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THE POWER OF THREE
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And with good reason, if only to experience Ginger Baker's prodigious drum solos. Baker, born in 1939, was the oldest member and a certifiable drum savant, having learned to play the instrument in a quick five weeks before joining his first band. He was prone to bursts of intricate and effusive polyrhythms, as well as bursts of temper. It wasn't long before he and Bruce came to blows, often because the drummer thought the bassist's playing was overelaborate. When so moved, he would even throw his drumsticks at Bruce. For his part, Bruce thought Baker's drumming too loud and intrusive, and on one occasion pitched a guitar at his head. The pair had fistfights, sometimes right on stage; Baker even once pulled a knife on Bruce, but it was this tension that helped propel the band to the top. Shows were often like battle engagements, with the three virtuosos fighting for dominance. It was said at the time that Eric Clapton didn't need to worry about Robert Johnson's hounds of hell dogging him -- he had Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce nipping at his heels. Bruce's ability to play lead lines on his bass created an exciting angst and counterpoint to Clapton's extreme speed, agility, and perhaps his greatest gift, the knack of actually making his guitar say something. But in time, their collaboration became more destructive than constructive, and the three became increasingly competitive with one another, more a beast with three heads than a well-balanced group.
After three strong albums -- FRESH CREAM, DISRAELI GEARS, and the double record WHEELS OF FIRE -- and relentless touring (staying in the United States once for seven months), the band reached a level of fame that began to approach the mighty Beatles and the Rolling Stones. But the intense chemistry that propelled their shows and took them to the top began to burn them away at the edges. In a clash of egos, exacerbated by drug use, they sadly decided to part ways, telling fans "We've gone as far as we can." They mounted a farewell tour that culminated in a final show at the Royal Albert Hall on November 26, 1968, supported by progressive-rock progenitors Yes and Taste, and let the music and tears flow. The level of their fans' devotion and adoration was so intense that they actually began to rethink their decision, but they'd gone too far to turn back. Even as the last notes sounded on that November night, there were hushed rumors that the band would reunite. But years later Clapton said that the idea of doing so "scared the daylights out of me."
Baker soundly pooh-poohed the idea as recently as 1989. But in 1993, the old compatriots reunited on stage for a full 17 minutes and three songs, on the occasion of their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the seeds were planted for their reunion. "It was Eric's idea," explained Ginger Baker, who had moved to South Africa over a decade earlier. "I didn't want to do it. Eric phoned up and persuaded me. I'm very glad he did. Still, I never really thought it would happen." But it did, over four nights in May 2005 at the Royal Albert Hall, the very place where they finally pulled the plug on their Marshall stacks and walked away at the very peak of their popularity.
Top banner photos: Guitarist Eric Clapton, the trio (photo: Jill Furmanovsky/Star File), and drummer Ginger Baker. |
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Jack Bruce wrote many of Cream's original songs with British poet Pete Brown. |
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The band sold more than 35 million records during their two-and-a-half-year stint together. |
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The concert DVD and CD are available from Amazon.com. |
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