With the passing yesterday of Ginger Baker, one of the greatest drummers in history, we thought it was a good idea to pay some respect.

Although he was most famous for his time with Cream, he had a prolific career and is generally regarded as a genius. Let’s belt out a 10 minute drum solo to that!

Ginger Baker: Maverick Drums, Jazzy Influences, and Some Solos

A drumming virtuoso who grew up to the sound of the Nazis bombing London, he would also batter his school table with his hands before even touching a kit.

When he did drum for the first time, he found himself naturally gifted for it all. Focussing on jazz and African rhythms, he quickly rose up the ranks to the Graham Bond Organisation (quite an obscure ‘60s rock band).

Viewing himself as the best drummer out there, and having revolutionised the instrument along with the likes of Keith Moon and John Bonham (whom he didn’t rate), he set up Cream.

Band members Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce certainly rated his abilities. But they were also pretty terrified of his mood swings, many of which were driven by Baker’s heroin addiction.

Cream was a superstar band and Baker’s drum solos like Toad proved the drums could be a leading instrument.

Baker’s limb independence helped him overcome a more slight presence than the heavy-set, monstrous grooves of Bonham.

But he was a jazz drummer above everything else. He went out of his way to challenge the best jazz drummers of his era to drum offs.

By winning the respect of the jazz community, he rose above the vast majority of his peers.

Meanwhile he organised Blind Faith’s incredibly brief trip into the world. And his drumming, again, is… yep. Genius.

Then his life went all over the place, including spells to Africa, Italy, America, and then back to England for his final years.

As a drummer, he was a genius. As a man… well, you can watch the excellent 2013 documentary Beware of Mr. Baker for some insights there.

A lovable rogue in his youth. Something of a darkly humorous, cantankerous sort in his senior years.

Whatever you make of that, it’s his music that’ll keep him in the record books.

Drumming right up until his final years, and still bloody brilliant, his contributions to the drumming world were mighty.