RIP Ginger Baker

[HeyYou]

For those of you old enough to remember Cream, or perhaps with parents old enough to have played Cream on their 8 track, Ginger Baker died a few days ago.

 

Man what a drummer  :clap: :clap:

 

Anyway, it's not just that I loved Cream when I was a teenager, both Baker and Clapton were avid cyclists and I picked up this blog from The Retrogrouch.

 

Retrogrouch Re-Run: In Honor of Ginger Baker

 

I saw in the news this weekend that legendary rock drummer Ginger Baker has died. Though it doesn't, on the surface, seem to have much to do with a bike blog, many of us who obsess over classic and vintage bicycles know that Baker, along with musical partner and equally legendary rock guitarist Eric Clapton, was once an avid cyclist and maybe (dare I say?) a bit of a bike geek. 

A few years back, I wrote about the bike connection - mostly in regards to Clapton, but also Baker - and their classic album: Cream's Disraeli Gears. I don't have anything new to post today, but it seemed appropriate to do a "Retrogrouch Re-Run" of that post. Here it is:

I was listening to Disraeli Gears by Cream the other day and it got me thinking about bicycles.

Bicycles? Really?

Yep.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

................................. if you're interested, click on the link.

 

http://bikeretrogrouch.blogspot.com/2019/10/retrogrouch-re-run-in-honor-of-ginger.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRetrogrouch+%28The+Retrogrouch%29

 

 

[Eddie Stafford]

And he lived in South Africa for a few years.  I am not sure if he played with him, but I think Nibs van der Spuy was mates with him. 

 

I found the below on a website this morning so it probably makes it cycling related:

 

"The young Ginger was aimless and unmotivated until he discovered a passion for competitive cycling. This ended abruptly after his bike was wrecked in a collision with a London taxi.”

 

“He bought a farm in KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, but upset the local all-white polo club by importing a team of black Nigerian players. Again forced to move, he resettled in Tulbagh in the Western Cape. In 2010, he was married for the fourth time, to a Zimbabwean woman, Kudzai Machokoto.”

[seanp]

[BigDL]

Saw him a couple of times at a music festival at Shongweni dam back in the 90’s. My mate, who worked there, was a massive fan. I didn’t have a clue who he was

[Stretch]

Ginger was a legend! RIP