Ginger Baker critically ill

[Pilgrim]

Perineum Tan would be such a great band name.

EEEEEeeeeexxxxxcellent!!!!

[wellREDman]

The Burnt Inflamed*** Perineums  sounds a little more metal ...

*** Uwe's edit

[wellREDman]

couldnt resist



but maybe youre right

[uwe]

Perineum Tan's debut would of course be monikered "Where the Sun Don't Shine"!

[Rob]

 

[uwe]

Ok, let's speak ill of the dead, I'm sure Ginger's more robust humor can take it:

I just read in the CD booklet of Hawkwind's Levitation (1980) how it came that Ginger Baker's stint in the space rockers was as short as it was.



After having endeared himself to his new band mates by taking an extremely vicious dog along on tour which terrorized everyone backstage, Ginger decided that it might be a good idea to bring his old pal Jack (Bruce) into Hawkwind, so to say as "Ginger Baker's Cream of Hawkwind"; he had coincidentally met him during a German TV show and they had reconnected/made up again (for a while ...).

As Hawkwind were already equipped with a bassist named Harvey Bainbridge, this posed a slight problem which Ginger promptly decided to solve in his own inimitable way by badmouthing Harvey as "the worst bass player on earth". When he pressured Hawkwind to fire Harvey, their reaction somewhat backfired; they had Harvey - of all people - inform Ginger of the unanimous band decision that Ginger's services were herewith no longer required.

Ginger took it with his usual good grace, commenting both benevolently and humbly in the aftermath "the worst bassist on earth fired the best drummer on earth". 

Darn, so we missed out on Jack Bruce following Lemmy's cowboy booted footsteps and hearing him sing as well as play Silver Machine.

[westen44]

Only Ginger could have come up with a line like "the worst bassist on earth fired the best drummer on earth." 

[Dave W]

Ginger was always tactful. And modest.

[slinkp]

Such a crazy and great story I had to google it - and turned up this book:

https://books.google.com/books?id=2EX-iEkKdz4C&pg=PT306&lpg=PT306&dq=the+worst+bassist+on+earth+sacked+the+best+drummer+on+earth&source=bl&ots=Ien-Sm5GWG&sig=ACfU3U2abjh7JpZDaaTtvt_Z63jFoo8zhg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjtzLzmnb3mAhXlnuAKHQcGD_8Q6AEwEnoECA0QAQ#v=onepage&q=the%20worst%20bassist%20on%20earth%20sacked%20the%20best%20drummer%20on%20earth&f=false

... which corroborates the story, only ascribing the quote to a Melody Maker headline rather than Ginger.

[uwe]

Hawkwind were so dysfunctional as a band, they are a treasure trove for stories like that. But at the same time they just keep on going and have their own inimitable style no matter who plays in the band - they must have had a zillion line-ups and offshoots (Hawklords, Nik Turner, Motörhead).

And one of their strangest collaborations was the recent one with, yup, Mike Batt! They sure have guts.

[wellREDman]

Hawkwind are one of my all time favourites, I'm gutted that the imminent death of my car has forced me to forgo  tickets for their 50th Anniversary shows.(the fact that they're not playing their usual gig locally, which i can blag into makes this worse) 

Ive seen them many many times and they had got a bit "tired"  but on the last tour they were astoundingly good and I am  really pleased that they're having a bit of a renaisance, they were tight as and really tore the roof off.
a good part of the new lease of life is their new bass player who is really proper good. his style puts me in mind of Cliff Burton and it really really works with the material.

If you like them then take the chance now to see them while they're reinvigorated

[uwe]

For some reason the ole hippies hardly ever tour Germany! Probably because Silver Machine gave them the one-hit-wonder stamp here - which doesn't do them any justice, I know.

I shoulda seen them with Stacia!



I also love the Hawklords stuff - Calvert's lyrics put him in a class of his own.

[amptech]

Gotta agree - good band. Saw them two times, had a great time both shows. Ok, Dave is more of a band leader than a front man, but Richard sure can entertain, good drummer!