Today we celebrate one of the most influential rock drummers who never wanted to be a rock drummer and doesn't think he is rock drummer, Ginger Baker, who turns 70 today.
Back in the late 60s, there was this period in time when every young drummer was focused on nobody but Ginger Baker. Sure, there were plenty of other bands that were popular, but there weren't that many notable drummers in rock music, outside of Ringo Starr and Charlie Watts. There was a difference between Ginger and those other guys. In the drum world (and there may have been an element of snobbery involved), rock drummers didn't get much respect. The well-known jazz drummers could be somewhat dismissive (such as Buddy Rich, who called Ringo "adequate, nothing more"). Even the young drummers would listen to Ringo and say "I could do that." And, for the most part, it was probably true; Ringo didn't really do that much in the way of flashy, technical playing that required a lot of extra effort.
Ginger Baker was different. He played things that drummers would listen to and then say "hmmmmmm." And the thing that Ginger did that changed rock drumming and really caused that hmmmmm was that driving, sixteenth-note double bass pattern played under standard 4-beat and triplet hand patterns. It's what we now call FUGGA DUGGA.
Now FUGGA DUGGA isn't really anything special. In fact, it's a just variation on the most basic of drumming rudiments, the "single stroke roll," or the technique of alternately playing a single stroke with one limb, and then the other limb, in rapid succession; it's specifically played with the feet. But, even though there were drummers using double bass drums before Ginger, such as Louie Bellson, and Rufus "Speedy" Jones, they didn't use the bass drums in the same way. The bass drum was the timekeeper in dance music for sure, but the older styles didn't make the bass drum predominate. The bass was generally subdued, and stayed "under" the music where people thought it belonged. The double bass drums were used for accents during solos. You can check it out here in a Rufus Jones solo with the Count Basie band.
As you can see, Rufus Jones solo was mainly focused on his hands and his snare drum. There are some accents with the bass drums, but for the most part, he's just playing one of them. You can tell, because he doesn't have a "drop clutch" on his hi-hat, so if the cymbals are clasped together, it means he had his foot on the hi-hat pedal, or he had simply released the clutch. If he had done that, the cymbals would "slosh" rather than "click," and you can clearly hear the click throughout the video.
Ginger had his own style. He made the bass drums the focal point of his solos, and everything else worked around them.
And, he kept it up for fifteen minutes.
In 1968, especially in the winter and spring, if you listened to your local pop radio station, you couldn't get away from hearing "Sunshine of Your Love" every hour, and that ostinato part played on the guitar and bass tended to become an "ear worm." I can distinctly remember hearing one guy whistle it over and over in the locker room (the echo made it sound kind of cool) until everybody finally came up to him and got him to stop. The damage was done, though: I couldn't get it out of my head for days.
But it wasn't just that riff that made the song different. The drums were certainly different too. Instead of the usual bass on one, snare on three, with the hi-hat playing steady eighth notes, the song was all dowwnbeat played on the toms. It was distinctly reminiscent of the Hamm's Beer jingle (with the fake Native American beat). And then, during the choruses, the toms got all the love. Things hadn't been so good for the lowly tom-tom since Gene Krupa played "Sing, Sing, Sing."
It's really hard for me to believe how much of an impact Ginger Baker had in such a short time. If you think about it, he really played in just two "supergroup" bands: Cream and Blind Faith, and by 1970, they both were history. By that time as well, a young drummer named John Bonham had risen to some notoriety with the band that knocked the Beatles off the top of the British Melody Maker poll.
But in that short time, drummers really did take notice. Ginger played Ludwig drums in silver sparkle (the loudest finish). He had a big influence on the buying habits of drummers just like Ringo did, and it's arguable that he kept Ludwig firmly in the #1 spot at a time when interest in Ringo (due partly to the Beatles having stopped touring) may have been waning. It's interesting to note that Ludwig never featured Ringo in its 1960s catalogs, and did not have a picture of a kit like his in the Oyster Black finish that he was known for (although there was a basic kit that had an Oyster Black bass drum). But on page 7 of the Ludwig 1967 catalog was the new Rock Duo kit in silver sparkle. Ludwig didn't have to tell anyone why that kit was there and why it was shown in that finish; the drummers knew.
Of course, Ginger Baker still played drums, and he went on to play in a number of great bands, mostly with a nice blend of rock and jazz elements, but he never had the sort of "supergroup" success he had in the 60s. I don't know if he wanted to be known for FUGGA DUGGA, but one can't escape the fact that he did create a new sound and style. In the early 1970s, many of the up and coming drummers had double bass drums, and they used them in much the same way as Ginger Baker. Today, there are countless practitioners of FUGGA DUGGA, and it's become a staple of modern rock music.
Hmmm, o.k., but I don't hear much in the way of interplay or polyrhythm like Ginger did, just more FUGGA DUGGA, but with the hands. But who am I to judge? Love it or hate it, FUGGA DUGGA is here to stay, and we have Ginger Baker to thank for it.
Oh, and he is partly responsible for this great drum sola from the 60s as well, featuring some of England's top drummers.
I think I'll leave it at that. I know there's another prominent birthday today that's probably more important to the members of Daily Kos, but still, give the drummer some too. Happy Birthday Ginger Baker.