Ginger Baker: “I won’t go within 10 miles of a Rolling Stones gig”
If there’s any one word that describes Ginger Baker, it is honest. When it comes to his artistic ventures or some of the biggest rock stars on the planet, Baker never minced his words during his lifetime, tearing aspiring drummers through the mud or knocking down the old guard of rock and roll. Even though Baker was known to be friendly among a handful of rock royals, he admitted that he would have never paid money to see The Rolling Stones.
When looking at his musical upbringing, though, Baker was never meant to be a true rock and roll star to begin with. Throughout his first bands, the drummer was inspired by the major players of the jazz world, taking cues from people like Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa. Once he started gigging as part of the Graham Bond Organisation, the tides slowly began turning towards more commercial music.
Formed with Jack Bruce on bass, the duo’s onstage chemistry was matched only by their animosity towards each other, including one performance where the pair fought during the show. While their creative relationship may have resulted in chaos half the time, the duo would eventually form the basis of the first supergroup with Eric Clapton, blending rock, blues, and jazz into Cream.
Although Clapton was known as the superstar in the band, Baker could still hold his own as one of the greatest drumming showmen of his generation, playing chaotic fills across his solo, ‘Toad’. While Baker had a style that no one could touch, he wasn’t the only English drummer interested in jazz.
A few years before Cream’s development, The Rolling Stones were already paving the way for the British invasion alongside The Beatles. While the band relied on the blues swagger of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, drummer Charlie Watts was always fascinated with jazz, initially declining to join the band because of his jazzy roots.
Baker also credits Watts for getting him one of his first pre-Cream gigs. After playing in Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated, Watts left the group to work with The Stones, leading to Baker joining and showcasing his thunderous style for the first time.
While Baker would strike up a friendship with Watts, he admitted that The Stones were far from the kind of music that he would listen to, telling Rolling Stone, “I mean Charlie is a great friend of mine. I think the world of Charlie. When I was living in the States, Charlie came to see me at my house, and he said, ‘I’d give you some tickets. But I know you would never go!’ I won’t go within 10 miles of a Rolling Stones gig”.
Though Baker scoffed at The Stones’ musical style, the similarities between him and Watts are closer than one would think. After trying their hand at playing jazz at the inception of their career, both would find their calling playing rock and roll, all while spoon-feeding their more eclectic taste to a rock audience. Baker and Watts may have both changed rock and roll drumming for the better, but Baker would have rather stuck with the classics than trying his hand at playing rock.
