and helped shatter boundaries of time, tempo and style in popular music, died Sunday at age 80, his family said.
With blazing eyes, orange-red hair and a temperament to match, the London native ranked with The Who's Keith Moon and Led Zeppelin's John Bonham as the embodiment of musical and personal fury. Using twin bass drums, Baker fashioned a pounding, poly-rhythmic style uncommonly swift and heavy that inspired and intimidated countless musicians. But every beat seemed to mirror an offstage eruption — whether his violent dislike of Cream bandmate Jack Bruce or his on-camera assault of a documentary maker, Jay Bulger, whom he smashed in the nose with his walking stick.