Ginger Baker

Cream Of The Crop

Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker was born on August 19, 1939, in Lewisham, South London and was one of classic rock's first influential drumming superstars of the 1960s. Ginger-a nickname inspired by his red hair-gained fame as a member of the power trio Cream, featuring Jack Bruce on bass and Eric Clapton on guitar.

Baker's first love was jazz, but in the early '60s he turned his attention toward the growing British blues scene. In '62, on the recommendation of Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts, Baker was selected as Watts' replacement in Blues Incorporated, the band started by Alexis Korner. It was in this band that Baker first crossed paths with sax/organ player Graham Bond and bassist Jack Bruce.


In 1963, Bond, Bruce, and Baker left Korner and formed The Graham Bond Organisation, who played a unique mix of jazz-based R&B. By early 1966, The Graham Bond Organisation split, and when Eric Clapton expressed Baker and Bruce's shared interest in the blues, Cream was born. The rest is history. Ginger quickly became famous for his lengthy drum solos-the most recognizable being his thirteen-minute opus "Toad," heard on Cream's double album Wheels Of Fire.

Cream became a chart-topping act, and Baker would set a new standard for playing show-stopping drum solos during their concerts-with the use of two bass drums instead of the conventional single-kick setup.

In July of 1968, after only two years, Cream announced they were going their separate ways. Baker and Clapton kept in touch, and soon formed the group Blind Faith with bassist Ric Grech and multi-instrumentalist Steve Winwood. Within seven months Blind Faith, too, was gone, and Ginger Baker's Air Force was born.




In 1971, Baker moved to Nigeria, where he built the first modern recording studio in western Africa, and worked with Afrobeat pioneer Fela and with ex-Beatle Paul McCartney, who recorded his classic Band On The Run album there.

In the late '80s Ginger released several albums and toured with various jazz, classical, and rock ensembles. In '94 he joined BBM (Bruce-Baker-Moore), a power trio featuring Jack Bruce and guitarist Gary Moore.

On January 12, 1993, Cream's induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame brought back, for the first time in years, the three musicians who many said represented "the best players of their respective instruments." In 2005, the first Cream reunion took place, and the legendary trio amazed and delighted fans at New York's Madison Square Garden and London's Royal Albert Hall with classic songs like "Badge," "I'm So Glad," "Crossroads," and "Sunshine Of Your Love." Ginger Baker, one of classic rock's true drum gods, had proven that he was still able to light it up with the best of them.

In The Beginning

So what drew Ginger to play drums in the first place? "God knows!" the drummer chuckled in a 1983 MD interview. "I had been into drums from a listening point of view for quite a time. I used to bang on the table with knives and forks and drive everybody mad. I used to get the kids at school dancing by banging rhythms on the school desk. I thought, 'Hello, this is something I can do.' I was about fifteen."

Ginger said that in those early days, he "played like a madman and got emotionally involved in the music." He continued, "Some people don't like that. A lot of drummers just played what they heard on records. Whoever was the 'in' drummer of the day, they learned to play just like that. I was always playing myself. I had influences, though. Phil Seaman was one of them."

Africa

In the early '70s Ginger moved to Africa and started incorporating local rhythms into his own playing style. "I now know that you can say a lot more with one beat than you can with twenty-four," he proclaimed. "If you play really fast all the time, it doesn't really mean an awful lot. You can't hear what's being played, and only another drummer can really understand it. I think you can say a lot more with one beat, or even silence, than by filling everything up with demi-semi quavers [32nd notes]. Africa was quite an influence on me in that respect, although I didn't go there deliberately for that. The feeling was always in me before, but after going to Africa, I assimilated a lot of it."

Influences

At heart Ginger has always been a jazz fan, and his earliest influences were Max Roach, and Elvin Jones with John Coltrane. "In those days they played all over the drums, all the time. Nobody ever played '1-2-3-4.' It was all 'ga-dong, bip, bop, blam, ga-dong'-never on the beat. Now it's come back again to four in the bar on the bass drum." Ginger then went on to say, "There are not a lot of drummers you can recognize and say, 'That's him!' There's nobody like Max Roach, Art Blakey, or Elvin Jones around today. All the drummers in rock sound very similar and predictable. They all play the same fill-ins, in the same places! It doesn't have to be like that.

"I think the great problem with young drummers today," Ginger went on, "is that most of them don't know what the rudiments are, and it shows. It's boring-practicing rudiments-but they are absolutely essential. All those old-fashioned patterns are there for a reason, to help you master your instrument. Once you've got them out of the way, you've got total mastery."

On Technique And Solos

In his '83 interview, Ginger told MD, "I have got-as even dear Mr. Buddy Rich would admit-a good rudimentary technique. And my feet have always been an important factor in my playing. Basically, I play with my left foot as the timekeeper, and I regard that as playing on another drum. That's why I've stopped playing two bass drums, because I like that hi-hat to be there all the time. Wherever I go time-wise with the rest of my hands and feet, that keeps time. I play twos, fours, or eights on the hi-hat.




"One of my favorite things," Ginger continued, "is to play eight beats to the bar on the hi-hat and double beats in 12/8 time on the other three drums. It really sounds good. So you're playing 'Chickida, chickida, chickida,' but the other foot is going 'chick, chick, chick….'"

Ginger then went on to say, "Without studying paradiddles I wouldn't have been able to do big drum solos. It's funny; when I was playing modern jazz I was accused of being a rock 'n' roller because I needed to lay down an off-beat. But then, so did Art Blakey. But I never considered myself a rock 'n' roller. I was always a jazzer, and always will be. Cream was a jazz band. That's what it was. It was eighty percent improvised music. If that's rock 'n' roll, then great, I like it."

Later, on the topic of solos, he said, "I don't think my approach to drum solos has altered since Cream. I like to follow a theme, which may change, but I need to know roughly where I'm going, and up it and down it along the way. I try to be in control of the situation. Philly Joe Jones had heard one of my solos on TV, and when I met him he said to me, 'Yeah man, you're telling a story there,' which was really nice of him."

The Business And Cream

In 1990, Ginger provided some insight into Cream's most famous hit, "Sunshine Of Your Love." "Jack had brought along a riff that we'd been playing," he recalled. "We tried it out in a few rehearsals, but it wasn't really happening. Jack brought it up again, though, and I slugged it out. Then Eric came up with the mid-section. But I didn't get a [publishing] part of the song. The other three did: Jack, Eric, and Pete Brown, who was the lyricist. But I had actually helped write the song. I saw this beginning to happen at the studio when we were recording the album. I was really having difficulty controlling my temper. I was spending a lot of time in the bar underneath the studio."

"The reason 'White Room' started in 5/4 was my idea too," Ginger added. "Jack wrote it in 4/4, but I said, 'Why don't we play it in five?' But I never got any credit for it. [laughs] But creating new approaches-that's what Cream was all about. The whole plan was to get a band together that would be hugely successful but that also played great music. That was my plan, and that's why it happened. It was very short-lived, unfortunately. That's the way it goes."

This article was taken from Modern Drummer's Collector's Edition of Drum Gods II. Click here to get a copy of your own or for more info on Modern Drummer!

Stewart Copeland

The Original Pop/Punk Prince

When British rockers The Police launched onto the American airwaves in 1979, by way of the quirky new wave hit "Roxanne," the rock drumming community was introduced to one of its most innovative, controversial, and influential figures of all time. Combining a no-holds-barred punk-rock attitude, an offbeat reggae-inspired time feel, and a penchant for tight cutting tones, quick hi-hat flourishes, and small splashy cymbals, Stewart Copeland's approach to the drumset was a breath of fresh air in an era when self-indulgent, arena-rock dominated the scene.


During his tenure with The Police, Copeland sold millions of records and earned several Grammy awards in response to their fresh yet radio-friendly hits. Chart-toppers "Message In A Bottle," "Don't Stand So Close To Me," "Every Breath You Take," "Wrapped Around Your Finger," and "King Of Pain" all prominently feature Copeland's inventive drumming.

After The Police disbanded in 1984 following a world tour supporting the band's final album, Syncronicity, Stewart's career took an interesting left turn into the art of composition. His most successful compositional projects included soundtracks to Wall Street, Highlander, and Rumble Fish, opera and ballets King Lear and Casque Of Amontillado, and TV shows The Equalizer, Desperate Housewives, and Babylon 5.

When he wasn't busy putting pen to paper, Stewart kept himself active behind the kit, either with his own projects or as a session drummer. The first of those was his 1985 solo album, The Rhythmatist. That album, which is a revealing glimpse into the drummer's unique world/fusion mindset, was put together after Copeland traveled extensively throughout Africa. It was around this time that Stewart also lent his signature hi-hat touch to Peter Gabriel's mega-hit record So. In 1988, Copeland teamed up with famed jazz/fusion bassist Stanley Clarke and singer/songwriter Deborah Holland in Animal Logic for a pair of interesting pop-rock releases.

In 2001, Copeland reclaimed his iconic rock-drummer status when he joined the jam-band supergroup Oysterhead with Primus bassist/singer Les Claypool and Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio. In 2006, Stewart earned a Grammy nomination for his live percussion/winds/drumset extravaganza Orchestralli, and he brought his Italian rock band Gizmo to the States for their debut performance at the Modern Drummer Festival Weekend. Longtime Copeland fans were given a special treat when The Police reunited in 2007 for a widely successful arena tour.

The Mid-East And Reggae Connection

One of the defining characteristics of Stewart's drumming is his creative use of the hi-hat, which stems from the drummer's early exposure to Arabic music and reggae while growing up in the Middle East. "One thing that Arabic music features prominently is the 16th-note interest," said Stewart. "In modern electronic music, the 16th note is not very interesting; it's metronomic. So people never thought about the hi-hat as providing anything other than steady 16th notes.

"Then when I heard reggae for the first time, it connected with my Arabic rhythmic sensibility—leaving holes in the beat. Reggae was the first time I heard a completely different kind of music using a drumset. It gave me ideas and it showed me that you can turn a drumset completely upside down. You don't have to just play a backbeat."

Playing In The Cracks

In many Police tunes, Stewart displayed his reggae influence by playing looping grooves that straddled between straight and swung feels. But, as he stated, "That type of groove isn't between straight and swing; it varies between the two. The formula is going back and forth, playing straight 8ths for a while and then switching into the triplet feel."

Grooving And Accompanying

Even though his unique world-fusion style was a little busier than that of other rock drummers, Stewart never ignored the challenge of laying down a solid, consistent groove for others to play along with. "Drums are an accompanying instrument," Copeland explained. "I don't think drummers realize that the total concentration needed to be a good accompanist is far greater than being a great soloist."

Stewart emphasized his focus on groove and feel, as opposed to flashy solos and fills, stating, "Grooving is at the essence of my playing. If you can make it feel really good, you don't have to worry about how long the fills are or how fast your hands are. To my ears, lots of fills water down the impact you can have on the music. The little flourishes end up speaking louder than a lot of notes played all the time."

Defining A Great Drummer

Stewart went on to relate his emphasis on feel to what it takes to be a great drummer. "It doesn't matter how many times you hit your drums, it's when you hit them and what it feels like when you do," Copeland said. "Either you hit a pulse that's exciting and that makes people move, or you don't. There are some drummers who hit that pulse all the time, and there are some drummers who only hit it sometimes. How close you can get to doing it all the time, and how intense and exciting you can make your rhythm, is how good you are."

Open Your Ears

Another quality that Stewart feels contributes to great drumming is the ability to listen and react in the appropriate way. "Playing any instrument is about listening," the drummer explained. "Listening is where the cool stuff comes from. And that listening thing, magically, turns all of your chops into gold. If you're just thinking about your chops, it ain't music. But when you're listening and focusing on all the other players and not your own self, that's when the real stuff happens."

Physical Drumming

Stewart is also known for his relentless energy and drive on the bandstand. But even with such a physical approach to the playing, he understands that you have to know when to lay back and when to push the limits. "I thrive on physical exercise," Copeland stated. "So I hit my drums harder and more times in an evening than your average drummer. But I'm able to do so without collapsing from exhaustion because I've got it to the point where I only use my energy when I really need it. The rest of the time it's like riding a bicycle downhill."

Going For Broke

Copeland also applies his energetic approach to the recording studio, often opting for the spontaneity of first takes rather than flawless performances. "I think there's a magic that you only get when things are fresh and new," said Stewart. "There's a bit of hesitancy and a bit of an exploratory feel. And I think you lose that on takes three, four, five, or six. You start getting more present and correct, but it's just dead."

Mental Practice

Interestingly, Stewart formed his highly influential and innovative approach to the drumset without spending countless hours in the practice room. "When I was in boarding school in England, I only had access to my drums once a week. But I found I was able to make a lot of progress by thinking about drums as I walked around," Copeland recalled. "If you imagine a single-stroke roll, you're imagining it perfectly executed. And that goes some way towards allowing you to execute it when you're actually holding a pair of sticks."

Creating Something Unique

When asked about what it takes to create a unique drumming style like his, Stewart advised, "The only practical suggestion I can make is to go out and find different and obscure influences. If you do nothing but study Steve Gadd, you'll sound like Steve Gadd. The thing to do is to take some Gadd and combine it with a little Serbo-Croation stuff. That's how to make your playing more interesting."

Stewart also emphasizes the need for drummers to expand their musical boundaries beyond the drum throne. "It's important that drummers think of themselves as musicians," Copeland said. "Drums are really fun to play, like a good game of tennis. But to be a really good drummer, you have to be a musician. If you're going to be a musician, you should expand your horizons, compose things, and work with other instruments. It will improve your conception of rhythm and your playing on the drums."


This article was taken from Modern Drummer's Collector's Edition of Drum Gods II. Click here to get a copy of your own or for more info on Modern Drummer!