There's more bottom, more clarity on Amazon Music HD.
I thought the guy was gonna come and repair/finish the file cabinet today. They shipped me a replacement part, but it turns out he's coming on Monday.
So I decided to set up my Playbar.
I got one for hosting a panel for Sonos a few years back, about music piracy and the future, remember that? But it sat in a box and when I went to plug it in it wouldn't update, the software was just too old, even though it was perfectly capable otherwise.
They shipped me a replacement unit and today I hooked it up.
After I recabled my stereo system. Audioquest sent me new cables. The only problem is they're for either professional or better stereos than the one I have, the cable was too thick. And I spent hours twisting wire, scraping back plastic, wondering if when I was all done whether the stereo would work.
It did. Which stunned me. Truly.
Then I had to hook up the Playbar. It went splendidly until I tried to get rid of the message on the TV, saying the sound was off. I followed the instructions on the Sonos site, but they just wouldn't work, but then I figured it out. I wasn't able to control the volume from the remote, but then I was, ah, the feeling of accomplishment! Does anybody do this stuff anymore, or do they just call somebody? Then again, the way the average person lives, there's no necessity for this stuff. But if you've actually got a home stereo...
I want to know how things work. That's what I loved about computers. I bought my Mac Plus in '86 to do the "Lefsetz Letter" and I became as intrigued with tech as music. You'd hit a problem and sit in front of the screen, pondering a solution, which would eventually come to you, although sometimes I wasted an entire day and night unable to fix the problem only to call the publisher the following day for them to tell me it was a bug. I mean once I start, I want to finish. I can't leave things undone.
And Felice was explaining to me how to enter the code for the new zone on the alarm and I couldn't get it right. I told her I didn't want to know the steps, that wouldn't help me, I wanted to know how it WORKED! I guess it's kinda like that old cliche about giving someone a fish and they can eat for one day, but teach them how to fish and they can eat forever.
Then again, are these skills even necessary anymore? I mean it was the same way a hundred years ago, you had to know how to fix your car, but no one does that anymore unless their car is old or it's basic maintenance, like changing the oil, everything's computerized and what's even better, the cars don't break regularly like they used to. Try using that excuse sometime, no one will believe it...MY CAR BROKE DOWN! But for decades you heard that, at least in my life.
Now Amazon HD is a sleeper. Spotify and Apple get all the press. And if people think high quality, they think Tidal, maybe Deezer. But Amazon has Alexa. Then again, I find the voice integration works a bit better with Apple Music. Maybe because I don't have to wake the app up, my iPhone is always ready for Siri, especially in my car, with my new Alpine I call out "Hey Siri!" and she comes alive on screen and I can ask for anything in the pantheon, it's really cool, really satisfying, makes me smile, you're not limited to playlists, what you've thought of earlier. Sure, I could wake up the Amazon app and click on "Alexa," but I might have an accident in the process.
But since I've got Verizon Unlimited, I've been streaming Amazon HD on my hikes, I can hear the difference, but not like on the big rig.
"You can take me to paradise
And then again you can be cold as ice"
We weren't expecting much, Fleetwood Mac had been around forever. They'd been through Peter Green, Jeremy Spencer and Bob Welch, they were a blues/rock outfit, part of the firmament, but almost equivalent to Savoy Brown.
But then we heard the above lyrics on the radio.
We were addicted to the radio, FM was part of our DNA like social networks today, only we listened, we did not participate, we knew who the stars were.
And when "Rhiannon" broke from that same LP, Fleetwood Mac became stars. Took quite a while in fact, the better part of six months, but the band went from sideshow to the main stage.
And then came "Rumours."
Most acts can't follow up their big hit albums.
But the Eagles did with "Hotel California," and then Fleetwood Mac did with "Rumours."
The single was "Go Your Own Way," which I didn't come to love until about ten years later, I was looking for the more soulful stuff, the stuff that set your mind free, that allowed you to rattle around inside your own brain.
But I bought "Rumours" the day it came out, I needed it that much, we needed that much.
And the standout track was "Dreams," you heard it immediately. And sure, Bill Clinton liked "Don't Stop," but that was upbeat, and like I said, it's the mid-tempo stuff that I like, that Fleetwood Mac made its bones on.
Now the first track I had to play over and over again was "Gold Dust Woman."
But now I'd rather hear "The Chain," which opens side two. It's the kind of cut that does not fit the formula, that's not made for AM radio, it wasn't until about fifteen years later that people truly acknowledged its specialness and started to talk about it and cover it. Sure, Lindsey's twinkling, but it's John McVie's bass that locks the track down.
Still, if you asked me the best track on "Rumours," it would be "Gold Dust Woman." You never heard it on the radio, no one talked about it, but it truly set my mind free, took me away from humdrum life to that place only music can take you, I'm not talking the in-your-face assault which obliterates you, but the kind that expresses humanity.
"Did she make you cry
Make you break down
Shatter your illusions of love
And is it over now, do you know how
Pick up the pieces and go home"
Oh, it's so hard to pick up the pieces and go home, you want to stay connected, you'll work to make it work, like a drug addict who can't go without, even though after you go cold turkey, you can go someplace better, but it does not feel like that at the time. And some people just cannot be held, they always keep you guessing, are you together or not, are they committed or not, sometimes they're so troubled by their own challenges that you're a second class citizen, you can't fix them.
Now when I used to buy stereo, when I used to evaluate it, decide on which products were superior, my go-to LP was Supertramp's "Crime Of The Century." I just pulled it up and I was brought right back, this was long before the band had hits, when you were either part of the club or you weren't. This was deep and meaningful, this was not about eating kippers and taking the long way home, it was about the indoctrination of young people to their detriment, that's what people forget about rock music, it was a signpost, a guidebook to an alternative lifestyle, it was different from an AM ditty, it was deeper, the musicians were religious figures, that's why you had to go to the show, not to hang out with your buds and shoot selfies but to communicate with the gods, to bathe in their wisdom.
I had a half-speed mastered version of "Crime Of The Century," still do, but now my go-to stereo evaluation track is "Gold Dust Woman," can the stereo reproduce Mick Fleetwood's bass drum after the lyrics end, can it pick up John McVie's descending bass notes? Can it sear my soul?
We wanted to get closer to the music, it just wasn't sauce, something you worked out to...actually, we didn't work out and our music wasn't portable, you bought the best stereo you could afford to luxuriate in the essence, to be taken away.
So it's kinda funny. If you're interested in statistics, this essence doesn't appear, it can't be quantified and these stellar cuts are not cookie-cutter and don't fit the hit radio paradigm.
So I've got a Sonos box hooked up to my stereo. I can stream from my phone, from my desktop, and after spending hours getting everything connected, that's what I did.
And I immediately pulled up "Gold Dust Woman."
It sounds so sweet.
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Friday 11 October 2019
Thursday 10 October 2019
Re-Ginger Baker
I met Ginger on the polo field.
He looked like a skeleton with a steel metal helmet.. circa 40's..eyes popping out.. screaming get the hell out of my way, charging right for me.
He was a mad man on four legs..fearless brutal who just loved the game of polo.
He may have been the toughest man I ever met but that was only a small part of who he was.
He was indestructible.
We went on to be mates with polo horses as our linchpin.
He was building a brick barn by himself in the heat of the valley summer.
He asked me to manage him.. I passed so we could remain friends.
I had Tone Loc at the time and Delicious Vinyl was home.
I called Mike Ross at Delicious Vinyl and Chris Goss of Masters.
Masters just lost their drummer.. I suggested Ginger.
Game on for a minute.. every Masters performance the audience was in awe of what Ginger could do... and how good that much overlooked band was.
Ginger is unforgettable a true original and a great guy if he liked you.
If not you'll know it in a second.
Martin Schwartz
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When the JAMES GANG played a number of shows with CREAM in the early years (like 1967-1969 or so), I wanted badly to hang with him, talk a little "shop", etc. It was easier said than done. Other than a cursory nod, that was about all I ever got. I realized later that if I had only remembered to use the "password" ("Art Blakey"), maybe I could have broken the ice. The part of the drummer/gunslinger in the movie "ZACHARIAH" was written for him, but he bailed just before shooting began. Having done that movie, I was crushed at the prospect of missing yet another chance to get to know him a bit, but when Elvin agreed to take the part at the last minute, well…that worked out pretty well for me and Elvin remained a friend for the rest of his life. When the Gang first toured Britain with THE WHO, instead of seeking out Ginger to try again, I decided it would be a great experience to seek out Baker's teacher, Phil Seamen. It took a while, but I found him, all right…too sick from his addiction to greet me personally. Instead, he arranged to speak with me on the phone, apologizing for his condition, and lamenting that we would not have time to "talk drums" for a while. You see, there IS a dark side to music that can offset all the glory…
Of course, Ginger Baker was not just a "rock drummer", though he was clearly among the greatest! He was so, so much more. But most of all, he was a MUSICIAN. What set him apart from so many of the others was the fact that, with all the training, talent and finesse he possessed, damned near no one in the world of rock and roll could kick total ass the way he could, playing "all out" nearly all the time, yet managing not to just "bang", but to play musically from top to bottom.
The likes of Mister Baker (and Moonie) will never be seen again.
Jimmy Fox
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He proceeded John Bonham. Got to play with him on a rock n roll cooking show pilot we did in the early 90s. We did Funk #49 by the James Gang. He played all those folks great and still had it even then. Brought an English pancake recipe with him and really enjoyed cooking. I think he even smiled. Crusty fellow and what a character. In the late 60s everyone wanted to copy the drum solo on Toad he played with Cream. Now only Eric is left. RIP Ginger
Kenny Lee Lewis
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Right up there with Bonzo and Keith Moon. I Walked in the Atlantic studio when they were recording. The were the real deal. Jerry Wexlers daughter told him to release Sunshine Of Your Love. Always listen to your kids. Jerry g
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RIP Ginger Baker. I went to see Cream at the Forum for their LA "Farewell" gig in 1968. They were indeed MIGHTY.
What I remember quite clearly, besides their powerful, improvised and really loud set that night, was the rumor going round right before the gig... that Ginger was dead.
Before the mutant healing powers of Keith were well established, before Brian, Janis, Jimi and Morrison died, before that other maniac drummer of singular skill and tenacious outrageous personality, Keith Moon departed this Earthly plane... Ginger Baker was the one we all expected to go first. As was his way, he proved everyone wrong.
Eighty is sounding younger and younger to me... Time is a bizarre river. Take Ginger's advice and do what you like.
Mumy
Laurel Canyon
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Bob… Our WMMR Morning Zoo interview with Ginger Baker back in the 90s was fairly uneventful, considering his legendary crankiness. We met him, shook his hand, were told not to bring up Clapton, we brought up Clapton, he left, then he came back, talked about his new project, and left.
Years later, In 2005, I saw the Cream reunion at The Royal Albert Hall in London and before the song "Toad" Ginger Baker commandeered the microphone and promoted his merch in the lobby (t-shirts, posters, etc… ). It was a cheesy moment and Eric Clapton shot Mr. Baker a piercing look that the legendary drummer ignored and then when on a bit more about t-shirts and stuff before he started the song. R.I.P. Ginger Baker
Pat Godwin
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When Cream reunited for their Madison Square Garden shows I knew—not only did I need to be there—but I needed a kick-ass seat. I ended up scoring a seat on the floor 4th Row Center. The show was magical and I personally felt like I was in a time machine transported back to my childhood bedroom, doors closed and "Disraeli Gears" blasting away. When the show ended, Ginger threw out his drum sticks. One headed right in my direction. As the folks in the row in front of me were jockeying to grab it, I instead deflected the stick in the air backwards towards me. Everyone scrambled for the stick as it hit the floor, but I knew exactly where it was as I felt something bounce off my foot. I bent down and bam there it was: A Zildjian 7a stick with the words "Ginger Baker" printed on the side. Over 19,000 fans in that arena that evening. I didn't need to buy any souvenir merch as I walked away with the best. It was destiny, I tell you, destiny. RIP GB.
Stuart K. Marvin
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Ginger, along with his band mates in Cream truly was a game changer. They raised the bar in rock n' roll musicianship along with Jimi Henderix and Mike Bloomfield who were all appearing in 1967 and beginning to make a name for themselves. Beware of Mr. Baker is one of the best documentaries I have ever seen and its great that he survived long enough, and the right people came along to capture who he really was in such a fine way. I remember in 1968, at the age of 13, discovering this new music newspaper at our local candy store called Rolling Stone. Taking it home that evening and seeing an ad for a New York radio station, WNEW-FM. I didn't know what FM radio was but we had this console in our den from the 1950's that had a B&W television, a turntable and tuners for AM and FM radio. I went in and turned on the FM tuner for the first time, found this radio station and like Alice I went down the rabbit hole and my life was never the same again. The music I heard that night was truly mind blowing and I discovered a whole new world of what was going to be. 1967-71 was an amazing moment for music with true artistic freedom and creativity that unfortunately wouldn't last long though the music is timeless and kids learning to play guitar in 2019 are still studying the music from that era.
Irv Berner
Assistant Curator
Songbirds Guitar Museum
Chattanooga, TN
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Clapton certainly made his blues playing name with John Mayall, but his work in the Yardbirds is what first got him on my radar screen.
I didn't seen Cream back in those days — only saw them during their New York "reunion" a decade or so ago — and even then Clapton and Bruce pretty much just stood there. Ginger Baker was incredible, playing like a maniac, including an extended solo that was out of this world. We were all amazed the guy still had that crazy energy.
I watched that documentary a while ago. It reinforced that Ginger Baker was a true original, one-of-a-kind, an artist of the highest order.
Bob Bourque
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I saw Ginger playing many times over the past 50 years, from Blind Faith to the Cream reunion, BBM, his Army & Jazz Confusion and many others in between. Last time was back in April this year when he insisted on playing the 'Drum Legends' show in Brighton with Herman Rarebell (ex-Scorpions) & Pete York (Spencer Davis Group) despite his obvious ill health, which turned out to be his final UK show - he was such a trooper for doing it even though his strength was lacking. An incredible drummer & timekeeper, his musical legacy is immense with so many great recordings, live films & videos to enjoy. I only met him once, as a youngster at the Royal Albert Hall In 1969 when Hendrix played a memorable show (about to be released officially) where I spotted him at the bar. I went up to him, asked a totally inane question ("are you jamming in tonight Ginge?") to which I received his legendary standard answer of "Fuck off". I still relish the moment half a century later...
David Stark
SongLink, London
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Bob, many thanks for remembering the great Ginger Baker. In '67, I was tripled up in a freshman Stony Brook dorm with a guitar player and drummer and a huge stereo. Hendrix and Baker were gods. At night, completely wrecked, we listened to Allison Steele, the Nightbird, and her Music from the Hearts of Space on WNEW- FM. I never got any sleep. A miracle I survived that first year, yet here I am practicing law in Santa Monica with my daughter's EDM now ringing in my ears.
Bob Giolito
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I hate waking to the news of yet another passing a friend or hero. So with Ginger Baker goes a true original, a personal hero and piece of my own career. My first full time gig in music was being in charge of poster sales on Cream's farewell tour of North America. I dropped out of college to do the tour, and well, it was autumn 1968 and there was so much better stuff to do other than taking abnormal psychology classes.
I was a starstruck twenty year old who now I found myself touring with three mega-gods. Traveling with them and watching every single moment of each of those twenty final shows. I'd never seen anyone play drums like Ginger… I referred to him a wrist slap drummer… light wrist touch as he moved across his well tuned kit and hardware. I can still see his hands best when visualizing White Room. I cried the night of the last performance… and still get misty eyed thinking about it.
Ginger Baker wasn't a warm, and fuzzy kind of person, but rather a hard drinking and heavy smoking cockney (who I imagined as having been a pirate in a previous life). Yet, whenever we crossed paths on the road he'd flash a smile, say 'hi kid,.. ya all right' then wink and walk on. What a charge for a kid like me.
Thankfully, I have that collection of shows embedded in my memory to 'view' whenever I listen to my Cream albums, the ones that helped shape the rest of my life. Shit... am I that old?
Best— Bruce Garfield
PS: The opening act was Terry Reid, his road manager was a guy named Richard Cole who would become Led Zeppelin's tour manager two weeks later and kicked my career into hight gear by introducing me to the Robert, Jimmy, John Paul and Bonzo at their first LA gig at the Whiskey… I signed a poster deal with!
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Hey Bob, a lot of ya local guys in Denver were so lucky to play and hang out Ginger (and his son). He was complicated for sure, irascible, gruff, but could also be so charming. He yelled at his dogs as loud as he played. But really, for a guy like you, you should see my friend and former bandmate Bob Rupp's posts on his legacy. He spent amazing time with him in the 90s.
Here are a few for you to take a peek at when you get a chance. A lot of the pics themselves have some stories too.
https://www.facebook.com/584559421/posts/10156751493544422?sfns=mo
Rock on.
Michael St. James
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In between Blind Faith and Masters of Reality, Baker did form and record a few albums with the Baker-Gurvitz Army. Some pretty good mid-70's album rock on those releases.
BTW...
"She Got Me" by Masters of Reality still lingers on as a lean, sultry, and perfect maniacal mess.
Great drumming too...
Marty Bender
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I was at the Oakdale show in June of 68, I took my first photos there.
Life changing experience. All the power of electricity with a bunch of guys who could improvise. Nobody followed that act.
Nest, Jon Tiven
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My first ever rock concert was Cream in Atlanta on October 26, 1968 . I was too young to drive so my drum instructor schlepped me two plus hours each way from Chattanooga. We, of course, were both already mesmerized by Ginger Baker's amazing style. It was one of those 3:30PM added afternoon shows at Chastain Park Amphitheater. I remember sitting on the thirteenth row holding my GE reel to reel tape recorder. Recorded the show over my Bar Mitzvah lessons from a couple of years before. Agree with your observation that he was not shortchanged on longevity. Best, EE
Eron Epstein
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My friend Peter had sophisticated musical taste. He turned me onto artists like Paul Butterfield, Jimi Hendrix and Ray Charles. He was into the blues. One day he turned me onto Cream. I bought Fresh Cream and played it incessantly. On June 5th, 1968 I saw my first show ever at Toronto's famed Massey Hall. I was in the first few rows, so close that the spittle from Bruce's mouth harp was spraying me. The PA conked out. Clapton kept playing, so did Baker but after a while Baker got so pissed off that he kicked his vocal mike clear across the stage. This was new for me. And a bit dangerous. A year later I saw Blind Faith at University of Toronto's Varsity Stadium. James Taylor, of all people, opened for them. There had to be close to 50,000 people in attendance. Those were the shows, the days, the music that shaped me, that I identify with, that are part of my journey. Yes, they are dropping like flies. But until we drop, they are all alive inside us, like our genetic code was altered by the sounds coming off the stage.
Regards,
Steven Ehrlick
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My friend Joel and I were avid music fans in the 60s, in grade school plus we had older brothers a couple years older. There were records coming out every week.
We had fresh cream right out of the box and loved it. N.s.u. And I feel free led the way. By the time WLS - am played Sunshine, Cream was already a big deal to us.
I learned how to play drums listening to Ginger as well as Dino Danielle, Danny Seraphine and John Bonham. These were the very best as far as I was and still am concerned.
My friend Paul Gurvitz lives here in Ohoenix. His brother Adrian and he had the Baker Gurvitz army. Some great stories there.
It is tragic the way Ginger and Jack lived out their final days and years. Pretty wild stuff.
I wish Ginger had been able to have been different than how he was, very difficult as I understand it.
But I will never forget that red hair and his incredible control behind the kit. He was in great form on the '05 dates Cream did. I was lucky enough to see a show in London and NYC. Incredible style and firm those 3 guys had. Ginger played as he always did, just impeccable timing. Both Jack and Eric were incredible too. Eric, by the way l, was still flawless in his show a couple weeks ago here in Phoenix. I am honored to be still working with his camp on a show every now and then.
The world won't see another like Ginger. And Cream was probably the best group of its time in equal parts because of all 3 members. Ginger held it all together.
God bless ya mate. Thanks for being so great behind the kit.
Danny Zelisko
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Rock and roll's greatest drummer… yes, Ginger Baker was quite a character. I went on the road with the Masters of Reality.. a greatly under-rated power trio that rocked like nobody's fuckin' business! They were opening for Alice in Chains and many night blowing them off the stage… night after night they'd suck all the air out of the venues..and would turn air into cottage cheese! They were signed by Fred Davis and the label was seriously committed to breaking them...
Ginger was titillated when there was properly prepared hot tea and a joint. He wasn't accustomed to American smoking laws so I had to inform him that smoking a self-rolled cigarette laced with pot inside the elevator would not work! He constantly was smoking… (another rock star that drops dead from smoking) While at interviews he'd be asked about Cream and he'd give a flippant answer and say, "we're here to talk about The Masers of Reality". He referred to himself as a "percussionist"… not just a drummer… His knowledge of "beats" was memorizing.. whether if was the march of the British army at Waterloo or the history of the Zulu's tribal beats…
Kindest Cheers,
Jeff Laufer
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Thanks for this history / tribute
to a legend.
seeing Cream at Albert Hall was transcendent. (even if Eric was giving the boys some retirement
gelt)
The real trip was working
The Masters of Reality lp.
Aints in the kitchen is what we worked at radio.
Most radio guys played it out of the box ... Baker was the draw. i'm so thankful that i got to work with Ginger B even if only briefly.
Neil Lasher
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My Ginger Baker story: it was July 1969, I was 18 and attending a fabulous rock fest on the racetrack at Wisconsin State Fair. Led Zep's first U.S. tour, Joe Cocker with Mad Dogs & Englishmen, Delaney & Bonnie with Clapton and Dave Mason, The Bob Seger System. But the finale was the new supergroup, Blind Faith.
Wandering around near the stage, I spotted a hammer on the ground. I picked it up, slung it under the belt of my bellbottoms and - voila - I was a stagehand for the rest of the day and night.
In those days, there were no badges; the hammer was my ticket to roam around the backstage area, even standing on the side of the stage while Led Zeppelin induced a fan frenzy that brought police to wedge themselves between the stage and the fans while the band broke into "Communication Breakdown."
I actually did stagehand work, helping to unload equipment from semis and hoist it onto the stage. A black stretch limo pulled up backstage and out came Winwood, Clapton and Ric Grech. Where was Ginger? No one seemed to know.
Then a semi backed in and someone opened the back doors. Inside was Ginger, sitting behind a full drum set, practicing. Behind him and the drums were stacks of speakers and amps with the rest of the equipment. Ginger's drug use already was legendary, and he appeared to be completely out of his mind, with a far, faraway look in his eye. Handlers helped him out of the truck and into a nearby trailer. It dawned on me that Ginger's band mates considered him to be so fucked up that they just sent him along with the equipment, likely and correctly deducing that he simply would not know the difference.
We unloaded the semi and awaited further instruction. I noticed a line of fans forming at the door of Ginger's trailer, and walked over to observe. People knocked on the door and Ginger stood in the doorway as each fan handed him a joint or a pill, which he promptly ingested. Acid? Uppers? Downers? He had no way of knowing, he popped them like M&Ms. I stood in wonderment at the spectacle.
Some police walked by. A fan had handed Ginger a slice of cantaloupe, which he devoured. With a delirious look in his eye, he tossed the rind in the general direction of the police. They stopped and turned and began moving toward him. A phalanx of fans came in between and someone hustled Ginger back in the trailer. Crisis averted, barely.
Their set was spectacular and, yes, I was onstage, dumbstruck at the sight of Ginger flailing away at his kit. I had a general idea of how high he must have been at that point, and to this day, I've never seen anything like it.
reuteman
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Bob... what about Crossroads?... every guitar player had to learn every lick and phrase on Crossroads... ask Eddy Van Halen... Ask Keith Scott ... Ask any guitar player... it is pretty much the most beautifully phrased,on the edge guitar solo of all time.... it took me 30 years to get every nuance of it... just the best!!! Cream Ruled... Aloha Bob Rock
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My first show ever, the Murray the K Easter show.
I went to the Easter Sunday 1967 2pm performance.
Opening acts
The Cream $5,000 total pay
The Who. $7,500 total pay
9 shows per day for 7 days. Each band played 2 songs or 4 songs for the headliners
Total for all bands: 63 performances
John French
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He was the last of the over-the-top drummers - Keith Moon, John Bonham, Mitch Mitchell, Ginger Baker. We still have drummers with outstanding technique, like Neal Peart, but madness is not a part of their playing. One summer we played the same basic circuit the Who were playing. Every security guard at every venue had a Keith Moon story.
My Dad was a fine jazz drummer. He had disdain for pretty much every rock drummer, but he thought Ginger Baker was awesome :)
Craig Anderton
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I worked at the Cafe Au Go Go summer of 1968. Cream played in the basement venue all week prepping for a first US tour. It was amazing in a summer of amazing acts performing in Village clubs or at the Fillmore East. Ginger Baker was insane on Toad and everyone wanted more. I'm still vibrating fifty-one years later
Larry Mollin
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I was the Day to Day manager for Carr Sharpe Entertainment, and one of our acts was a really great band on Chrysalis Records called "Master's of Reality", in which Ginger Baker was the drummer.
Ginger was not an easy guy to get along with and Budd Carr and Wil Sharpe had had it up to their ears dealing with him. Since I was the Day to Day Manager and next in line, I was tasked with keeping him out of their hair. Ginger was loud and arrogant and downright nasty at times and seriously scared the hell out of me. The day came when I had to accompany the band on their big Press Launch day and I was quite nervous to be trapped in a limo with Ginger and the two other band members, who were just as intimidated by him as I was. Ginger was exhausting and refused to cooperate pretty much on anything. By the end of the day, I was tearing my hair out and I had had it up to my eyeballs listening to him whine and complain over and over about anything and everything. Finally when he yelled at the limo driver for not driving correctly I just lost it and told him to Shut the Fuck Up and behave. The second that flew out of my mouth, I realized I was probably going to be to be fired, but when I looked up at Ginger I saw the faintest of smirks on his face and I realized I had just won him over. After that, he wouldn't deal with anyone but me. Not that it made him any nicer, mind you.
A few weeks later the band and I flew to London to do a video for their first single. The day we were to fly back to Los Angeles, we found out that Ginger's Visa had been denied and I was ordered to stay behind and figure out how to get him back into the US. We were staying at the famed Rock and Roll Portobello Hotel in Notting Hill. Ginger had requested a particular room which he knew well and was happy with -- until he found out I was in this very bizarre, huge room with a round bed and a claw foot tub in the middle of the room. It was rock and roll at it's finest. The hotel was fully booked and they moved me into a room the size of a postage stamp where I stayed for the 2 weeks we were stuck there. Every day, Ginger would hold court in the lobby, his friends and family coming by and sitting with him there. And every day I would head over to the US Consulate and beg, borrow, and plead for a visa. Most days, they would send me back and ask for more information. Ginger was always in the lobby, and I would sit with him and update him, fill out forms and ask him questions. One night we had dinner together and he started telling me stories about Cream, Blind Faith, Eric Clapton, The Beatles, The Stones, his Olive Farm in Santa Barbara…I was rapt and thrilled and the perfect audience for his stories. Once you got past his razor sharp edges, there was a really fascinating, funny, interesting man there. He didn't come out often but he was there. And I feel very lucky to have had that honor. Rest in Peace, you old Geezer.
Shelley Wiseman
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In 1988, my band, Jack Mack and the Heart Attack was the house band on the Fox TV Late Show. We often backed up musical guests like Bobby Womack, The Young Rascals etc . One day I went in to Fox studios to tape the show and was informed that the musical quest that night was going to be the one and only Ginger Baker. We rehearsed and performed with him and it was a really cool rendition of the Cream song, "Outside Woman Blues". https://tinyurl.com/y5we5xev
After the show Gingers manager came into the green room and said he had two tickets to a concert. One for Ginger and one for himself. but he said something came up and he couldn't go so would any of us like to take Ginger. I volunteered and next thing you know I was driving through Hollywood with Ginger Baker in my car. We had a few hours before the concert began so I asked him what he wanted to do. He told me he was hungry so I took him to Canters Delicatessen. He ordered a tuna fish sandwhich (he pronounced it Samich) and an egg salad sandwich, and then proceeded to give the waitress lessons on how to make English tea correctly. You. pour the water over the tea bag etc. I don't remember our conversation. I think I was a bit intimidated. Here I am eating deli food with a guy that I saw when I was a kid growing up in Boston when he performed with Cream on their very first tour.
Flash back to 1967. I was 17 and I was fully entrenched in the Boston music scene – I fondly remember hanging out at Unicorn Coffee house, a tiny venue at 825 Boylston Street that held maybe 75 people. I saw many great bands play there like, The J. Geils Band, Ultimate Spinach with Skunk Baxter, Jefferson Airplane and Spirit. It was there that I also met Unicorn owner George Papadopoulos. Papadopoulos ws kind of a mean SOB but he was building a new club outside of Kenmore Square, and I asked him if I could work there. He agreed, and my "payment" would be free access to shows. It sounded like a good deal to me. After school and on weekends, me and my brother Stanley, and some band mates from Newton would jump on the MTA and head to an underground parking garage at 590 Commonwealth Avenue to help the carpenter Papadopoulos hired build what would become The Psychedelic Supermarket. Complete with backlight rooms, a head shop, and all the typical hippie-clothing stores. The Supermarket as it was known, probably held 300-400 people and there were no seats.
One day in early September 1967 the club was opening and Papadopoulos grabbed me and said, "I want you to go to the top of the driveway and meet the band that is playing tonight" and guide them to the dressing room. A few minutes later two yellow cabs pulled up and out came three weird guys dressed in fringed suede jackets and moccasins. They all had curly unkempt hairdos, almost literally straight off the plane from the hip London scene. From my conservative Boston perspective, they looked quite strange to me. It turned out that these three were Cream: Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker. They followed me to their dressing room and I became their gopher for an entire week. They played 7 night 2 shows a night. Yup 14 shows in a row. For some reason I can't remember why, Cream hated Papadopoulos, so to get back at him they turned their double Marshall stacks to 10 or maybe it was 11 and played as loud as they could in a venue not known for its acoustics. I think I can attribute some of my hearing loss to that week. They were very uncomfortable in Boston, sticking out of the crowd; rather than explore the city, they just stayed in their hotel rooms when they weren't at the club. The three band members were going stir crazy and on one occasion took spray paint and sprayed the dressing room walls with crazy graffiti: Things like "Black Jews" for Jack Bruce and "Berry Craptown" for Eric Clapton.
I remember for some reason the stage wasn't built quite right so when Ginger Baker played the stage shook and so it became my job to stand on stage and hold up Jack Bruce's amplifier from behind to keep it from fall over. One night Clapton asked me if I could get him some uppers and I had no idea what he was talking about. On another night, he handed me his Painted SG and showed me how to play "Sunshine of Your Love."" That week was something I would never forget. For 14 shows, I was backstage or on stage listening and hanging out these guys. I'll Never forget Ginger. His bright orange hair, the speed induced crazed look in his eyes. The thundering long drum solos. He looked like a mad man. I don't think I spoke to him too much. He scared me.
Forward ahead to 1988, Canters Deli. When it came time to pay Ginger checked all his pockets and announced that he didn't have any money. Well, I didn't have enough cash. I ended up leaving Ginger in the restaurant and began walking along Fairfax Ave looking for an ATM. When I finally found one, I got the cash and for a moment I thought, "maybe I'll just leave him back there and go home. But I couldn't do that to anyone let alone Ginger. It was an amusing thought though. So I went back and paid the bill. When we got back in my car I was thinking I really didn't want to go to this concert and luckily he said he was too tired and didn't feel like going. So I dropped him off at his hotel and said goodbye. And that's my encounter with the great Ginger Baker story.
Andrew Kastner
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My then partner, Walter Winnick and I managed Jack Bruce starting in 1989 and when planning the tour to support the release of his woefully under appreciated Epic Records album "A Question Of Time" (thank you Michael Caplan who signed Jack to Epic), we were stunned, to say the least, when, going over the list of musicians with Jack who he wanted to back him on the tour (thank you Phil Ernst of ICM who booked that tour and joined Walter and I on the roller coaster ride), he matter of factly said "call Ginger (actually, "Ging", as Jack called him) and see if he'd like to play drums"!!!!!
We did and he did and it was like riding a horse with nitro glycerin in your pocket but to say it also was an amazing experience is putting it lightly.
There are too many stories to tell about that tour and about getting to work with Jack AND Ginger but the bottom line re Ginger was that he was a total professional - once all the details were ironed out and some slightly unusual touring arrangement were put into action.
Despite his reputation for being difficult, he was on time for every sound check and every show, he played each set to the fullest of his enormous abilities and anyone who saw any of those shows saw rock and roll history in the making since those shows were the first time Jack and Ginger has played on stage together since Cream's farewell show almost twenty one years to the day earlier at the Royal Albert Hall on 11/26/68.
His drumming style was so iconic and instantly recognisable that any drummer (or rock musician for that matter) who hears the words "play it like Ginger" knew exactly what that meant.
In fact, one of the ultimate testaments to Ginger's iconic and unique sound was, somewhat now famously, when Bruce Springsteen was auditioning new keyboard players (after David Sancious left the band) and new drummers (after the departure or Vinny "Mad Dog" Lopez and Ernest "Boom" Carter, the Village Voice classified that was taken out by Bruce or Mike Appel specifically said "No Ginger Baker types"!!!
George Gilbert
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A postscript to my earlier email.
Jack clued me to the fact that Fresh Cream was a completely different album in mono. THAT was the mix they focused on since there was no music on stereo FM (that they were aware of) when that album was released in December of 1966 and the mono version EXPLODES out of the speakers of a great stereo (yea, I get the irony of that statement). All of the songs were mixed for mono radio airplay and on the US Atco release, 6 of the 10 songs clock in at less than 3:30 - the prime AM radio single length.
BOTH Jack and Ginger strongly felt that Fresh Cream (in mono) fully captured the band at that time. Before the jamming (which Jack said was inspired by seeing the Dead stretch out when Cream got to San Francisco). The few early live recordings from early 1967 floating around bear that out. They were a tight blues trio. Clapton would stretch out a little but there were no guitar solos longer that 3-4 minutes at the most and the songs come in at no longer than 5 to 6 minutes.
The sound of and songs on Disraeli Gears, recorded at Atlantic's 1841 Broadway studio (next to Columbus Circle) in mid '67, reflected all of the Acid the three took during their first year together as a band. Jack said that it helped bond them and that they became a "band of brothers" and created their own language to exclude the outside world.
Jack was the most literate musician I have ever met. He often carried a large compendium of William Butler Yeats poetry - and not for show! So quoting Shakespeare to describe the bond the three band members shared during that pre "Sunshine" period was not him acting pretentiously.
J and G also both agreed that it was the AM radio success of Sunshine and the White Room that signalled the beginning of the end of the band. From that point to the Albert Hall Farewell concert they "forced" to toured constantly which completely burned them out.
This was all aided and abetted by too many drugs, loud volume [the Marshall stacks were necessary for arena shows in this pre-"theatrical sound" era and Ginger would complain constantly about the extreme decibel level he was being exposed to placed between Jack and Eric's amps], the revival of old (pre-Cream) unresolved issues between Jack and Ginger and other factors including Landau's Rolling Stone pan of Wheels of Fire and Eric's desire, after hearing a test pressing of "Big Pink", to want to join The Band!
On their brief Farewell Tour (16 shows - most of the guarantees were $20k plus 60% over $40K but the LA Forum show was $40K AGAINST 60% which yielded a GP of $200K) which yes, presaged the arena rock era, they were the first band to play MSG and many other arenas but all of it took its toll and most of the people who ended up discovering the band as a result of their AM and nascent FM radio success never got to see them live - which helped seal their legendary status since those who did went on about the amazing, blistering performances they witnessed.
Jack HATED the fact that the performance most people used as a reference and indicator of the band's brilliance was the Albert Hall Farewell concert film. He thought it was a mediocre showing and bemoaned the fact that there wasn't a film of the band a year earlier when he believed they were at the peak because he felt THAT band blew the Albert Hall band off the stage.
Jack and Ginger were also of a like mind where Eric was concerned, On a bus ride to their Main Point gig, they both agreed that (they thought) the last truly transcendentally great album Eric had recorded was Layla. Ginger then started laughing and when he finally stopped and Jack asked him what was so funny, he said "Well Alexis (Korner) thinks the last great album Eric made was with (John Mayall and) The Bluesbreakers"!!!!!
George Gilbert
He looked like a skeleton with a steel metal helmet.. circa 40's..eyes popping out.. screaming get the hell out of my way, charging right for me.
He was a mad man on four legs..fearless brutal who just loved the game of polo.
He may have been the toughest man I ever met but that was only a small part of who he was.
He was indestructible.
We went on to be mates with polo horses as our linchpin.
He was building a brick barn by himself in the heat of the valley summer.
He asked me to manage him.. I passed so we could remain friends.
I had Tone Loc at the time and Delicious Vinyl was home.
I called Mike Ross at Delicious Vinyl and Chris Goss of Masters.
Masters just lost their drummer.. I suggested Ginger.
Game on for a minute.. every Masters performance the audience was in awe of what Ginger could do... and how good that much overlooked band was.
Ginger is unforgettable a true original and a great guy if he liked you.
If not you'll know it in a second.
Martin Schwartz
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When the JAMES GANG played a number of shows with CREAM in the early years (like 1967-1969 or so), I wanted badly to hang with him, talk a little "shop", etc. It was easier said than done. Other than a cursory nod, that was about all I ever got. I realized later that if I had only remembered to use the "password" ("Art Blakey"), maybe I could have broken the ice. The part of the drummer/gunslinger in the movie "ZACHARIAH" was written for him, but he bailed just before shooting began. Having done that movie, I was crushed at the prospect of missing yet another chance to get to know him a bit, but when Elvin agreed to take the part at the last minute, well…that worked out pretty well for me and Elvin remained a friend for the rest of his life. When the Gang first toured Britain with THE WHO, instead of seeking out Ginger to try again, I decided it would be a great experience to seek out Baker's teacher, Phil Seamen. It took a while, but I found him, all right…too sick from his addiction to greet me personally. Instead, he arranged to speak with me on the phone, apologizing for his condition, and lamenting that we would not have time to "talk drums" for a while. You see, there IS a dark side to music that can offset all the glory…
Of course, Ginger Baker was not just a "rock drummer", though he was clearly among the greatest! He was so, so much more. But most of all, he was a MUSICIAN. What set him apart from so many of the others was the fact that, with all the training, talent and finesse he possessed, damned near no one in the world of rock and roll could kick total ass the way he could, playing "all out" nearly all the time, yet managing not to just "bang", but to play musically from top to bottom.
The likes of Mister Baker (and Moonie) will never be seen again.
Jimmy Fox
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He proceeded John Bonham. Got to play with him on a rock n roll cooking show pilot we did in the early 90s. We did Funk #49 by the James Gang. He played all those folks great and still had it even then. Brought an English pancake recipe with him and really enjoyed cooking. I think he even smiled. Crusty fellow and what a character. In the late 60s everyone wanted to copy the drum solo on Toad he played with Cream. Now only Eric is left. RIP Ginger
Kenny Lee Lewis
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Right up there with Bonzo and Keith Moon. I Walked in the Atlantic studio when they were recording. The were the real deal. Jerry Wexlers daughter told him to release Sunshine Of Your Love. Always listen to your kids. Jerry g
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RIP Ginger Baker. I went to see Cream at the Forum for their LA "Farewell" gig in 1968. They were indeed MIGHTY.
What I remember quite clearly, besides their powerful, improvised and really loud set that night, was the rumor going round right before the gig... that Ginger was dead.
Before the mutant healing powers of Keith were well established, before Brian, Janis, Jimi and Morrison died, before that other maniac drummer of singular skill and tenacious outrageous personality, Keith Moon departed this Earthly plane... Ginger Baker was the one we all expected to go first. As was his way, he proved everyone wrong.
Eighty is sounding younger and younger to me... Time is a bizarre river. Take Ginger's advice and do what you like.
Mumy
Laurel Canyon
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Bob… Our WMMR Morning Zoo interview with Ginger Baker back in the 90s was fairly uneventful, considering his legendary crankiness. We met him, shook his hand, were told not to bring up Clapton, we brought up Clapton, he left, then he came back, talked about his new project, and left.
Years later, In 2005, I saw the Cream reunion at The Royal Albert Hall in London and before the song "Toad" Ginger Baker commandeered the microphone and promoted his merch in the lobby (t-shirts, posters, etc… ). It was a cheesy moment and Eric Clapton shot Mr. Baker a piercing look that the legendary drummer ignored and then when on a bit more about t-shirts and stuff before he started the song. R.I.P. Ginger Baker
Pat Godwin
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When Cream reunited for their Madison Square Garden shows I knew—not only did I need to be there—but I needed a kick-ass seat. I ended up scoring a seat on the floor 4th Row Center. The show was magical and I personally felt like I was in a time machine transported back to my childhood bedroom, doors closed and "Disraeli Gears" blasting away. When the show ended, Ginger threw out his drum sticks. One headed right in my direction. As the folks in the row in front of me were jockeying to grab it, I instead deflected the stick in the air backwards towards me. Everyone scrambled for the stick as it hit the floor, but I knew exactly where it was as I felt something bounce off my foot. I bent down and bam there it was: A Zildjian 7a stick with the words "Ginger Baker" printed on the side. Over 19,000 fans in that arena that evening. I didn't need to buy any souvenir merch as I walked away with the best. It was destiny, I tell you, destiny. RIP GB.
Stuart K. Marvin
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Ginger, along with his band mates in Cream truly was a game changer. They raised the bar in rock n' roll musicianship along with Jimi Henderix and Mike Bloomfield who were all appearing in 1967 and beginning to make a name for themselves. Beware of Mr. Baker is one of the best documentaries I have ever seen and its great that he survived long enough, and the right people came along to capture who he really was in such a fine way. I remember in 1968, at the age of 13, discovering this new music newspaper at our local candy store called Rolling Stone. Taking it home that evening and seeing an ad for a New York radio station, WNEW-FM. I didn't know what FM radio was but we had this console in our den from the 1950's that had a B&W television, a turntable and tuners for AM and FM radio. I went in and turned on the FM tuner for the first time, found this radio station and like Alice I went down the rabbit hole and my life was never the same again. The music I heard that night was truly mind blowing and I discovered a whole new world of what was going to be. 1967-71 was an amazing moment for music with true artistic freedom and creativity that unfortunately wouldn't last long though the music is timeless and kids learning to play guitar in 2019 are still studying the music from that era.
Irv Berner
Assistant Curator
Songbirds Guitar Museum
Chattanooga, TN
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Clapton certainly made his blues playing name with John Mayall, but his work in the Yardbirds is what first got him on my radar screen.
I didn't seen Cream back in those days — only saw them during their New York "reunion" a decade or so ago — and even then Clapton and Bruce pretty much just stood there. Ginger Baker was incredible, playing like a maniac, including an extended solo that was out of this world. We were all amazed the guy still had that crazy energy.
I watched that documentary a while ago. It reinforced that Ginger Baker was a true original, one-of-a-kind, an artist of the highest order.
Bob Bourque
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I saw Ginger playing many times over the past 50 years, from Blind Faith to the Cream reunion, BBM, his Army & Jazz Confusion and many others in between. Last time was back in April this year when he insisted on playing the 'Drum Legends' show in Brighton with Herman Rarebell (ex-Scorpions) & Pete York (Spencer Davis Group) despite his obvious ill health, which turned out to be his final UK show - he was such a trooper for doing it even though his strength was lacking. An incredible drummer & timekeeper, his musical legacy is immense with so many great recordings, live films & videos to enjoy. I only met him once, as a youngster at the Royal Albert Hall In 1969 when Hendrix played a memorable show (about to be released officially) where I spotted him at the bar. I went up to him, asked a totally inane question ("are you jamming in tonight Ginge?") to which I received his legendary standard answer of "Fuck off". I still relish the moment half a century later...
David Stark
SongLink, London
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Bob, many thanks for remembering the great Ginger Baker. In '67, I was tripled up in a freshman Stony Brook dorm with a guitar player and drummer and a huge stereo. Hendrix and Baker were gods. At night, completely wrecked, we listened to Allison Steele, the Nightbird, and her Music from the Hearts of Space on WNEW- FM. I never got any sleep. A miracle I survived that first year, yet here I am practicing law in Santa Monica with my daughter's EDM now ringing in my ears.
Bob Giolito
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I hate waking to the news of yet another passing a friend or hero. So with Ginger Baker goes a true original, a personal hero and piece of my own career. My first full time gig in music was being in charge of poster sales on Cream's farewell tour of North America. I dropped out of college to do the tour, and well, it was autumn 1968 and there was so much better stuff to do other than taking abnormal psychology classes.
I was a starstruck twenty year old who now I found myself touring with three mega-gods. Traveling with them and watching every single moment of each of those twenty final shows. I'd never seen anyone play drums like Ginger… I referred to him a wrist slap drummer… light wrist touch as he moved across his well tuned kit and hardware. I can still see his hands best when visualizing White Room. I cried the night of the last performance… and still get misty eyed thinking about it.
Ginger Baker wasn't a warm, and fuzzy kind of person, but rather a hard drinking and heavy smoking cockney (who I imagined as having been a pirate in a previous life). Yet, whenever we crossed paths on the road he'd flash a smile, say 'hi kid,.. ya all right' then wink and walk on. What a charge for a kid like me.
Thankfully, I have that collection of shows embedded in my memory to 'view' whenever I listen to my Cream albums, the ones that helped shape the rest of my life. Shit... am I that old?
Best— Bruce Garfield
PS: The opening act was Terry Reid, his road manager was a guy named Richard Cole who would become Led Zeppelin's tour manager two weeks later and kicked my career into hight gear by introducing me to the Robert, Jimmy, John Paul and Bonzo at their first LA gig at the Whiskey… I signed a poster deal with!
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Hey Bob, a lot of ya local guys in Denver were so lucky to play and hang out Ginger (and his son). He was complicated for sure, irascible, gruff, but could also be so charming. He yelled at his dogs as loud as he played. But really, for a guy like you, you should see my friend and former bandmate Bob Rupp's posts on his legacy. He spent amazing time with him in the 90s.
Here are a few for you to take a peek at when you get a chance. A lot of the pics themselves have some stories too.
https://www.facebook.com/584559421/posts/10156751493544422?sfns=mo
Rock on.
Michael St. James
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In between Blind Faith and Masters of Reality, Baker did form and record a few albums with the Baker-Gurvitz Army. Some pretty good mid-70's album rock on those releases.
BTW...
"She Got Me" by Masters of Reality still lingers on as a lean, sultry, and perfect maniacal mess.
Great drumming too...
Marty Bender
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I was at the Oakdale show in June of 68, I took my first photos there.
Life changing experience. All the power of electricity with a bunch of guys who could improvise. Nobody followed that act.
Nest, Jon Tiven
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My first ever rock concert was Cream in Atlanta on October 26, 1968 . I was too young to drive so my drum instructor schlepped me two plus hours each way from Chattanooga. We, of course, were both already mesmerized by Ginger Baker's amazing style. It was one of those 3:30PM added afternoon shows at Chastain Park Amphitheater. I remember sitting on the thirteenth row holding my GE reel to reel tape recorder. Recorded the show over my Bar Mitzvah lessons from a couple of years before. Agree with your observation that he was not shortchanged on longevity. Best, EE
Eron Epstein
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My friend Peter had sophisticated musical taste. He turned me onto artists like Paul Butterfield, Jimi Hendrix and Ray Charles. He was into the blues. One day he turned me onto Cream. I bought Fresh Cream and played it incessantly. On June 5th, 1968 I saw my first show ever at Toronto's famed Massey Hall. I was in the first few rows, so close that the spittle from Bruce's mouth harp was spraying me. The PA conked out. Clapton kept playing, so did Baker but after a while Baker got so pissed off that he kicked his vocal mike clear across the stage. This was new for me. And a bit dangerous. A year later I saw Blind Faith at University of Toronto's Varsity Stadium. James Taylor, of all people, opened for them. There had to be close to 50,000 people in attendance. Those were the shows, the days, the music that shaped me, that I identify with, that are part of my journey. Yes, they are dropping like flies. But until we drop, they are all alive inside us, like our genetic code was altered by the sounds coming off the stage.
Regards,
Steven Ehrlick
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My friend Joel and I were avid music fans in the 60s, in grade school plus we had older brothers a couple years older. There were records coming out every week.
We had fresh cream right out of the box and loved it. N.s.u. And I feel free led the way. By the time WLS - am played Sunshine, Cream was already a big deal to us.
I learned how to play drums listening to Ginger as well as Dino Danielle, Danny Seraphine and John Bonham. These were the very best as far as I was and still am concerned.
My friend Paul Gurvitz lives here in Ohoenix. His brother Adrian and he had the Baker Gurvitz army. Some great stories there.
It is tragic the way Ginger and Jack lived out their final days and years. Pretty wild stuff.
I wish Ginger had been able to have been different than how he was, very difficult as I understand it.
But I will never forget that red hair and his incredible control behind the kit. He was in great form on the '05 dates Cream did. I was lucky enough to see a show in London and NYC. Incredible style and firm those 3 guys had. Ginger played as he always did, just impeccable timing. Both Jack and Eric were incredible too. Eric, by the way l, was still flawless in his show a couple weeks ago here in Phoenix. I am honored to be still working with his camp on a show every now and then.
The world won't see another like Ginger. And Cream was probably the best group of its time in equal parts because of all 3 members. Ginger held it all together.
God bless ya mate. Thanks for being so great behind the kit.
Danny Zelisko
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Rock and roll's greatest drummer… yes, Ginger Baker was quite a character. I went on the road with the Masters of Reality.. a greatly under-rated power trio that rocked like nobody's fuckin' business! They were opening for Alice in Chains and many night blowing them off the stage… night after night they'd suck all the air out of the venues..and would turn air into cottage cheese! They were signed by Fred Davis and the label was seriously committed to breaking them...
Ginger was titillated when there was properly prepared hot tea and a joint. He wasn't accustomed to American smoking laws so I had to inform him that smoking a self-rolled cigarette laced with pot inside the elevator would not work! He constantly was smoking… (another rock star that drops dead from smoking) While at interviews he'd be asked about Cream and he'd give a flippant answer and say, "we're here to talk about The Masers of Reality". He referred to himself as a "percussionist"… not just a drummer… His knowledge of "beats" was memorizing.. whether if was the march of the British army at Waterloo or the history of the Zulu's tribal beats…
Kindest Cheers,
Jeff Laufer
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Thanks for this history / tribute
to a legend.
seeing Cream at Albert Hall was transcendent. (even if Eric was giving the boys some retirement
gelt)
The real trip was working
The Masters of Reality lp.
Aints in the kitchen is what we worked at radio.
Most radio guys played it out of the box ... Baker was the draw. i'm so thankful that i got to work with Ginger B even if only briefly.
Neil Lasher
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My Ginger Baker story: it was July 1969, I was 18 and attending a fabulous rock fest on the racetrack at Wisconsin State Fair. Led Zep's first U.S. tour, Joe Cocker with Mad Dogs & Englishmen, Delaney & Bonnie with Clapton and Dave Mason, The Bob Seger System. But the finale was the new supergroup, Blind Faith.
Wandering around near the stage, I spotted a hammer on the ground. I picked it up, slung it under the belt of my bellbottoms and - voila - I was a stagehand for the rest of the day and night.
In those days, there were no badges; the hammer was my ticket to roam around the backstage area, even standing on the side of the stage while Led Zeppelin induced a fan frenzy that brought police to wedge themselves between the stage and the fans while the band broke into "Communication Breakdown."
I actually did stagehand work, helping to unload equipment from semis and hoist it onto the stage. A black stretch limo pulled up backstage and out came Winwood, Clapton and Ric Grech. Where was Ginger? No one seemed to know.
Then a semi backed in and someone opened the back doors. Inside was Ginger, sitting behind a full drum set, practicing. Behind him and the drums were stacks of speakers and amps with the rest of the equipment. Ginger's drug use already was legendary, and he appeared to be completely out of his mind, with a far, faraway look in his eye. Handlers helped him out of the truck and into a nearby trailer. It dawned on me that Ginger's band mates considered him to be so fucked up that they just sent him along with the equipment, likely and correctly deducing that he simply would not know the difference.
We unloaded the semi and awaited further instruction. I noticed a line of fans forming at the door of Ginger's trailer, and walked over to observe. People knocked on the door and Ginger stood in the doorway as each fan handed him a joint or a pill, which he promptly ingested. Acid? Uppers? Downers? He had no way of knowing, he popped them like M&Ms. I stood in wonderment at the spectacle.
Some police walked by. A fan had handed Ginger a slice of cantaloupe, which he devoured. With a delirious look in his eye, he tossed the rind in the general direction of the police. They stopped and turned and began moving toward him. A phalanx of fans came in between and someone hustled Ginger back in the trailer. Crisis averted, barely.
Their set was spectacular and, yes, I was onstage, dumbstruck at the sight of Ginger flailing away at his kit. I had a general idea of how high he must have been at that point, and to this day, I've never seen anything like it.
reuteman
_______________________________________
Bob... what about Crossroads?... every guitar player had to learn every lick and phrase on Crossroads... ask Eddy Van Halen... Ask Keith Scott ... Ask any guitar player... it is pretty much the most beautifully phrased,on the edge guitar solo of all time.... it took me 30 years to get every nuance of it... just the best!!! Cream Ruled... Aloha Bob Rock
_______________________________________
My first show ever, the Murray the K Easter show.
I went to the Easter Sunday 1967 2pm performance.
Opening acts
The Cream $5,000 total pay
The Who. $7,500 total pay
9 shows per day for 7 days. Each band played 2 songs or 4 songs for the headliners
Total for all bands: 63 performances
John French
_______________________________________
He was the last of the over-the-top drummers - Keith Moon, John Bonham, Mitch Mitchell, Ginger Baker. We still have drummers with outstanding technique, like Neal Peart, but madness is not a part of their playing. One summer we played the same basic circuit the Who were playing. Every security guard at every venue had a Keith Moon story.
My Dad was a fine jazz drummer. He had disdain for pretty much every rock drummer, but he thought Ginger Baker was awesome :)
Craig Anderton
_______________________________________
I worked at the Cafe Au Go Go summer of 1968. Cream played in the basement venue all week prepping for a first US tour. It was amazing in a summer of amazing acts performing in Village clubs or at the Fillmore East. Ginger Baker was insane on Toad and everyone wanted more. I'm still vibrating fifty-one years later
Larry Mollin
_______________________________________
I was the Day to Day manager for Carr Sharpe Entertainment, and one of our acts was a really great band on Chrysalis Records called "Master's of Reality", in which Ginger Baker was the drummer.
Ginger was not an easy guy to get along with and Budd Carr and Wil Sharpe had had it up to their ears dealing with him. Since I was the Day to Day Manager and next in line, I was tasked with keeping him out of their hair. Ginger was loud and arrogant and downright nasty at times and seriously scared the hell out of me. The day came when I had to accompany the band on their big Press Launch day and I was quite nervous to be trapped in a limo with Ginger and the two other band members, who were just as intimidated by him as I was. Ginger was exhausting and refused to cooperate pretty much on anything. By the end of the day, I was tearing my hair out and I had had it up to my eyeballs listening to him whine and complain over and over about anything and everything. Finally when he yelled at the limo driver for not driving correctly I just lost it and told him to Shut the Fuck Up and behave. The second that flew out of my mouth, I realized I was probably going to be to be fired, but when I looked up at Ginger I saw the faintest of smirks on his face and I realized I had just won him over. After that, he wouldn't deal with anyone but me. Not that it made him any nicer, mind you.
A few weeks later the band and I flew to London to do a video for their first single. The day we were to fly back to Los Angeles, we found out that Ginger's Visa had been denied and I was ordered to stay behind and figure out how to get him back into the US. We were staying at the famed Rock and Roll Portobello Hotel in Notting Hill. Ginger had requested a particular room which he knew well and was happy with -- until he found out I was in this very bizarre, huge room with a round bed and a claw foot tub in the middle of the room. It was rock and roll at it's finest. The hotel was fully booked and they moved me into a room the size of a postage stamp where I stayed for the 2 weeks we were stuck there. Every day, Ginger would hold court in the lobby, his friends and family coming by and sitting with him there. And every day I would head over to the US Consulate and beg, borrow, and plead for a visa. Most days, they would send me back and ask for more information. Ginger was always in the lobby, and I would sit with him and update him, fill out forms and ask him questions. One night we had dinner together and he started telling me stories about Cream, Blind Faith, Eric Clapton, The Beatles, The Stones, his Olive Farm in Santa Barbara…I was rapt and thrilled and the perfect audience for his stories. Once you got past his razor sharp edges, there was a really fascinating, funny, interesting man there. He didn't come out often but he was there. And I feel very lucky to have had that honor. Rest in Peace, you old Geezer.
Shelley Wiseman
_______________________________________
In 1988, my band, Jack Mack and the Heart Attack was the house band on the Fox TV Late Show. We often backed up musical guests like Bobby Womack, The Young Rascals etc . One day I went in to Fox studios to tape the show and was informed that the musical quest that night was going to be the one and only Ginger Baker. We rehearsed and performed with him and it was a really cool rendition of the Cream song, "Outside Woman Blues". https://tinyurl.com/y5we5xev
After the show Gingers manager came into the green room and said he had two tickets to a concert. One for Ginger and one for himself. but he said something came up and he couldn't go so would any of us like to take Ginger. I volunteered and next thing you know I was driving through Hollywood with Ginger Baker in my car. We had a few hours before the concert began so I asked him what he wanted to do. He told me he was hungry so I took him to Canters Delicatessen. He ordered a tuna fish sandwhich (he pronounced it Samich) and an egg salad sandwich, and then proceeded to give the waitress lessons on how to make English tea correctly. You. pour the water over the tea bag etc. I don't remember our conversation. I think I was a bit intimidated. Here I am eating deli food with a guy that I saw when I was a kid growing up in Boston when he performed with Cream on their very first tour.
Flash back to 1967. I was 17 and I was fully entrenched in the Boston music scene – I fondly remember hanging out at Unicorn Coffee house, a tiny venue at 825 Boylston Street that held maybe 75 people. I saw many great bands play there like, The J. Geils Band, Ultimate Spinach with Skunk Baxter, Jefferson Airplane and Spirit. It was there that I also met Unicorn owner George Papadopoulos. Papadopoulos ws kind of a mean SOB but he was building a new club outside of Kenmore Square, and I asked him if I could work there. He agreed, and my "payment" would be free access to shows. It sounded like a good deal to me. After school and on weekends, me and my brother Stanley, and some band mates from Newton would jump on the MTA and head to an underground parking garage at 590 Commonwealth Avenue to help the carpenter Papadopoulos hired build what would become The Psychedelic Supermarket. Complete with backlight rooms, a head shop, and all the typical hippie-clothing stores. The Supermarket as it was known, probably held 300-400 people and there were no seats.
One day in early September 1967 the club was opening and Papadopoulos grabbed me and said, "I want you to go to the top of the driveway and meet the band that is playing tonight" and guide them to the dressing room. A few minutes later two yellow cabs pulled up and out came three weird guys dressed in fringed suede jackets and moccasins. They all had curly unkempt hairdos, almost literally straight off the plane from the hip London scene. From my conservative Boston perspective, they looked quite strange to me. It turned out that these three were Cream: Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker. They followed me to their dressing room and I became their gopher for an entire week. They played 7 night 2 shows a night. Yup 14 shows in a row. For some reason I can't remember why, Cream hated Papadopoulos, so to get back at him they turned their double Marshall stacks to 10 or maybe it was 11 and played as loud as they could in a venue not known for its acoustics. I think I can attribute some of my hearing loss to that week. They were very uncomfortable in Boston, sticking out of the crowd; rather than explore the city, they just stayed in their hotel rooms when they weren't at the club. The three band members were going stir crazy and on one occasion took spray paint and sprayed the dressing room walls with crazy graffiti: Things like "Black Jews" for Jack Bruce and "Berry Craptown" for Eric Clapton.
I remember for some reason the stage wasn't built quite right so when Ginger Baker played the stage shook and so it became my job to stand on stage and hold up Jack Bruce's amplifier from behind to keep it from fall over. One night Clapton asked me if I could get him some uppers and I had no idea what he was talking about. On another night, he handed me his Painted SG and showed me how to play "Sunshine of Your Love."" That week was something I would never forget. For 14 shows, I was backstage or on stage listening and hanging out these guys. I'll Never forget Ginger. His bright orange hair, the speed induced crazed look in his eyes. The thundering long drum solos. He looked like a mad man. I don't think I spoke to him too much. He scared me.
Forward ahead to 1988, Canters Deli. When it came time to pay Ginger checked all his pockets and announced that he didn't have any money. Well, I didn't have enough cash. I ended up leaving Ginger in the restaurant and began walking along Fairfax Ave looking for an ATM. When I finally found one, I got the cash and for a moment I thought, "maybe I'll just leave him back there and go home. But I couldn't do that to anyone let alone Ginger. It was an amusing thought though. So I went back and paid the bill. When we got back in my car I was thinking I really didn't want to go to this concert and luckily he said he was too tired and didn't feel like going. So I dropped him off at his hotel and said goodbye. And that's my encounter with the great Ginger Baker story.
Andrew Kastner
_______________________________________
My then partner, Walter Winnick and I managed Jack Bruce starting in 1989 and when planning the tour to support the release of his woefully under appreciated Epic Records album "A Question Of Time" (thank you Michael Caplan who signed Jack to Epic), we were stunned, to say the least, when, going over the list of musicians with Jack who he wanted to back him on the tour (thank you Phil Ernst of ICM who booked that tour and joined Walter and I on the roller coaster ride), he matter of factly said "call Ginger (actually, "Ging", as Jack called him) and see if he'd like to play drums"!!!!!
We did and he did and it was like riding a horse with nitro glycerin in your pocket but to say it also was an amazing experience is putting it lightly.
There are too many stories to tell about that tour and about getting to work with Jack AND Ginger but the bottom line re Ginger was that he was a total professional - once all the details were ironed out and some slightly unusual touring arrangement were put into action.
Despite his reputation for being difficult, he was on time for every sound check and every show, he played each set to the fullest of his enormous abilities and anyone who saw any of those shows saw rock and roll history in the making since those shows were the first time Jack and Ginger has played on stage together since Cream's farewell show almost twenty one years to the day earlier at the Royal Albert Hall on 11/26/68.
His drumming style was so iconic and instantly recognisable that any drummer (or rock musician for that matter) who hears the words "play it like Ginger" knew exactly what that meant.
In fact, one of the ultimate testaments to Ginger's iconic and unique sound was, somewhat now famously, when Bruce Springsteen was auditioning new keyboard players (after David Sancious left the band) and new drummers (after the departure or Vinny "Mad Dog" Lopez and Ernest "Boom" Carter, the Village Voice classified that was taken out by Bruce or Mike Appel specifically said "No Ginger Baker types"!!!
George Gilbert
_______________________________________
A postscript to my earlier email.
Jack clued me to the fact that Fresh Cream was a completely different album in mono. THAT was the mix they focused on since there was no music on stereo FM (that they were aware of) when that album was released in December of 1966 and the mono version EXPLODES out of the speakers of a great stereo (yea, I get the irony of that statement). All of the songs were mixed for mono radio airplay and on the US Atco release, 6 of the 10 songs clock in at less than 3:30 - the prime AM radio single length.
BOTH Jack and Ginger strongly felt that Fresh Cream (in mono) fully captured the band at that time. Before the jamming (which Jack said was inspired by seeing the Dead stretch out when Cream got to San Francisco). The few early live recordings from early 1967 floating around bear that out. They were a tight blues trio. Clapton would stretch out a little but there were no guitar solos longer that 3-4 minutes at the most and the songs come in at no longer than 5 to 6 minutes.
The sound of and songs on Disraeli Gears, recorded at Atlantic's 1841 Broadway studio (next to Columbus Circle) in mid '67, reflected all of the Acid the three took during their first year together as a band. Jack said that it helped bond them and that they became a "band of brothers" and created their own language to exclude the outside world.
Jack was the most literate musician I have ever met. He often carried a large compendium of William Butler Yeats poetry - and not for show! So quoting Shakespeare to describe the bond the three band members shared during that pre "Sunshine" period was not him acting pretentiously.
J and G also both agreed that it was the AM radio success of Sunshine and the White Room that signalled the beginning of the end of the band. From that point to the Albert Hall Farewell concert they "forced" to toured constantly which completely burned them out.
This was all aided and abetted by too many drugs, loud volume [the Marshall stacks were necessary for arena shows in this pre-"theatrical sound" era and Ginger would complain constantly about the extreme decibel level he was being exposed to placed between Jack and Eric's amps], the revival of old (pre-Cream) unresolved issues between Jack and Ginger and other factors including Landau's Rolling Stone pan of Wheels of Fire and Eric's desire, after hearing a test pressing of "Big Pink", to want to join The Band!
On their brief Farewell Tour (16 shows - most of the guarantees were $20k plus 60% over $40K but the LA Forum show was $40K AGAINST 60% which yielded a GP of $200K) which yes, presaged the arena rock era, they were the first band to play MSG and many other arenas but all of it took its toll and most of the people who ended up discovering the band as a result of their AM and nascent FM radio success never got to see them live - which helped seal their legendary status since those who did went on about the amazing, blistering performances they witnessed.
Jack HATED the fact that the performance most people used as a reference and indicator of the band's brilliance was the Albert Hall Farewell concert film. He thought it was a mediocre showing and bemoaned the fact that there wasn't a film of the band a year earlier when he believed they were at the peak because he felt THAT band blew the Albert Hall band off the stage.
Jack and Ginger were also of a like mind where Eric was concerned, On a bus ride to their Main Point gig, they both agreed that (they thought) the last truly transcendentally great album Eric had recorded was Layla. Ginger then started laughing and when he finally stopped and Jack asked him what was so funny, he said "Well Alexis (Korner) thinks the last great album Eric made was with (John Mayall and) The Bluesbreakers"!!!!!
George Gilbert
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Ron Stone-This Week's Podcast
Manager Ron Stone has been involved with everybody from Crosby, Stills & Nash to Joni Mitchell to Bonnie Raitt to Rickie Lee Jones. Listen to hear tales of what it was like in L.A. in the sixties and more!
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ron-stone/id1316200737?i=1000452996801
https://open.spotify.com/episode/7hthCginWJKDmliF83p5hM
https://www.stitcher.com/s?eid=64499196
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https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ron-stone/id1316200737?i=1000452996801
https://open.spotify.com/episode/7hthCginWJKDmliF83p5hM
https://www.stitcher.com/s?eid=64499196
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Wednesday 9 October 2019
The Dodgers Lose
This is what happens when you play by the odds.
You pull your starting pitcher and you load the bases and lose.
I remember the dark days of baseball. When they expanded the leagues from eight to ten teams, the season from 154 games to 162. When the season ended in September and the World Series was oftentimes done by now, certainly by October 15th.
Then again, they play hockey in June and basketball too.
It's very simple, it's about the money.
That's what privatization will do. Owners who only care about the buck will do what's right for them, the fans be damned. Raise ticket prices to the point where it's better to stay home and watch on TV, extend mid-inning breaks to contain more commercials, such that a game lasts longer than it took you to take your SATs.
And now the game has been ruined by Moneyball.
Sometimes, you've got to trust your instincts.
Today it's all data, it's all odds, but players are not machines, they're human, they're fragile, that's why we watch sports to begin with, because we don't really know how it will all turn out.
We know if we click on Chrome it will launch. We'd be stunned if our smartphones didn't wake up. When cable poops out it's a crisis. Yup we depend upon our devices, those run by technology, to work, all the time, from the very first time, out of the box.
But not people.
People start as babies. They're influenced by their parents, their schools, their friends. Some end up winners and some end up losers. Some rich people are pricks and some poor people are saints. It's a crapshoot, and you do your best to influence the game, but that doesn't mean you always win.
You work hard to get into a good college. But that does not mean you'll have a successful career.
But the elites don't want to go into sports, unless it's in the front office, doing sabermetrics. As if data could determine the outcome of every game.
So, Rich Hill is in complete control of the contest, he's whomping the Nationals.
But the data says he's got to come out. He's thrown 117 pitches, he's got to go!
But Tommy Lasorda did not pull Orel Hershiser. The Dodgers went on to win the World Series. Lasorda is a legend and so is Hershiser, even if his arm broke under the strain.
Which game are we gonna play? And who is in control, the players or the managers/owners?
We'll never know if Rich Hill insisted on coming out, but if you know any sports stars, one thing's for sure, when the going gets tough, the best always say...GIVE ME THE BALL!
So now maybe Rich Hill will have a longer career.
Or maybe he'll just be forgotten.
But the strange thing is last year the same thing happened, the Dodgers were winning and the statistics, the data, said to pull the pitcher and they lost.
So, the Dodgers win 106 games and are out of the playoffs. Done. Zip. Over.
How can this be?
Now the season is long, as I pointed out, 162 games, do they not mean anything? Oh, home field advantage, the odds say you're better off, BUT NOT ALWAYS!
They call them odds. They were in Hillary's favor. But Trump won anyway. Because they're just odds, the numbers are not set in concrete, and even though you might only have a 40% chance of winning, even a 1% chance of winning, you still could, win that is.
That's one of the great things about baseball, unlike football and basketball, it's never over 'til it's over, you can always come back.
But after the grand slam it was clear the Dodgers would not. They had no momentum, they'd expended what they had at the beginning of the game.
If you win, you win, right?
Not in today's sports, losers can triumph. Of course the supporters of said teams cheer, but how about those who did the best during the season?
I can see playing division off against division, but within the division? YOU ALREADY WON!
Oh, no, you've got to prove it one more time.
So what have you earned in 106 victories?
Very little.
But football became the national pastime and baseball took a back seat. So what did MLB do? Play more games at night! Because they make more money! But this is like the "Innovators Dilemma"...if you keep raising prices for your usual customers, at some point someone comes along with something cheaper and not as good but it gets better and then, seemingly overnight, it steals you're thunder, you're toast. Can you say video games?
So tonight's game ended after midnight on the east coast. My parents would let me stay up that late for a Yankee or Met playoff game, but not one on the west coast featuring different teams.
Sure, when I grew up the World Series was played during the day, meaning if you were lucky and rode your bike right home from school you might catch an inning or two. But we watched, we believed.
And a game was so cheap your parents took you.
In trying to make the game modern, the major leagues have screwed it all up. Sure, data is helpful, but it's not EVERYTHING!
Just like Steve Jobs said, the computer is a TOOL! It's what you do with it that matters. Sure, you can use data to assemble the best team, but sometimes you've got to go with your gut.
Data says to load the bases for a force-out at every bag.
But, that goes out the window if a batter gets a hit.
And the chance of runs scoring is increased. A three run lead now becomes a four run lead, nearly insurmountable.
So, the Nationals won fair and square.
But if you're a Dodger fan...
I'm not even a Dodger fan, I believe in the American League. Sure, I grew up with the '61 Yankees, but eventually the team turned sour and started to lose, did I still believe? OF COURSE! Otherwise the buildings of losing teams would be completely empty, but they're not.
But ever since Steinbrenner everybody's a Yankee fan, because they love a winner, no matter how you win. And winning is nice, but a lot of losers are left behind, and there's always next year.
But next year, you double-down, you improve, you win 106 games, and then in a short playoff series, the best of five games instead of the subsequent seven, you could lose it all.
Of course I hate Dave Roberts, he pulled the same thing two years in a row, blow him out. As for his predecessors, who can remember them, some were good, but they didn't win, Lasorda won. That's the public trust, we invest our time, we root for you, but you've got to do your best.
But Roberts didn't even let Hill do his best, he hewed to statistics, and he blew the game and the whole damn season.
Our world is screwed up in so many ways. One is in the denigration of the liberal arts in favor of STEM. Liberal arts teach you how to think, and adjust for situations. Which is why your future will not be made up of AI songs or movies, because a computer can beat you at chess, but it cannot create artistic breakthroughs. You can teach a computer about the past, but not the future.
Then again, if you're not a rich data scientist no one will listen to you anymore.
The Dodgers earned the right to be in the World Series, at least the NLCS. Sure, the Astros might have murdered them, but they deserved a chance.
But now they don't have one.
As for Kershaw blowing it...his agony on the bench, his self-hatred, that's humanity, that was almost worth the loss.
We can't guarantee outcomes, but we can guarantee chances.
I'm not sorry for the Dodgers, but the fans. Life is based on belief. And you cannot believe in machines, you can only believe in people, and when cash supersedes people...
It's hard to believe.
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You pull your starting pitcher and you load the bases and lose.
I remember the dark days of baseball. When they expanded the leagues from eight to ten teams, the season from 154 games to 162. When the season ended in September and the World Series was oftentimes done by now, certainly by October 15th.
Then again, they play hockey in June and basketball too.
It's very simple, it's about the money.
That's what privatization will do. Owners who only care about the buck will do what's right for them, the fans be damned. Raise ticket prices to the point where it's better to stay home and watch on TV, extend mid-inning breaks to contain more commercials, such that a game lasts longer than it took you to take your SATs.
And now the game has been ruined by Moneyball.
Sometimes, you've got to trust your instincts.
Today it's all data, it's all odds, but players are not machines, they're human, they're fragile, that's why we watch sports to begin with, because we don't really know how it will all turn out.
We know if we click on Chrome it will launch. We'd be stunned if our smartphones didn't wake up. When cable poops out it's a crisis. Yup we depend upon our devices, those run by technology, to work, all the time, from the very first time, out of the box.
But not people.
People start as babies. They're influenced by their parents, their schools, their friends. Some end up winners and some end up losers. Some rich people are pricks and some poor people are saints. It's a crapshoot, and you do your best to influence the game, but that doesn't mean you always win.
You work hard to get into a good college. But that does not mean you'll have a successful career.
But the elites don't want to go into sports, unless it's in the front office, doing sabermetrics. As if data could determine the outcome of every game.
So, Rich Hill is in complete control of the contest, he's whomping the Nationals.
But the data says he's got to come out. He's thrown 117 pitches, he's got to go!
But Tommy Lasorda did not pull Orel Hershiser. The Dodgers went on to win the World Series. Lasorda is a legend and so is Hershiser, even if his arm broke under the strain.
Which game are we gonna play? And who is in control, the players or the managers/owners?
We'll never know if Rich Hill insisted on coming out, but if you know any sports stars, one thing's for sure, when the going gets tough, the best always say...GIVE ME THE BALL!
So now maybe Rich Hill will have a longer career.
Or maybe he'll just be forgotten.
But the strange thing is last year the same thing happened, the Dodgers were winning and the statistics, the data, said to pull the pitcher and they lost.
So, the Dodgers win 106 games and are out of the playoffs. Done. Zip. Over.
How can this be?
Now the season is long, as I pointed out, 162 games, do they not mean anything? Oh, home field advantage, the odds say you're better off, BUT NOT ALWAYS!
They call them odds. They were in Hillary's favor. But Trump won anyway. Because they're just odds, the numbers are not set in concrete, and even though you might only have a 40% chance of winning, even a 1% chance of winning, you still could, win that is.
That's one of the great things about baseball, unlike football and basketball, it's never over 'til it's over, you can always come back.
But after the grand slam it was clear the Dodgers would not. They had no momentum, they'd expended what they had at the beginning of the game.
If you win, you win, right?
Not in today's sports, losers can triumph. Of course the supporters of said teams cheer, but how about those who did the best during the season?
I can see playing division off against division, but within the division? YOU ALREADY WON!
Oh, no, you've got to prove it one more time.
So what have you earned in 106 victories?
Very little.
But football became the national pastime and baseball took a back seat. So what did MLB do? Play more games at night! Because they make more money! But this is like the "Innovators Dilemma"...if you keep raising prices for your usual customers, at some point someone comes along with something cheaper and not as good but it gets better and then, seemingly overnight, it steals you're thunder, you're toast. Can you say video games?
So tonight's game ended after midnight on the east coast. My parents would let me stay up that late for a Yankee or Met playoff game, but not one on the west coast featuring different teams.
Sure, when I grew up the World Series was played during the day, meaning if you were lucky and rode your bike right home from school you might catch an inning or two. But we watched, we believed.
And a game was so cheap your parents took you.
In trying to make the game modern, the major leagues have screwed it all up. Sure, data is helpful, but it's not EVERYTHING!
Just like Steve Jobs said, the computer is a TOOL! It's what you do with it that matters. Sure, you can use data to assemble the best team, but sometimes you've got to go with your gut.
Data says to load the bases for a force-out at every bag.
But, that goes out the window if a batter gets a hit.
And the chance of runs scoring is increased. A three run lead now becomes a four run lead, nearly insurmountable.
So, the Nationals won fair and square.
But if you're a Dodger fan...
I'm not even a Dodger fan, I believe in the American League. Sure, I grew up with the '61 Yankees, but eventually the team turned sour and started to lose, did I still believe? OF COURSE! Otherwise the buildings of losing teams would be completely empty, but they're not.
But ever since Steinbrenner everybody's a Yankee fan, because they love a winner, no matter how you win. And winning is nice, but a lot of losers are left behind, and there's always next year.
But next year, you double-down, you improve, you win 106 games, and then in a short playoff series, the best of five games instead of the subsequent seven, you could lose it all.
Of course I hate Dave Roberts, he pulled the same thing two years in a row, blow him out. As for his predecessors, who can remember them, some were good, but they didn't win, Lasorda won. That's the public trust, we invest our time, we root for you, but you've got to do your best.
But Roberts didn't even let Hill do his best, he hewed to statistics, and he blew the game and the whole damn season.
Our world is screwed up in so many ways. One is in the denigration of the liberal arts in favor of STEM. Liberal arts teach you how to think, and adjust for situations. Which is why your future will not be made up of AI songs or movies, because a computer can beat you at chess, but it cannot create artistic breakthroughs. You can teach a computer about the past, but not the future.
Then again, if you're not a rich data scientist no one will listen to you anymore.
The Dodgers earned the right to be in the World Series, at least the NLCS. Sure, the Astros might have murdered them, but they deserved a chance.
But now they don't have one.
As for Kershaw blowing it...his agony on the bench, his self-hatred, that's humanity, that was almost worth the loss.
We can't guarantee outcomes, but we can guarantee chances.
I'm not sorry for the Dodgers, but the fans. Life is based on belief. And you cannot believe in machines, you can only believe in people, and when cash supersedes people...
It's hard to believe.
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Tuesday 8 October 2019
Favorite Song About A Place-SiriusXM This Week
Tune in today, Tuesday October 8th, to Volume 106, 7 PM East, 4 PM West.
Phone #: 844-6-VOLUME, 844-686-5863
Twitter: @lefsetz or @siriusxmvolume/#lefsetzlive
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Phone #: 844-6-VOLUME, 844-686-5863
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Monday 7 October 2019
Dave Mason At The Saban
He's a gunslinger.
This is not the show I expected. I expected Dave would come out and do a soft rock rendition of his hits for a geriatric audience which remembers "We Just Disagree," and maybe a smattering of fans of "Alone Together." Instead, it was just like 1969 or '70, when the Fillmores were still open, before rock moved to the arenas.
Back then it was about the bands. Sure, they had hit songs, as in many knew them, but the concert was more like a space trip, if the act did its job well, you were lifted by the sound, your burdens were released, you did not expect the live version to sound exactly like the studio take, and the entire show was organic, this was long before ELO used tapes, never mind hard drives.
Dave told me that left to his own devices he'd be on the road 365 days a year, it's the only thing he knows how to do, what he wants to do, and he's got no hobbies.
Everybody likes the money, but he's not dependent upon it, he's just building up his wife's trust fund.
As for making it to begin with, his father ran a candy store, and had a small ice cream factory, but Dave knew he was gonna make it in music, he was confident.
I'm not confident, certainly not of making it, how did this guy from Worcester make it?
I mean he was in Traffic then out, he put out one of the great solo LPs of all time, with no clunkers, "Alone Together" is a legend, he had a hit on Columbia...wasn't he more of a hanger-on with a couple of moments of brightness? Wasn't he lucky to hook up with Winwood? Was he a second-tier guy?
But then I heard him wail.
There was a drummer, another guitarist and a keyboard player. At a few times during the show there was video, mostly of people who covered "Feelin' Alright," but it was really purely about the music.
Who was coming to these shows? I mean if you work constantly, people have seen the act, they've heard the hits, why would they come back? But Dave said they did, and it wasn't about youngsters, he had his audience.
The opener was "World In Changes."
"World in changes still going through
You've got a lot to learn about me too"
Yes I did!
At this point Dave was playing a twelve string acoustic, but after "World In Changes" finished he switched that for a Strat. Which he testified about later in the show, how owning a Strat was a dream back then, how a radio repairman, Leo Fender, had come up with the idea, and irrelevant of the sound, the shape alone was enough to endure.
And with this red Strat...
Now you've got to know, the late sixties especially, maybe the early seventies too, was about the guitar. We worshipped the gods, we bought our own axes to play along, a transcendent guitar player defined an act.
Of course there was Clapton in various configurations, same deal with Beck. Page blew up with Zeppelin. But there was also Ritchie Blackmore in Deep Purple, and of course Hendrix.
Why did Dave Mason play with Hendrix? Why was he on "Crosstown Traffic"? Why was he on "Beggars' Banquet"? Why was he gonna be one of Derek's original Dominos? He got kicked out of Traffic, what was his key to success?
Now I get it, it was his skill playing the guitar.
That's right, the show demonstrated Mason's dexterity, his ability to hit every note, work his way up and down the neck, it was positively astounding. The guy's over seventy, this should be a last dash for cash, instead Dave's still got something to prove, he still lives for that seventy five minutes on stage. He not only enjoys it, he wants to show you that he's got it, as much as anybody!
Now the funny thing is Dave played Traffic songs he neither wrote nor sang, like "Dear Mr. Fantasy," and "Rock and Roll Stew," which was on record after he was gone. This seemed a bit strange, maybe the audience wasn't that well-versed in his canon. But he also played "Black Magic Woman," which of course was first a Fleetwood Mac song, written by one of the original gunslingers, Peter Green. And there was a version of Hank Marvin/the Shadows' "Apache." Dave said he loved the song, that he didn't care whether we wanted to hear it or not, he was gonna play it for himself.
Now you might think the audience was pissed, that the sound was too loud, that they thought this was gonna be an evening of soft rock, but there was standing ovation after standing ovation. People who looked retired or close to it, with white hair, wearing slacks and button-down shirts, they rose up joyously, some of them even danced, what was going on?
I mean when we die, this music will be gone. Sure, some kids today are into the classics of yore, but this is really baby boomer music, for people over the hill. But I don't know of any other musical era that was like this, where the players in their twenties came back with the same enthusiasm and skill in their seventies. This was not the Florida condo circuit, this was rock and roll.
And Dave let the band members sing. The other guitarist did a note perfect version of "Can't Find My Way Home," best live take I've heard other than Winwood's.
And "We Just Disagree" was in the middle of the set, shouldn't he have been saving it for the end?
Now some of those legendary cuts were performed also. Ironically, not "Hole In My Shoe," the hit from the first Traffic LP, the first song Mason ever wrote.
And no "You Can All Join In" or "Cryin' To Be Heard."
But Dave did do "Look At You Look At Me" and "Shouldn't Have Took More Than You Gave," the two extended opuses from "Alone Together."
And usually, if there's no hard drive, these songs of yore are frail replicas of the originals. But all the parts were there, the little flourishes, Dave and the band were so tight. I mean nobody was dressed up, there was no flash, it was only about the music. And even though the tunes were old, Dave was positively making them fresh again.
Now they did "Can't Find My Way Home" because Dave opened for Blind Faith as part of Delaney & Bonnie, who he kept bugging Chris Blackwell to sign. And then, while images of those two and the rest of the band performing flashed on the screen, Dave ripped into the number.
"I don't mean to mislead you
It's just my craziness coming through
But when it comes down to just two
I ain't no crazier than you"
Now that sounds like Delaney and Bonnie themselves, looking at their images took you back when...when there was no internet, when musicians were cool, had chops, and were still in their twenties. That's why you became a musician, to play music and be crazy, you couldn't be contained by four walls, you couldn't work at the factory, this was all you were capable of and you worked damn hard to make it continue, having more fun with the perks than worrying about the money. Why would you endorse some product, it would detract from your essence, what you believed, your credibility.
And all that money is gone now anyway. From high living back then. From getting ripped-off, the only thing left is your skill.
So the band walks off stage and then comes back for what you're expecting, the encore of "Feelin' Alright." Dave prefers Joe Cocker's version, that's the one he plays, not the original from "Traffic."
It was the opening cut on Cocker's debut album, you heard it all over FM radio, before "With A Little Help From My Friends."
Dave said the song only had two chords, that was about his speed.
But suddenly over the speakers comes Artie Butler's keyboard part. I had to look at the player to make sure he was, playing that is, the sound was so perfect.
He was.
And on screen were images of all the people who had covered the song. Blackwell had the publishing, but Dave still has the writer's share.
Everybody's standing, one person even with a cane, they're grooving on the sound, literally fifty years later.
They were feelin' alright.
And when the music stopped, I told myself "I'd come see this again."
Usually the oldsters are just a notch in your belt. They pretend they're still young and give you what you want and it's creepy, once is enough, even though they keep selling the same show.
But if you look through Dave Mason's setlists, you find they're not identical. He's done "In The Midnight Hour." "Chain Of Fools." "Shake, Rattle and Roll." It's about music, not stardom, just like it used to be.
These acts are old, sometimes physically incapable, most of their contemporaries in the straight world have already stopped working. But Dave Mason is remaining true to himself, he's doing the one thing he always did, that he's great at. You can come and experience the blistering guitarwork or you can stay home in the peace and quiet.
But you'll be missing out.
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This is not the show I expected. I expected Dave would come out and do a soft rock rendition of his hits for a geriatric audience which remembers "We Just Disagree," and maybe a smattering of fans of "Alone Together." Instead, it was just like 1969 or '70, when the Fillmores were still open, before rock moved to the arenas.
Back then it was about the bands. Sure, they had hit songs, as in many knew them, but the concert was more like a space trip, if the act did its job well, you were lifted by the sound, your burdens were released, you did not expect the live version to sound exactly like the studio take, and the entire show was organic, this was long before ELO used tapes, never mind hard drives.
Dave told me that left to his own devices he'd be on the road 365 days a year, it's the only thing he knows how to do, what he wants to do, and he's got no hobbies.
Everybody likes the money, but he's not dependent upon it, he's just building up his wife's trust fund.
As for making it to begin with, his father ran a candy store, and had a small ice cream factory, but Dave knew he was gonna make it in music, he was confident.
I'm not confident, certainly not of making it, how did this guy from Worcester make it?
I mean he was in Traffic then out, he put out one of the great solo LPs of all time, with no clunkers, "Alone Together" is a legend, he had a hit on Columbia...wasn't he more of a hanger-on with a couple of moments of brightness? Wasn't he lucky to hook up with Winwood? Was he a second-tier guy?
But then I heard him wail.
There was a drummer, another guitarist and a keyboard player. At a few times during the show there was video, mostly of people who covered "Feelin' Alright," but it was really purely about the music.
Who was coming to these shows? I mean if you work constantly, people have seen the act, they've heard the hits, why would they come back? But Dave said they did, and it wasn't about youngsters, he had his audience.
The opener was "World In Changes."
"World in changes still going through
You've got a lot to learn about me too"
Yes I did!
At this point Dave was playing a twelve string acoustic, but after "World In Changes" finished he switched that for a Strat. Which he testified about later in the show, how owning a Strat was a dream back then, how a radio repairman, Leo Fender, had come up with the idea, and irrelevant of the sound, the shape alone was enough to endure.
And with this red Strat...
Now you've got to know, the late sixties especially, maybe the early seventies too, was about the guitar. We worshipped the gods, we bought our own axes to play along, a transcendent guitar player defined an act.
Of course there was Clapton in various configurations, same deal with Beck. Page blew up with Zeppelin. But there was also Ritchie Blackmore in Deep Purple, and of course Hendrix.
Why did Dave Mason play with Hendrix? Why was he on "Crosstown Traffic"? Why was he on "Beggars' Banquet"? Why was he gonna be one of Derek's original Dominos? He got kicked out of Traffic, what was his key to success?
Now I get it, it was his skill playing the guitar.
That's right, the show demonstrated Mason's dexterity, his ability to hit every note, work his way up and down the neck, it was positively astounding. The guy's over seventy, this should be a last dash for cash, instead Dave's still got something to prove, he still lives for that seventy five minutes on stage. He not only enjoys it, he wants to show you that he's got it, as much as anybody!
Now the funny thing is Dave played Traffic songs he neither wrote nor sang, like "Dear Mr. Fantasy," and "Rock and Roll Stew," which was on record after he was gone. This seemed a bit strange, maybe the audience wasn't that well-versed in his canon. But he also played "Black Magic Woman," which of course was first a Fleetwood Mac song, written by one of the original gunslingers, Peter Green. And there was a version of Hank Marvin/the Shadows' "Apache." Dave said he loved the song, that he didn't care whether we wanted to hear it or not, he was gonna play it for himself.
Now you might think the audience was pissed, that the sound was too loud, that they thought this was gonna be an evening of soft rock, but there was standing ovation after standing ovation. People who looked retired or close to it, with white hair, wearing slacks and button-down shirts, they rose up joyously, some of them even danced, what was going on?
I mean when we die, this music will be gone. Sure, some kids today are into the classics of yore, but this is really baby boomer music, for people over the hill. But I don't know of any other musical era that was like this, where the players in their twenties came back with the same enthusiasm and skill in their seventies. This was not the Florida condo circuit, this was rock and roll.
And Dave let the band members sing. The other guitarist did a note perfect version of "Can't Find My Way Home," best live take I've heard other than Winwood's.
And "We Just Disagree" was in the middle of the set, shouldn't he have been saving it for the end?
Now some of those legendary cuts were performed also. Ironically, not "Hole In My Shoe," the hit from the first Traffic LP, the first song Mason ever wrote.
And no "You Can All Join In" or "Cryin' To Be Heard."
But Dave did do "Look At You Look At Me" and "Shouldn't Have Took More Than You Gave," the two extended opuses from "Alone Together."
And usually, if there's no hard drive, these songs of yore are frail replicas of the originals. But all the parts were there, the little flourishes, Dave and the band were so tight. I mean nobody was dressed up, there was no flash, it was only about the music. And even though the tunes were old, Dave was positively making them fresh again.
Now they did "Can't Find My Way Home" because Dave opened for Blind Faith as part of Delaney & Bonnie, who he kept bugging Chris Blackwell to sign. And then, while images of those two and the rest of the band performing flashed on the screen, Dave ripped into the number.
"I don't mean to mislead you
It's just my craziness coming through
But when it comes down to just two
I ain't no crazier than you"
Now that sounds like Delaney and Bonnie themselves, looking at their images took you back when...when there was no internet, when musicians were cool, had chops, and were still in their twenties. That's why you became a musician, to play music and be crazy, you couldn't be contained by four walls, you couldn't work at the factory, this was all you were capable of and you worked damn hard to make it continue, having more fun with the perks than worrying about the money. Why would you endorse some product, it would detract from your essence, what you believed, your credibility.
And all that money is gone now anyway. From high living back then. From getting ripped-off, the only thing left is your skill.
So the band walks off stage and then comes back for what you're expecting, the encore of "Feelin' Alright." Dave prefers Joe Cocker's version, that's the one he plays, not the original from "Traffic."
It was the opening cut on Cocker's debut album, you heard it all over FM radio, before "With A Little Help From My Friends."
Dave said the song only had two chords, that was about his speed.
But suddenly over the speakers comes Artie Butler's keyboard part. I had to look at the player to make sure he was, playing that is, the sound was so perfect.
He was.
And on screen were images of all the people who had covered the song. Blackwell had the publishing, but Dave still has the writer's share.
Everybody's standing, one person even with a cane, they're grooving on the sound, literally fifty years later.
They were feelin' alright.
And when the music stopped, I told myself "I'd come see this again."
Usually the oldsters are just a notch in your belt. They pretend they're still young and give you what you want and it's creepy, once is enough, even though they keep selling the same show.
But if you look through Dave Mason's setlists, you find they're not identical. He's done "In The Midnight Hour." "Chain Of Fools." "Shake, Rattle and Roll." It's about music, not stardom, just like it used to be.
These acts are old, sometimes physically incapable, most of their contemporaries in the straight world have already stopped working. But Dave Mason is remaining true to himself, he's doing the one thing he always did, that he's great at. You can come and experience the blistering guitarwork or you can stay home in the peace and quiet.
But you'll be missing out.
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Sunday 6 October 2019
Ginger Baker
He was the first guy we saw with two bass drums and the first guy to do an extended drum solo on record.
Cream straddled the transition from AM to FM. When their first album came out, the only underground FM radio station that existed was WOR-FM in New York. We were still California dreamin' on the last train to Clarksville. The Beatles were huge, but we all lived in one big homogeneous musical society.
Of course there were hipsters, as there have always been, like the folkies and blues lovers of the late fifties and early sixties, there were always people ahead of the scene, but it was much harder then, there was no internet, only true word of mouth, nothing went from zero to hero overnight unless it was played on AM radio, and Cream was not.
"Disraeli Gears" was released in November '67, the year underground FM radio began to burgeon, with KMPX in San Francisco joining the aforementioned WOR.
Yup, the scene was that small. So most people were unaware of "Fresh Cream." And "Disraeli Gears" too.
And then, during the summer of '68, "Sunshine Of Your Love" crossed over to AM and the band and the scene exploded.
There were a few renegade radio years back then, before Lee Abrams came along and codified the rock format on FM in the seventies. It was kinda like the internet back in the mid-nineties. There were people who had modems from the eighties, and others who got the word in '96 and instantly bought computers to play on AOL. There was no hate, only exploration.
Never forget the influence of public radio back then, especially WBAI in New York. That's where I first heard Phil Ochs's "Outside Of A Small Circle Of Friends." We twisted the dial, we looked for excitement, we found it, it drove record purchases, but most people were out of the loop.
Of course some people knew Eric Clapton, being blueshounds, knowing his work with John Mayall, but that "Bluesbreakers" album didn't really blow up until after Cream broke through.
So, you heard "Sunshine Of Your Love" on FM.
Now "Fresh Cream"'s production was credited to Robert Stigwood, it's unclear who really twisted the dials, who was really responsible for the sound, but it didn't have the edge of what came after, it was almost like a blanket was thrown over the speakers.
But Felix Pappalardi produced "Disraeli Gears," and it was a much better representation of the band's sound. This was back when stereo was stereo, when instruments were in different channels, when we sat in front of the speakers, put on headphones to get the full effect. This was also when there was so much less on the records, you could hear all the instruments. You could hear Jack Bruce's voice on "Sunshine Of You Love," but the key to the track's success, it's infectiousness, was that guitar.
But not every track sounded the same. I couldn't get over "Tales Of Brave Ulysses." And you didn't like all the tracks immediately. It was like they were cut in an alien world and delivered to you on this vinyl platter for you to consume, digest and understand.
By now it was '68. "Are You Experienced" was released in August of '67, "Axis: Bold As Love" came out in January of '68, so Cream was no longer alone, "Purple Haze" sat along "Sunshine Of Your Love" at the apex of riff-rock, which really didn't become a genre, didn't reach its apotheosis until Deep Purple's "Smoke On The Water" in '72, really the live version from "Made In Japan," which dominated the AM airwaves during the summer of '73, before everybody had an FM radio in their car, when suddenly the alternative sound was a staple on AM radio and what was left was irrelevant.
But it was still 1968. "Sunshine Of Your Love" was a hit on AM radio and then "Piece Of My Heart," by Big Brother and the Holding Company. Janis Joplin got a lot of ink, she was a dynamic performer, she could not be denied and when people purchased "Cheap Thrills," with its R. Crumb cover, we were not in Kansas anymore, although eventually we did get bands from that state, the screw had turned, it was a whole new world in music.
And "Wheels Of Fire" was released in August of that same year, double albums were not unknown, but this one came in silver foil and the second record was a live one.
Now Janis Joplin was the star, she had the energy in Big Brother.
But the energy in Cream all came from the man behind the kit, Ginger Baker. Clapton just stood there. As did Jack Bruce. You couldn't help but focus on the drummer, who seemed on the verge of losing control as he stoked this freight train down the track. The sheer power impacted your gut.
And the Fillmores were open, but arena rock was still in the future. Acts played the typical music venues, there were few purpose-built spaces, I saw Cream at the Oakdale Theatre, a tent in Wallingford, CT. They added an afternoon show after the evening one sold out. It was theatre in the round, but not in the afternoon, the place was maybe a third full. The band punched the clock, played forty five minutes, but the star was definitely Ginger Baker.
And then "White Room" became a hit and the word got out. Suddenly everybody was talking about Cream. People you thought were decidedly unhip, out of the loop, got the message. And "Wheels Of Fire" started to explode. And on side four, there was a sixteen minute drum solo entitled "Toad."
Yup, blame "Toad" for that execrable five to twenty minutes in every live show where everybody takes a pee break and the drummer flails on. They were all inspired by Ginger Baker, he was the progenitor, they all wanted to BE Ginger Baker, suddenly the drummer was no longer an afterthought, but a virtuoso who could express himself.
And then the band said it was breaking up and went on a final tour. I saw them at the New Haven Coliseum. I stood maybe six feet away. There were maybe a couple of thousand people there. I made a cassette of the performance, long before bootlegs, I listened to it incessantly.
And the victory lap, "Goodbye Cream," had a bigger impact in the public's consciousness than anything that came before, it was the zeitgeist, people bought it after the band broke up, lamenting they'd never gotten to see the act. "Goodbye" resurrected "I'm So Glad" from the first LP. "Sitting On Top Of The World" was definitive. And "Badge" was a gift for those who'd been there all along.
It was like not only the band, but its members had died, there were posthumous live records, everybody wanted more of what they could never get again.
But they did get Blind Faith.
Jack Bruce was the frontman, in many cases the writer, but he was not the star. Yes, his solo album "Songs For A Tailor" was anticipated, but despite some airplay for "Theme For An Imaginary Western," it was ignored, and the work after that was only for cultists.
The stars were Clapton and Baker, nearly equal. And with Winwood thrown in...
Blind Faith was the first supergroup. That was the definition back then, they had to coin it for this concoction, an act made up of the stars of other acts, come together to make something new and triumphant.
And of course Blind Faith imploded, but the album gets short shrift, the first side is phenomenal, everyone knows the cuts, from the explosive opener "Had To Cry Today" to Clapton's first shining solo moment, "Presence Of The Lord" and the cover of Buddy Holly's "Well All Right" to Winwood's piece-de-resistance, "Can't Find My Way Home."
The second side had Ginger Baker's fifteen minute opus "Do What You Like." Filler or a nod to Baker's genius, who knows?
And when Blind Faith broke up, Winwood tried to go solo but got back together with Traffic. Clapton decided to play small, with Delaney & Bonnie, Ric Grech disappeared, and Ginger Baker formed his Air Force, yup, he was gonna continue to play for all the marbles.
Now testimony to the ascension of rock and roll was the fact that Blind Faith did play arenas on their one and only tour in '69, that's how hungry and dedicated the fans were.
Baker's Air Force album sold, but then the act faded away, there was great playing but no songs.
Clapton joined up with Delaney Bramlett for an exquisite first album which was to a great degree overlooked, but when Eric hooked up with Duane Allman and other greats ultimately named the "Dominos," Clapton established a place in the firmament that would never go away.
"John Barleycorn Must Die" was the most successful of the initial post-Blind Faith albums, people now knew who Winwood was and they embraced this work of ar.
And then there were more acts and it became harder to focus and Ginger Baker...he was no longer omnipresent, he wasn't gone, but he was always in our minds.
Eventually Baker played with the Masters Of Reality, in the nineties, which seemed a step down, but the truth was there was no band big enough to contain him. He was kinda like Joe DiMaggio, if DiMaggio had had an edgy personality and could still play ball. Everybody knew who Ginger Baker was, it's just that we didn't hear his playing that much.
He was one of the first to go to Africa.
He was drunk, he was stoned, but he was the original Keith Richards, nothing could kill him.
He played polo, he was involved in shenanigans, which were ultimately detailed in a documentary, but the legend always exceeded the present. What Ginger Baker meant, his playing, his place in the rock firmament as a legend, as a progenitor, as maybe THE progenitor, exceeded the man himself.
Yes, there were the Cream reunion shows. A triumph in London, an almost queasy afterthought in New York. He was still Ginger Baker, he could still do it, but this was nostalgia.
And now he's dead.
How will history treat him?
Well, what will be remembered at all?
But one thing's for sure, no one ever challenged Ginger Baker's skill. Oh sure, at the height of his fame, naysayers said he was bombastic, always loud, but when you're that big there are always people who have to put you down.
And eighty ain't a short life. This is not a guy who got cut down before his time.
But they're dropping, if not quite like flies, they soon will be. Ian Hunter is eighty too, he just had to cancel his Mott The Hoople reunion tour because of his health, Overend Watts and Dale "Buffin" Griffin are already dead, and Mick Ralphs has health issues.
If you weren't alive back then, if you weren't musically conscious back in the late sixties, these might just be names to you. But if you talk about legacy...
Ginger Baker is right up there. He was the first. He showed what could be done with the kit. He was a trailblazer, a true rocker, one who couldn't be contained, there was nothing corporate about him.
He was a beacon, may he continue to shine.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
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Cream straddled the transition from AM to FM. When their first album came out, the only underground FM radio station that existed was WOR-FM in New York. We were still California dreamin' on the last train to Clarksville. The Beatles were huge, but we all lived in one big homogeneous musical society.
Of course there were hipsters, as there have always been, like the folkies and blues lovers of the late fifties and early sixties, there were always people ahead of the scene, but it was much harder then, there was no internet, only true word of mouth, nothing went from zero to hero overnight unless it was played on AM radio, and Cream was not.
"Disraeli Gears" was released in November '67, the year underground FM radio began to burgeon, with KMPX in San Francisco joining the aforementioned WOR.
Yup, the scene was that small. So most people were unaware of "Fresh Cream." And "Disraeli Gears" too.
And then, during the summer of '68, "Sunshine Of Your Love" crossed over to AM and the band and the scene exploded.
There were a few renegade radio years back then, before Lee Abrams came along and codified the rock format on FM in the seventies. It was kinda like the internet back in the mid-nineties. There were people who had modems from the eighties, and others who got the word in '96 and instantly bought computers to play on AOL. There was no hate, only exploration.
Never forget the influence of public radio back then, especially WBAI in New York. That's where I first heard Phil Ochs's "Outside Of A Small Circle Of Friends." We twisted the dial, we looked for excitement, we found it, it drove record purchases, but most people were out of the loop.
Of course some people knew Eric Clapton, being blueshounds, knowing his work with John Mayall, but that "Bluesbreakers" album didn't really blow up until after Cream broke through.
So, you heard "Sunshine Of Your Love" on FM.
Now "Fresh Cream"'s production was credited to Robert Stigwood, it's unclear who really twisted the dials, who was really responsible for the sound, but it didn't have the edge of what came after, it was almost like a blanket was thrown over the speakers.
But Felix Pappalardi produced "Disraeli Gears," and it was a much better representation of the band's sound. This was back when stereo was stereo, when instruments were in different channels, when we sat in front of the speakers, put on headphones to get the full effect. This was also when there was so much less on the records, you could hear all the instruments. You could hear Jack Bruce's voice on "Sunshine Of You Love," but the key to the track's success, it's infectiousness, was that guitar.
But not every track sounded the same. I couldn't get over "Tales Of Brave Ulysses." And you didn't like all the tracks immediately. It was like they were cut in an alien world and delivered to you on this vinyl platter for you to consume, digest and understand.
By now it was '68. "Are You Experienced" was released in August of '67, "Axis: Bold As Love" came out in January of '68, so Cream was no longer alone, "Purple Haze" sat along "Sunshine Of Your Love" at the apex of riff-rock, which really didn't become a genre, didn't reach its apotheosis until Deep Purple's "Smoke On The Water" in '72, really the live version from "Made In Japan," which dominated the AM airwaves during the summer of '73, before everybody had an FM radio in their car, when suddenly the alternative sound was a staple on AM radio and what was left was irrelevant.
But it was still 1968. "Sunshine Of Your Love" was a hit on AM radio and then "Piece Of My Heart," by Big Brother and the Holding Company. Janis Joplin got a lot of ink, she was a dynamic performer, she could not be denied and when people purchased "Cheap Thrills," with its R. Crumb cover, we were not in Kansas anymore, although eventually we did get bands from that state, the screw had turned, it was a whole new world in music.
And "Wheels Of Fire" was released in August of that same year, double albums were not unknown, but this one came in silver foil and the second record was a live one.
Now Janis Joplin was the star, she had the energy in Big Brother.
But the energy in Cream all came from the man behind the kit, Ginger Baker. Clapton just stood there. As did Jack Bruce. You couldn't help but focus on the drummer, who seemed on the verge of losing control as he stoked this freight train down the track. The sheer power impacted your gut.
And the Fillmores were open, but arena rock was still in the future. Acts played the typical music venues, there were few purpose-built spaces, I saw Cream at the Oakdale Theatre, a tent in Wallingford, CT. They added an afternoon show after the evening one sold out. It was theatre in the round, but not in the afternoon, the place was maybe a third full. The band punched the clock, played forty five minutes, but the star was definitely Ginger Baker.
And then "White Room" became a hit and the word got out. Suddenly everybody was talking about Cream. People you thought were decidedly unhip, out of the loop, got the message. And "Wheels Of Fire" started to explode. And on side four, there was a sixteen minute drum solo entitled "Toad."
Yup, blame "Toad" for that execrable five to twenty minutes in every live show where everybody takes a pee break and the drummer flails on. They were all inspired by Ginger Baker, he was the progenitor, they all wanted to BE Ginger Baker, suddenly the drummer was no longer an afterthought, but a virtuoso who could express himself.
And then the band said it was breaking up and went on a final tour. I saw them at the New Haven Coliseum. I stood maybe six feet away. There were maybe a couple of thousand people there. I made a cassette of the performance, long before bootlegs, I listened to it incessantly.
And the victory lap, "Goodbye Cream," had a bigger impact in the public's consciousness than anything that came before, it was the zeitgeist, people bought it after the band broke up, lamenting they'd never gotten to see the act. "Goodbye" resurrected "I'm So Glad" from the first LP. "Sitting On Top Of The World" was definitive. And "Badge" was a gift for those who'd been there all along.
It was like not only the band, but its members had died, there were posthumous live records, everybody wanted more of what they could never get again.
But they did get Blind Faith.
Jack Bruce was the frontman, in many cases the writer, but he was not the star. Yes, his solo album "Songs For A Tailor" was anticipated, but despite some airplay for "Theme For An Imaginary Western," it was ignored, and the work after that was only for cultists.
The stars were Clapton and Baker, nearly equal. And with Winwood thrown in...
Blind Faith was the first supergroup. That was the definition back then, they had to coin it for this concoction, an act made up of the stars of other acts, come together to make something new and triumphant.
And of course Blind Faith imploded, but the album gets short shrift, the first side is phenomenal, everyone knows the cuts, from the explosive opener "Had To Cry Today" to Clapton's first shining solo moment, "Presence Of The Lord" and the cover of Buddy Holly's "Well All Right" to Winwood's piece-de-resistance, "Can't Find My Way Home."
The second side had Ginger Baker's fifteen minute opus "Do What You Like." Filler or a nod to Baker's genius, who knows?
And when Blind Faith broke up, Winwood tried to go solo but got back together with Traffic. Clapton decided to play small, with Delaney & Bonnie, Ric Grech disappeared, and Ginger Baker formed his Air Force, yup, he was gonna continue to play for all the marbles.
Now testimony to the ascension of rock and roll was the fact that Blind Faith did play arenas on their one and only tour in '69, that's how hungry and dedicated the fans were.
Baker's Air Force album sold, but then the act faded away, there was great playing but no songs.
Clapton joined up with Delaney Bramlett for an exquisite first album which was to a great degree overlooked, but when Eric hooked up with Duane Allman and other greats ultimately named the "Dominos," Clapton established a place in the firmament that would never go away.
"John Barleycorn Must Die" was the most successful of the initial post-Blind Faith albums, people now knew who Winwood was and they embraced this work of ar.
And then there were more acts and it became harder to focus and Ginger Baker...he was no longer omnipresent, he wasn't gone, but he was always in our minds.
Eventually Baker played with the Masters Of Reality, in the nineties, which seemed a step down, but the truth was there was no band big enough to contain him. He was kinda like Joe DiMaggio, if DiMaggio had had an edgy personality and could still play ball. Everybody knew who Ginger Baker was, it's just that we didn't hear his playing that much.
He was one of the first to go to Africa.
He was drunk, he was stoned, but he was the original Keith Richards, nothing could kill him.
He played polo, he was involved in shenanigans, which were ultimately detailed in a documentary, but the legend always exceeded the present. What Ginger Baker meant, his playing, his place in the rock firmament as a legend, as a progenitor, as maybe THE progenitor, exceeded the man himself.
Yes, there were the Cream reunion shows. A triumph in London, an almost queasy afterthought in New York. He was still Ginger Baker, he could still do it, but this was nostalgia.
And now he's dead.
How will history treat him?
Well, what will be remembered at all?
But one thing's for sure, no one ever challenged Ginger Baker's skill. Oh sure, at the height of his fame, naysayers said he was bombastic, always loud, but when you're that big there are always people who have to put you down.
And eighty ain't a short life. This is not a guy who got cut down before his time.
But they're dropping, if not quite like flies, they soon will be. Ian Hunter is eighty too, he just had to cancel his Mott The Hoople reunion tour because of his health, Overend Watts and Dale "Buffin" Griffin are already dead, and Mick Ralphs has health issues.
If you weren't alive back then, if you weren't musically conscious back in the late sixties, these might just be names to you. But if you talk about legacy...
Ginger Baker is right up there. He was the first. He showed what could be done with the kit. He was a trailblazer, a true rocker, one who couldn't be contained, there was nothing corporate about him.
He was a beacon, may he continue to shine.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1
If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25
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Rufus Du Sol at L.A. State Historic Park
Why was everybody there?
There's been no radio, no print, but the gig was sold out, at just over 20,000. What is happening here?
No one exactly knows.
The label head said it was the similarity to Depeche Mode.
The manager said it was Coachella. That they dominated the Gobi tent. And that everywhere they play, when they come back, attendance is doubled.
The agent was flummoxed too. The band's been around for nine years, it's been paying its dues, but they didn't ply down the road of traditional music business success.
Music is not a zero sum game. It's not tech, where if I win you lose, and if I don't keep innovating, if I'm not putting up walls around my product and buying or putting my competitors out of business, I'm soon gonna be toast. Every musical act is singular. There's enough audience for everybody. Assuming you can get one.
Now there's no rule book in music. No course. No degree. Oh, they've got these schools teaching the biz these days, but that's for middle management, the real winners cannot be contained by an institution. Irving Azoff, David Geffen, Scooter Braun...they're all college dropouts. These are renegades, square pegs in a round hole, but they know how to make things happen, they're visionaries, they thread a needle many people can't even see.
The manager grew up with a member of the group. They're "brothers," they're in it together, after all, who can you trust?
Certainly not Columbia Records, the band licensed an LP to the company which subsequently did nothing. That's the problem with labels, they just need something to hit, not necessarily your thing, they tell you all they're going to do, but there's no guarantee they're going to do it, usually they don't.
The band is on Warner Brothers now, but the big radio track has yet to come.
But it's always about hit songs, whether they get played on the radio or not. The aforementioned manager Danny Robson told me to wait for a certain song, that everybody in the audience would throw their hands in the air and sing along.
This was true. This music was part of their lives, woven into the fabric of their existence, it didn't matter who else was into it.
But a lot of people are. In this case, half men and half women.
Danny told me they'd done an east coast tour with ODESZA, that it had helped them back when. I said it was the same audience, Danny insisted it wasn't, that Rufus Du Sol's audience was older, 25-35.
And Danny was right. These were sophisticated millennials. You didn't get the impression you were gonna get robbed or run over, then again I'd be lying if I didn't say I was anxious about going to an outdoor concert at night. I'm not gonna not go, but at this point, mass events in the great wide open...you never know what's gonna happen.
But everybody looked like they had a job, this was not the ethos of rock and roll, a workingman's world, but something more upscale.
So what we've learned is it's no longer your father's music business. Used to be it was all about the label. You wanted to get signed, the company bought tickets. Now it's more about the live show, the agent is oftentimes more important than the label.
And despite the instant hits of the Spotify Top 50, the acts that sustain have paid their dues, they've experimented, they've got it down.
As for Rufus Du Sol's sound?
Bob Moses played before them.
Now for the uninitiated, there's no one called that in the band.
And the music thumped, it had energy, it took you away from this world.
But the headliner was most definitely Rufus Du Sol, they got more applause, they had a much bigger production, and production is key in this world.
And what world is that?
You could call Bob Moses EDM, but there was a guitar and a bass and drums, this is just not a deejay with a laptop.
And Rufus Du Sol has a drummer too, and the lead singer oftentimes slips from behind his keyboard to play guitar.
You see there's been an evolution. Maybe that's why rock is dead, it has stopped evolving.
But Rufus Du Sol was much darker than Bob Moses, with much less thump. There was melody. And the music truly set your mind free.
This is what music used to be about.
Now it's about going to see the hits played by rote while you shoot selfies...it's more about the audience than the performer.
But not tonight, not in this world. Everybody was there to be enveloped by the sound, to levitate their own bodies and souls. They wanted a hit of that elixir only music can bring. When done right, it pulls you away from the humdrum world, makes you feel like you're in a protected bubble, as long as the sound sustains, you're all right.
Now some might say Rufus Du Sol has been around forever, at least that's what Phil Blaine told me after the show. He accused me of being a johnny-come-lately.
I am, but at least I've arrived.
But most people are out of the loop, and that's just fine, there are enough believers to make it all work, more than work. You can't make tech money, nor Wall Street money, in music, but it's a different profession, it's about your interior not your exterior.
In the straight world you pick a path and stay on it until you accumulate rewards and then you die. It's all about investing in the system.
But there's no system in music. Every act is reinventing the wheel.
So you hone your chops, wait for a reaction, start small before you're big. Rufus Du Sol played for two hundred, they didn't start out at the top. Yup, one hit and some acts play arenas! Got to get that money now, while it's still available!
Most of those acts fade away, not all of them, but most of them.
And then there are acts further off the radar screen. And they play and play until...
They're touring the world, tired as hell, but with all the perks, the money, the sex, the... They stand on stage and play for multitudes who not only adore their surface, but want to know what they're thinking, where they've come from.
No, the internet did not kill music creation, quite the opposite, in fact.
But the truth is the business has morphed and the oldsters don't want to admit it. There's more than one way to skin a cat, but one thing's for sure, what brings people in is the feeling, the excitement, the energy, the irresistible pull of music. When done right, there's nothing like it.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1
If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25
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There's been no radio, no print, but the gig was sold out, at just over 20,000. What is happening here?
No one exactly knows.
The label head said it was the similarity to Depeche Mode.
The manager said it was Coachella. That they dominated the Gobi tent. And that everywhere they play, when they come back, attendance is doubled.
The agent was flummoxed too. The band's been around for nine years, it's been paying its dues, but they didn't ply down the road of traditional music business success.
Music is not a zero sum game. It's not tech, where if I win you lose, and if I don't keep innovating, if I'm not putting up walls around my product and buying or putting my competitors out of business, I'm soon gonna be toast. Every musical act is singular. There's enough audience for everybody. Assuming you can get one.
Now there's no rule book in music. No course. No degree. Oh, they've got these schools teaching the biz these days, but that's for middle management, the real winners cannot be contained by an institution. Irving Azoff, David Geffen, Scooter Braun...they're all college dropouts. These are renegades, square pegs in a round hole, but they know how to make things happen, they're visionaries, they thread a needle many people can't even see.
The manager grew up with a member of the group. They're "brothers," they're in it together, after all, who can you trust?
Certainly not Columbia Records, the band licensed an LP to the company which subsequently did nothing. That's the problem with labels, they just need something to hit, not necessarily your thing, they tell you all they're going to do, but there's no guarantee they're going to do it, usually they don't.
The band is on Warner Brothers now, but the big radio track has yet to come.
But it's always about hit songs, whether they get played on the radio or not. The aforementioned manager Danny Robson told me to wait for a certain song, that everybody in the audience would throw their hands in the air and sing along.
This was true. This music was part of their lives, woven into the fabric of their existence, it didn't matter who else was into it.
But a lot of people are. In this case, half men and half women.
Danny told me they'd done an east coast tour with ODESZA, that it had helped them back when. I said it was the same audience, Danny insisted it wasn't, that Rufus Du Sol's audience was older, 25-35.
And Danny was right. These were sophisticated millennials. You didn't get the impression you were gonna get robbed or run over, then again I'd be lying if I didn't say I was anxious about going to an outdoor concert at night. I'm not gonna not go, but at this point, mass events in the great wide open...you never know what's gonna happen.
But everybody looked like they had a job, this was not the ethos of rock and roll, a workingman's world, but something more upscale.
So what we've learned is it's no longer your father's music business. Used to be it was all about the label. You wanted to get signed, the company bought tickets. Now it's more about the live show, the agent is oftentimes more important than the label.
And despite the instant hits of the Spotify Top 50, the acts that sustain have paid their dues, they've experimented, they've got it down.
As for Rufus Du Sol's sound?
Bob Moses played before them.
Now for the uninitiated, there's no one called that in the band.
And the music thumped, it had energy, it took you away from this world.
But the headliner was most definitely Rufus Du Sol, they got more applause, they had a much bigger production, and production is key in this world.
And what world is that?
You could call Bob Moses EDM, but there was a guitar and a bass and drums, this is just not a deejay with a laptop.
And Rufus Du Sol has a drummer too, and the lead singer oftentimes slips from behind his keyboard to play guitar.
You see there's been an evolution. Maybe that's why rock is dead, it has stopped evolving.
But Rufus Du Sol was much darker than Bob Moses, with much less thump. There was melody. And the music truly set your mind free.
This is what music used to be about.
Now it's about going to see the hits played by rote while you shoot selfies...it's more about the audience than the performer.
But not tonight, not in this world. Everybody was there to be enveloped by the sound, to levitate their own bodies and souls. They wanted a hit of that elixir only music can bring. When done right, it pulls you away from the humdrum world, makes you feel like you're in a protected bubble, as long as the sound sustains, you're all right.
Now some might say Rufus Du Sol has been around forever, at least that's what Phil Blaine told me after the show. He accused me of being a johnny-come-lately.
I am, but at least I've arrived.
But most people are out of the loop, and that's just fine, there are enough believers to make it all work, more than work. You can't make tech money, nor Wall Street money, in music, but it's a different profession, it's about your interior not your exterior.
In the straight world you pick a path and stay on it until you accumulate rewards and then you die. It's all about investing in the system.
But there's no system in music. Every act is reinventing the wheel.
So you hone your chops, wait for a reaction, start small before you're big. Rufus Du Sol played for two hundred, they didn't start out at the top. Yup, one hit and some acts play arenas! Got to get that money now, while it's still available!
Most of those acts fade away, not all of them, but most of them.
And then there are acts further off the radar screen. And they play and play until...
They're touring the world, tired as hell, but with all the perks, the money, the sex, the... They stand on stage and play for multitudes who not only adore their surface, but want to know what they're thinking, where they've come from.
No, the internet did not kill music creation, quite the opposite, in fact.
But the truth is the business has morphed and the oldsters don't want to admit it. There's more than one way to skin a cat, but one thing's for sure, what brings people in is the feeling, the excitement, the energy, the irresistible pull of music. When done right, there's nothing like it.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1
If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25
To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25
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