Not Cream, Not Blind Faith: The Ginger Baker Band That Time Forgot

Most drummers are, by design, not frontmen, but Ginger Baker was one of the first rock percussionists to change that, though his spell in Blues Incorporated is a mostly forgotten footnote in his career. Along with friend and contemporary Keith Moon of The Who, Baker drew audiences' focus to the man banging away on stage as much as whoever was singing or playing guitar in front of him. He achieved this thanks to a rich background in jazz and an incredible sense of showmanship and technique that influenced generations of percussionists, primarily through the use of two bass drums at once in his kits (and later, a drum solo that practically made him a legend overnight).

Baker remains well known for his work alongside Eric Clapton in the groups Cream and Blind Faith, and sat in with legendary acts from George Harrison to African innovator Fela Kuti and post-punk heroes Public Image Ltd. But his most faithful fans might remember Blues Incorporated, the band that gave Baker his big professional break, as well as being an incubator for several notable names on the British rock scene.

Formed by British musicians Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies as an informal group for rhythm and blues enthusiasts, Blues Incorporated earned notice when they started booking a regular spot at West London's Ealing Jazz Club. The line-up was meant to adapt to whoever could play, with an emphasis on emerging talent. The lead singer was Long John Baldry, a man who'd help discover two legendary voices of British rock, and Baker assumed drumming duties from Charlie Watts, who left Blues Incorporated for the Rolling Stones — a role he assumed for decades despite being quite unlike his bandmates.

Blues Incorporated recorded very little material, either in the studio or in concert, and precious little exists with Baker at the drum kit. But the group's influence on Baker's early career cannot be overstated. In his yearlong tenure with Blues Incorporated, the drummer worked with a bassist named Jack Bruce. Eventually, the pair and another band alumnus, singer/keyboardist Graham Bond, left to form a group of their own, the Graham Bond Organisation. While Baker and Bruce infamously rarely got along — the drummer attacked the bassist with a knife during an Organisation performance — their fates were further entwined when they formed Cream with Eric Clapton, one of the best-known British rock trios of the '60s.