I may be rather critical of Classic Rock and its icons but Ginger Baker is one of the few who ever received my wrath. Without his incredible drumming skills, Cream wouldn’t have been as impressive and thus, launched that racist asshole Eric Clapton’s overrated career (he’s a proud member of UKip, yet lives in the States, fancy that).
Ginger went on to play in numerous genres besides Rock. Hawkwind (Space Rock) and PiL (with Johnny Rotten!) plus he had a great interest in African music. Unlike Eric, he never coasted on his past accomplishments and continued to learn, reinvent. He wasn’t a saint neither but at least Ginger wasn’t lazy musically.
Thanks for all the great solos and work, especially on “Rise” from PiL’s Album.