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Ginger Baker
Do What You Like

Ginger Baker — Do What You Like (July 7, 1998)

   Ginger Baker — Do What You Like (July 7, 1998)
ψ•    On a purely musical level, Ginger Baker's Air Force were arguably the pinnacle of the legendary drummer's achievements of the 1960s. Even allowing for the many and varied virtues of the Graham Bond Organisation, Cream, and Blind Faith, they didn't approach the breadth or ambition that characterized the Air Force sound.
ψ•    Baker's drumming attracted attention for his style, showmanship, and use of two bass drums instead of the conventional one. In his early days, he performed lengthy drum solos, the best known being the five–minute solo from the Cream song "Toad", one of the earliest recorded examples in rock music. Baker is noted for his eccentric, often self–destructive lifestyle; he struggled with heroin addiction for many years, moved around the world often after making enemies, and has been beset with financial and tax troubles, partially as a result of his polo hobby. He has been married four times and has fathered three children.
ψ•    Neil Peart has said: “His playing was revolutionary — extrovert, primal and inventive. He set the bar for what rock drumming could be. [...] Every rock drummer since has been influenced in some way by Ginger — even if they don't know it.”    © ψ• Ginger Baker's Air Force // ψ• COPENHAGEN, DENMARK: Ginger Baker performs on stage with Ginger Baker's Air Force on April 4th 1970 in Copenhagen, Denmark. (Photo by Jorgen Angel/Redferns)
Birth name: Peter Edward Baker
Born: 19 August 1939, Lewisham, South London, England
Location:
Genre: classic rock, jazz, Afrobeat, blues rock
Album release: July 7, 1998
Recording date: January, 1970 — August, 1971
Record Label:
Duration:     78:05 +  78:59 =>    157:04
Tracks:
DISC 1 — LIVE AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL
ψ•    (Ginger Baker's Air Force)
1. Da Da Man     7:14
2. Early In The Morning     11:17
3. Don't Care     12:29
4. Toad     13:00
5. Aiko Biaye     13:01
6. Man Of Constant Sorrow     3:55
7. Do What You Like     11:40
8. Doin' It     5:29
DISC 2 — IN THE STUDIO
ψ•    (non–LP single)
01. Man Of Constant Sorrow     3:35
ψ•    (Ginger Baker's Air Force 2)
02. Let Me Ride     4:24
03. Sweet Wine     3:38
04. Do U No Hu Yor Phrenz R?     5:31
05. We Free Kings     4:28
06. I Don't Want To Go On Without You     3:57
07. Toady     8:23
08. 12 Gates Of The City     4:06
ψ•    (Ginger Baker's Air Force 2 outtake, previously unreleased)
09. Sunshine Of Your Love     5:53
ψ•    (Stratavarious)
10. Ariwo     11:10
11. Tiwa (It's Our Own)     5:46
12. Something Nice     4:20
13. Ju Ju     4:20
14. Blood Brothers     6:57
15. Coda     2:34
Written by:
ψ•    Harold McNair     1/1
ψ•    Traditional     1/2, 6  + 2/1, 10
ψ•    Ginger Baker / Steve Winwood     1/3
ψ•    Ginger Baker     1/4, 7, 8 + 2/4, 5, 7, 15
ψ•    Remi Kabaka / Teddy Osei     1/5
ψ•    Roebuck "Pops" Staples     2/2,
ψ•    Ginger Baker / Janet Godfrey     2/3
ψ•    Bert Berns / Jerry Wexler     2/6
ψ•    Graham Bond     2/8
ψ•    Pete Brown / Jack Bruce / Eric Clapton     2/9
ψ•    Fela Kuti / Fela Ransome Kuti     2/11
ψ•    Ginger Baker / Bobby Gass     2/12
ψ•    Bobby Gass     2/13
ψ•    Ginger Baker / Guy Warren     2/14
PERSONNEL AND CREDITS
DISC 1 — LIVE AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL
ψ•    (Ginger Baker's Air Force)
ψ•    Ginger Baker — drums
ψ•    Steve Winwood — organ & vocals
ψ•    Jeanette Jacobs — vocals
ψ•    Denny Laine — guitar & vocals
ψ•    Chris Wood — tenor sax & flute
ψ•    Rick Grech — bass & violin
ψ•    Remi Kabaka — drums
ψ•    Graham Bond — alto sax
ψ•    Harold McNair — tenor sax & flute
ψ•    Phil Seamen — percussion
ψ•    Produced by Jimmy Miller
ψ•    Recorded live at Royal Albert Hall, London, January 1970
==========ψ•============
DISC 2 — IN THE STUDIO
(non–LP single)
ψ•    Ginger Baker — drums
ψ•    Steve Winwood — organ & vocals
ψ•    Jeanette Jacobs — vocals
ψ•    Denny Laine — guitar & vocals
ψ•    Chris Wood — tenor sax & flute
ψ•    Rick Grech — bass & violin
ψ•    Remi Kabaka — drums
ψ•    Graham Bond — alto sax
ψ•    Harold McNair — tenor sax & flute
ψ•    Phil Seamen — percussion
ψ•    Produced by Jimmy Miller
Recorded at Olympic Studios, London in February 1970
ψ•    (Ginger Baker's Air Force 2)
ψ•    Ginger Baker — drums, tympani, tubular bells & African drums
ψ•    Graham Bond — alto sax, organ, vocals & piano
ψ•    Steve Gregory — tenor sax & flute
ψ•    Bud Beadle — baritone, alto & soprano saxes
ψ•    Ken Craddock — piano, organ, guitar & vocals
ψ•    Colin Gibson — bass guitar (on "Do U No Hu Yor Phrenz R?", "We Free Kings", "Toady", and "12 Gates Of The City")
ψ•    Neemoi Acquaye — African drums & percussion (except on "I Don't Want To Go On Without You")
ψ•    Aliki Ashman — vocals
ψ•    Diane Stewart — vocals
ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL:
→   On "Let Me Ride", "Sweet Wine", and "I Don't Want To Go On Without You":
ψ•    Rick Grech — bass
ψ•    Harold McNair — alto sax, flute & alto flute
ψ•    Denny Laine — guitar & vocals
ψ•    Catherine James — vocals
→   On "Let Me Ride", "Sweet Wine", and "12 Gates Of The City"
ψ•    Rocky Dzidzornu — percussion
ψ•    Produced by Ginger Baker
==========ψ•============
ψ•    (Stratavarious)
PERSONNEL:
→   On "Ariwo" and "Tiwa (It's Our Own)":
ψ•    Sandra Danielle — vocals (on "Ariwo" only)
ψ•    Fela Ransome–Kuti — organ & vocals
ψ•    Bobby Gass — bass
ψ•    Ginger Baker — drums
ψ•    Alhaji JK Brimar/Dusty & David/Ginger & Fela — percussion
ψ•    June, JK, Dusty, David, Remi, Auntie, BBC, Sandra — choir
→   On "Something Nice" and "Ju Ju":
ψ•    Fela Ransome–Kuti — piano
ψ•    Bobby Gass — bass, guitar & vocals
ψ•    Ginger Baker — drums & percussion
ψ•    June, Sandra, JK, Dusty, David, Fela–choir (on "Ju Ju" only)
→   On "Blood Brothers 69"
ψ•    Guy Warren — drums
ψ•    Ginger Baker — drums
→   On "Coda"
ψ•    Ginger Baker — drums & percussion, voice
ψ•    Produced by Ginger Baker
ψ•    Digitally remastered by Suha Gur at PolyGram StudiosDescription:
ψ•    Do What You Like is a 1998 compilation by drummer Ginger Baker that combined three of his albums: 1970's Ginger Baker’s Air Force, 1970's Ginger Baker’s Air Force 2, and 1972's Stratavarious, plus a non–LP track and a song previously unreleased.
ψ•    For a change, the late 1960s yielded up a supergroup that lived up to its hype and then some. Ginger Baker's Air Force was recorded live at Royal Albert Hall in January of 1970 — in fact, this may be the best–sounding live album ever to come out of that notoriously difficult venue — at a show that must have been a wonder to watch, as the ten–piece band blazed away in sheets of sound, projected delicate flute parts behind multi–layered African percussion, or built their songs up Bolero–like, out of rhythms from a single instrument into huge jazz–cum–R&B crescendos. Considering that this was only their second gig, the group sounds astonishingly tight, which greatly reduces the level of self–indulgence that one would expect to find on an album where five of the eight tracks run in excess of ten minutes. There aren't too many wasted notes or phrases in the 78 minutes of music included here, and Steve Winwood's organ, Baker, Phil Seamen, and Remi Kabaka's drums, and the sax playing by Chris Wood, Graham Bond (on alto), and Harold McNair, all stand out, especially the sax trio's interwoven playing on "Don't Care." Additionally, Denny Laine plays louder, flashier, more virtuoso–level guitar than he ever got to turn in with the Moody Blues, bending notes in exquisite fashion in the opening of Air Force's rendition of the Cream standard "Toad," crunching away on rhythm elsewhere, and indulging in some more introspective blues for "Man of Constant Sorrow." The original CD reissue, which sounded pretty good, was deleted in the early '90s, but this album has been remastered again and repackaged as part of the Ginger Baker retrospective Do What You Like on Polygram's Chronicles series. It's a must–own for jazz–rock, Afro–fusion, blues–rock, or percussion fans.
AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
ψ•    Polygram/Chronicles' Do What You Like is a double–disc compilation that contains all of Ginger Baker's first three albums — Airforce, Airforce 2 and Stratavarious — plus several previously unreleased recordings from this era. Although these albums were a little uneven, they were frequently provocative and remain quite interesting years after their original work. Hardcore fans will certainly need it, but it's an effective introduction for the curious as well.CREDITS:
ψ•    Neemoi Acquaye Drums, Percussion
ψ•    Aliki Ashman Vocals
ψ•    Ginger Baker Art Direction, Composer, Drums, Drums (African), Percussion,  Producer, Timpani, Tubular Bells, Unknown Contributor Role, Voices
ψ•    Liz Baker Art Direction
ψ•    Roy Thomas Baker Engineer
ψ•    BBC Choir/Chorus
ψ•    Bud Beadle Sax (Alto), Sax (Baritone), Sax (Soprano)
ψ•    Bert Berns Composer
ψ•    Mike Boback Engineer
ψ•    Graham Bond Composer, Guest Artist, Organ, Piano, Sax (Alto), Saxophone, Vocals
ψ•    Pete Brown Composer
ψ•    Jack Bruce Composer
ψ•    George Chkiantz Assistant Engineer, Engineer
ψ•    Eric Clapton Composer
ψ•    Ken Craddock Guitar, Organ, Piano, Vocals
ψ•    Kwasi "Rocky" Dzidzornu Percussion
ψ•    Bobby Gass Bass, Composer, Guest Artist, Guitar, Vocals
ψ•    Colin Gibson Guitar (Bass)
ψ•    Janet Godfrey Composer
ψ•    Rick Grech Bass, Guest Artist, Violin
ψ•    Steve Gregory Flute, Sax (Tenor)
ψ•    Hamish Grimes Art Direction
ψ•    Suha Gur Remastering
ψ•    Jeanette Jacobs Vocals
ψ•    Catherine James Vocals
ψ•    Andy Johns Engineer
ψ•    Remi Kabaka Composer, Drums
ψ•    Fela Kuti Composer
ψ•    Fela Ransome Kuti Composer, Keyboards
ψ•    Catherine Ladis Project Assistant, Unknown Contributor Role
ψ•    Denny Laine Guest Artist, Guitar, Vocals
ψ•    Bill Levenson Producer
ψ•    Damon Lyon–Shaw Engineer
ψ•    John McDermott Liner Notes
ψ•    Harold McNair Composer, Flute, Flute (Alto), Sax (Alto), Sax (Tenor)
ψ•    Jimmy Miller Producer
ψ•    Teddy Osei Composer
ψ•    Phil Seaman Percussion
ψ•    Martin Sharp Art Direction
ψ•    Roebuck "Pops" Staples Composer
ψ•    Diane Stewart Vocals
ψ•    Terri Tierney Project Director, Unknown Contributor Role
ψ•    Traditional Composer
ψ•    Laurens Van Houten Photography
ψ•    Guy Warren Composer, Drums
ψ•    Barry Wentzell Photography
ψ•    Jerry Wexler Composer
ψ•    Steve Winwood Composer, Guest Artist, Keyboards, Organ, Vocals
ψ•    Chris Wood Flute, Guest Artist, Sax (Tenor) © ψ• Ginger Baker. Ginger Baker's Air Force1970. Copenhagen, Denmark © Jorgen Angel ψ• httpa//www.angel.dk/:::www.angel.dk
Artist Biography by Bruce Eder
ψ•    On a purely musical level, Ginger Baker's Air Force were arguably the pinnacle of the legendary drummer's achievements of the 1960s. Even allowing for the many and varied virtues of the Graham Bond Organisation, Cream, and Blind Faith, they didn't approach the breadth or ambition that characterized the Air Force sound. Sadly, despite their prodigious musical attributes, Ginger Baker's Air Force are mostly remembered in the music business as one of the great nonstarters among the heavily press–hyped supergroups of the late '60s and early '70s. Air Force essentially grew out of Ginger Baker's six–month stint with Blind Faith, a supergroup that collapsed after generating one album and finishing one tour. Baker's ex–Cream bandmate Eric Clapton abandoned that venture in favor of the vastly different (yet more rewarding) musical styles of Delaney & Bonnie, but Baker persuaded Steve Winwood and Rick Grech, the other members of the band, to stay on with him. Baker planned to put together a new band that would explore music on a new scale, and in new directions, different from Blind Faith or Cream — the projected band, christened Air Force, would embrace jazz, R&B, blues, folk, and African music.
ψ•    Baker's old bandmate Graham Bond came aboard on saxophone, joined by legendary jazz drummer Phil Seaman, whom Baker regarded as a mentor and inspiration, along with Traffic's Chris Wood, and Harold McNair, both on sax and flute. ψ•    As a guitarist and singer, the new group featured Denny Laine, the former lead singer and guitarist of the original Moody Blues. Singer Jeanette Jacobs and African percussionist Remi Kabaka were also in the lineup that played two extraordinary gigs at Birmingham's Town Hall and London's Royal Albert Hall at the end of 1969. Baker's initial plan hadn't extended beyond the two shows, but the first one was so successful musically and critically that he began laying bigger plans, including the recording of the Albert Hall show and keeping the band going. By January of 1970, events were starting to break both inside and outside of the band that would have a profound effect on its future. The reviews from Birmingham were so good that the Albert Hall show turned into one of those press events that became the talk of the entire music trade in England and, by extension, America. The fact that the show had been recorded made it even better — there was proof on hand that the press enthusiasm was justified. Those Albert Hall recordings were extraordinary, Air Force thundering along amid blazing sax, organ, guitar, and bass virtuosity, fiery solos, and extended jams that, for a change, actually went somewhere, while three percussionists who seemingly were busy all the way through played several layers of rhythm. At its best, and the Royal Albert Hall tapes were their best, Air Force's music was like this wonderful huge array of Chinese boxes, each opening to a smaller but more beautifully ornate box inside.ψ•    The live album Ginger Baker's Air Force was issued by Polydor in Europe and Atlantic Records in America. In keeping with the excesses of the times, Ginger Baker's Air Force was a double LP, an extraordinary debut for a band that had yet to play a regularly scheduled concert. Devised with artwork that seemingly reversed the design of the Cream Wheels of Fire double set, and released amid extraordinary press, the live album reached number 33 in America and 37 in England, a long way from Cream or Blind Faith's chart–scaling days, but not bad (or, at least, it wouldn't have been if Atlantic, in particular, hadn't pressed hundreds of thousands of copies more than would ever be needed, which turned Ginger Baker's Air Force into a perennial bargain–bin cutout in America) for a group that had only played two gigs. Those were the days of supergroups and all–star jams, all of them heavily advertised and discussed in the rock press, and Air Force, in contrast to a lot of their rivals, delivered the goods.
ψ•    The biggest problem facing the group, however, was that three key members, Steve Winwood, Rick Grech, and Chris Wood, left — as Baker knew they had to — in early 1970. Graham Bond took over on organ and vocals for Air Force, and new members Steve Gregory and Bud Beadle joined on saxes, while Colin Gibson took over on bass. Neemoi Acquaye came in on African percussion, and Catherine James, Aliki Ashman, and Diane Stewart sang. It was Baker's plan to be an old–style bandleader in the traditional sense, opening up Air Force to experimentation by the bandmembers while he hung back, concerning himself as much as possible with the drums. He hoped to play a role akin that which Count Basie or Duke Ellington did in their respective bands, with his members. The problem was that keeping an 11–piece group going was a difficult and expensive proposition under the best of circumstances, and without a hit single or a hugely successful album to their credit, it proved impossible for Baker and Air Force. In addition, bands like Basie's supported themselves by getting lots of outside work, supporting singers on record and in concert, even touring as part of rock & roll shows in Basie's case in the late '50s, to keep the money coming in around their less lucrative gigs; that was clearly not a role that Air Force were ever going to play. ψ•    And Ellington had income from his huge and vastly successful songwriting catalog to guarantee him the money needed to sustain the band during the lean times, if there were any. Baker, by contrast, had only a tiny smattering of songs to his credit, none of them very successful on their own terms except to the degree that the Cream and Blind Faith catalogs kept selling. And then there was the American tour. © ψ• Ginger Baker. Ginger Baker's Air Force1970. Copenhagen, Denmark © Jorgen Angel ψ• httpa//www.angel.dk/:::www.angel.dk
ψ•    The assumption, based on the media blitz out of England, was the Ginger Baker's Air Force would be another Blind Faith, an arena act whose tickets would disappear as fast as they were put on sale. In point of fact, the new group was two or three times more complex musically than Blind Faith and a lot more surprising. Without Eric Clapton or at least Steve Winwood in the lineup with Baker, however, and without a single that clicked as a popular track on the radio, it was discovered that Air Force were a phenomenon that many potential ticket–buyers could pass up. The tour was in trouble from the start, and it got worse as advance ticket sales to vast halls were far below what anyone anticipated. The whole thing collapsed just about the time that the group was completing its second and final album. By the end of 1970, after a short tour and a very short spurt of press interest in Air Force 2 — which had some rewarding moments, but was really little like the first album — the second album disappeared without a trace, as did Air Force. Baker went on to a career as a solo artist, starting with Stratavarious the following year, which featured a far smaller band and was much more steeped in African rhythms, while Laine joined Paul McCartney's new group Wings and, after a rough start for the group, did a decade of arena shows and became a household name. Ginger Baker's Air Force lingered in the memory for one great album and one decent album, but also as a classic non–event. Their final indignity came in 1972 when the National Lampoon released their comedy album Radio Dinner, one highlight being a commercial for "Greatest Hits of the '60s," with (supposedly) Bob Dylan as the announcer hawking it and Blind Faith and Ginger Baker's Air Force as two of the specific groups mentioned as being on the K–Tel–type record. In the late '80s, Polygram reissued the live album on CD, and that record, Air Force 2, and Stratavarious were later combined into a double CD entitled Do What You Like.  ψ•  http://www.allmusic.com/
Website: http://gingerbaker.com/
Facebook Fansite: https://www.facebook.com/pages/GINGER-BAKER-OFFICIAL-FAN-PAGE/118578001499856
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Ginger Baker
Do What You Like

 

ALBUM COVERS XI.