Ginger Baker dead: Why is he been called the most dangerous drummer?

Question

Ginger Baker, the drummer for rock supergroups Cream and Blind Faith, dies at 80. Ginger Baker, the volatile and propulsive British musician who was best known for his time with the rock supergroup Cream, has died at 80, his family says.

(RIP)

*Ginger Baker gestorben

Der gefährlichste Schlagzeuger der Welt Mit der Band Cream schrieb er Popgeschichte, genial war er auch ohne sie: Der Schlagzeuger Ginger Baker ist 80-jährig gestorben.*

This headline says: the most dangerous drummer of the world!

Why?

Autor:Markus Wicker

Answer 1

I'll recommend this excellent gonzo documentary "Beware of Mr. Baker" which is free in its entirety on YouTube and includes lots of commentary from Ginger himself and a several other music legends. The first scene is Ginger hitting the filmmaker in the nose with his cane during an argument and drawing blood (unstaged), so you know you're in for a ride: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7h8CqYXEx0

He was a famously abrasive personality, constantly slinging insult comedy at his peers in the rock god pantheon. He derided John Bonham and Keith Moon as "non-musicians" because they didn't have his jazz background. He was a heavy addict of various substances, an absentee parent and sometimes abusive to his family. He got into physical fights often with Jack Bruce while Cream was together (the formation of Cream is quite an interesting story itself because Jack and Ginger had played together in a previous group which burned out, and then Clapton somehow managed to get them on the same stage together again because everyone wanted to play with Clapton).

But he also made fast friends with Fela Kuti and invested all his savings into the first modern recording studio in Africa to collaborate with him. He connected with his own drummer idols from the jazz world (Phil Seamen, Max Roach), and put on epic drum battle performances with the likes of Elvin Jones!

He was larger than life in both the good and the bad, and learning more about the human side of him from that documentary was fascinating to me.

Answer 2

Wikipedia's "Personal Life" entry states:

Baker was infamous for his violent temper and for confrontations with musicians and fans. Rolling Stone reporter David Fricke wrote in 2012 that even in old age, "you get close to Baker at your peril." His relationship with [Jack] Bruce [the bass player he founded "Cream" with] was so volatile that during a Graham Bond Organization concert he once attacked him with a knife.

You could try following the given references there.