Ginger Baker...Masters of Reality

[Seymouro]

I just watched a  show aired on Showtime Extreme about Ginger Baker.

What a whack dude. Basically a really irresponsible a-hole, especially regarding his first wife and kids. Very very interesting guy though. He went through a period through the 1970's where he lived and played drums in Africa, primarily Nigeria and Lagos).  Africa is the birthplace of the drum, by the way. Baker remains beloved across the entire continent.

He played polo with political leaders and had a real good time. But he's the kind of  guy that could never sop wandering. He's back in England now, got his financial shit straight after some real drug problems and general stupidity.

Anyway, enough narrating. The cut here is from a band he formed and called "Masters of Reality" in Los Angeles in 1992. Unfortunately, though the material is awesome, it was a one-hit pony because he absolutely hated LA and dissolved the band in 1993.

This is really cool though. Hope you enjoy!

http://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play?p=ginger+baker+masters+of+reality&vid=0180d9c0f09111bca857b4bb81950336&l=3%3A01&turl=http%3A%2F%2Fts1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DV.4809136248131140%26pid%3D15.1&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DDTuXBoA688Y&tit=Masters+of+Reality+-+T.U.S.A.&c=4&sigr=11aslfqe4&sigt=10t66pieo&back=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%3Fei%3DUTF-8%26p%3Dginger%2Bbaker%2Bmasters%2Bof%2Breality%26fr%3Dytff1-yff24&sigb=12o9osmi4&ct=p&pstcat=arts+culture+and+entertainment&age=0&&tt=b

[Mark M]

Ha!  A rap song about tea... "pour boiling water over the tea, how much more simple and clear can the instructions be"  with that brit accent. I thought it was funny and loved the guitar sound and Ginger's drumming. He still has a distinctive sound and style that you can tell it's him.

[Walter E]

"Now this is serious... what really bothers me about this country is the influx of yanks that can' t make a cup of tea."

That's great stuff.

I loved Ginger in Cream and the reunion they did a few years ago was cool. Ginger was outstanding and I thought was the hilight. As much as I like Clapton he doesn't play rock like he did in the cream days and seemed like he was playing more in his blues style which made it all sound more mellow.

Back to Ginger - I didn't know he wa a crazy man or that he lived in Africa but I even didn't remember that he was in Blind Faith until I Wiki'd him. It also said he actually likes to be known as a jazz drummer and influences include Louis Belson and Billy Cobham. That's outstanding but I'll always remember him as a rock drummer.