All language subtitles for Beware of Mr Baker (2012)-eng

[Drums beating]

[Drumming continues]

You just want to push up
the people

I've moved here
to get away from.

I haven't spoken
to not one single one of them

Since I left there.

And I don't want any of them
on my film!

You don't understand.

I do understand.

Yeah.

What the fuck is wrong
with that?

Are you really gonna hit me
with the...

I fucking well am!

I'm gonna fucking put you
in hospital!

Why?
Oh, my God!

[Up-tempo rock music plays]

Yes!

[Dog barking]

Ginger Baker just hit me
in the fucking nose.

[Music ends]

This film is about
Ginger Baker,

A man who stands for something
in life

That probably most of you
do not.

Love and appreciate,

No matter how awkward this
character may appear to you.

God bless him.

May the road rise.

He helped me rise my road.

Love you, Ginger.

Johnny Rotten!

I'm your man.

[Drum solo]

Ginger Baker is a motherfucker.
That's it.

He personally is what drums
are all about.

He is certifiably nuts.
He's mad.

I think he was kind of
fairly consistently horrible

To people and to himself.

If they've got a problem
with me,

Come and see me
and punch me on the nose.

I ain't gonna sue you.
I'm gonna hit you back.

He's moved around the world,

Getting thrown out
of every country.

He's a rogue.
He's a lovable rogue.

He was a fucking
dope addict, man.

He was into drugs heavily.

Are you surprised
that he's still living?

Yes, I am.
[Laughs]

If a plane went down and it was
one person gonna get off,

It would be Ginger.

He was a scary guy.

When I would look at him,
he looked like the devil.

The devil takes care
of its own, yes.

Like a great virtuoso madman.

Maybe you have to be a little
mad to play the way he does.

Probably the greatest drummer
that any of us had ever heard.

He was the hammer of the gods.

- He's a force of nature.
- The world's greatest drummer.

He influenced me as a drummer,
but not as a person.

[Cheers and applause]

Ginger Baker on drums!

[Cheers and applause]

I was 26 years old,

And my friend popped in a DVD
of this redheaded madman

Driving across
the Sahara Desert.

My initial reaction was,
"This guy has to be dead."

But I searched for his name
on the Internet,

And, lo and behold,
I found this article...

"Ginger Baker vows to strip
in South African court

"To prove that woman
claiming to be his lover

Has never seen his cock before."

[Mid-tempo rock music playing]

Not only was he still alive,
but he's still a fucking madman.

I have to meet this guy.

Ginger.
Ginger.

Hey, Ginger, it's Jay.

Hey, it's Jay Bulger.

I told him I was a writer
for Rolling Stone magazine,

Which was a total lie.

I want to come
and write an article

About your trip to Africa.

But that was my in,

And he invited me to come down
and hear his story.

Oh, are you all right?

Your dog got poisoned?

Hey, feel better.
I'll call you on Wednesday.

I'm coming out there.
Bye.

And I flew to South Africa

And just kind of showed up
at his house.

Mr. Baker,
nice to finally meet you.

Huh?

Thanks for having me.

Yeah.

And I lived with him.

[Music continues]

It was a truly humbling
experience.

[Screams]

Why don't you listen
to the fucking story?

This is a fucking nightmare.

Fucking my brain up.

People zapper.
[Electricity crackles]

I wrote an article, and it was
published in Rolling Stone.

Thank you, Ginger Baker.

He had gifted me
with a career as a journalist,

But I owed him so much more
than just words on paper.

People needed to meet the man,
hear him play the drums,

And experience this legendary
character for themselves.

Phew.

[Intercom beeping]

As we enter
into the Baker compound.

Okay, the laws of South Africa,
which are loose enough,

No longer apply.

[Dogs barking]

[Indistinct talking
on television]

My friends.

How are you?

I'm great.

Look.
You got a smile on your face.

You missed me!

- Yeah.
- You missed me!

I can see it in your eyes.

So, you've been practicing
the drums?

Haven't touched them?

Haven't touched them
for months.

Really?

Meet Ginger Baker.

Hello.

The man, the myth, the legend.

The only thing I can say
to that, really,

Is it's far too long a story
to say on one interview.

I'm writing a book.

When the book's published,
read it,

And perhaps you'll understand.

And when were you born?

You know when I was born.

It's in the book.

Fuck the book.
We're not doing the book.

It's the 19th of August 1939,

Three weeks or so
before war was declared.

[Shouting in German]

[Crowd shouting]

My dad was a hero.

[Drums beating]

He died
when I was 4 1/2 years old.

You don't see bombs dropping,

'Cause the siren goes off,
and you're in the shelter.

You hear them.

[Drumming continues]

[Trumpet playing]

They used to go
"bop, bop, bop, bop, bop"...

This funny little
clattering noise.

And then the noise would stop,
and they'd go...

[Whistles]

[Drumming continues]

When we went back to school,

There were quite a few
empty desks, yeah.

Yeah, the bombs going off,
you know, to me was great.

[Laughs]

I still love explosions
to this day, you know?

You don't know.
Right.

I love disasters.

[Drumming continues]

I was considered a troublemaker,
a smartass, brainless child.

I was part of this school gang,
and we'd go in this record shop,

And the other guys
would be nicking records.

But I was a decoy.

I'd just take records
into the booths and play them.

And then one day, I heard
"The Quintet of the Year."

[Laughs]

[Up-tempo jazz plays]

I didn't even have a
record player, but I nicked it.

All of a sudden,

There was something
that I really could relate to.

You know,
Max on "The Quintet of the Year"

Is just out
of this fucking world.

My mom found the records,
and she went fucking crazy.

Mom used to use the strap
on him,

And it made no difference.

I used to be in my bedroom,

Listening to him being strapped
and screaming.

But it made no difference.

She just said,
"Look, if ever I find you

"Doing something
dishonest like this,

I will call the police."

So I wouldn't talk to the gang
anymore,

And I got beaten up
several times by them.

Started carving me up with a
razor blade with tape around it.

They carved all these lines
all over my arms

And my face and everything.

I wasn't very popular
when I went back to school.

It was about this time that I'd
got the letter from my dad.

He wrote a letter for me
to be opened when I was 14.

"My dear son,
it's just a little advice

"In the way I should like you
to turn out.

"Be a man at all times.

"Hold your own ground.

"Use your fists.

"They are your best pals
so often.

I remain your loving father."

Before that, if people used to
punch me and that,

I just used to cry and think,
"Why are they hitting me?"

I wouldn't retaliate.

And I beat this kid up.

[Drums beating]

I was gonna kill him.

It's the Baker temper.

I've learnt to control it,
but he hasn't.

[Drumming continues]

I was drumming all the time,
as long as I can remember.

I was always banging
on the desks in school,

And they were all just boogieing
and dancing and going crazy.

There was a party,
and they had a band there.

And all the kids from school
kept saying, "Go on."

Go and play the drums.
Go and play the drums."

And I just sat down,
and I could play.

That's when a light went off...
I went "Fuck, I'm a drummer."

[Laughs]

[Drumming continues]

It's a gift from God, Jay.

You've either got it
or you haven't.

I had it.

Had what?

Time.

Natural time.

[Drumming continues]

His drumbeat is so personal
that I always know if it's him.

I started doing quite well,
I guess.

I'd got a sort of reputation
as a jazz drummer.

My boyfriend at the time said,

"Oh, you want to hear
this drummer.

He's really great."
[Laughs]

She really could dance.
She had really good time.

And a good body, obviously.

He's always been insecure
deep down.

And I think Ginger did search
for a father figure,

But they were always a drummer.

One night, I was playing
the all-nighter in the Flamingo,

And I'd got offstage
to be confronted by God.

Phil was just
the most amazing drummer.

He was the only drummer
at that time

That brought tears to my eyes.

He said, "You're the first
fucking drummer I've heard here."

Come with me."

So we go down
into his basement flat,

And that is when I got
introduced to heroin

And the African drummers.

He tied this thing
around his arm

And told me,
"When I tell you, undo it."

And his arms were fucking
just a mass of scars

And tracks and stuff.

And he managed to hit a vein,

And I pulled the thing off,
and he shot up.

Then he gets out
all these African records

And Watusi drummers.

[Distorted voice]
African records...

Watusi... African records...

Gets out all these
African records and Watusi...

[Drums beating]

[Wood creaking]

Phil said, "Where's the beat?"

And I'm doing like a three beat
on it.

And he said,
"No, no, no. Listen."

And he played this four,
the real beat,

And it was like a fucking light
going on it.

Wow! The basic African rhythms
were so fucking cool.

[Drumming continues]

[Metal rattling]

[Needle scratches,
music stops]

Then Phil's giving me
a great lecture

About how I must never
touch heroin ever,

And I walked back five miles
or something

In the early-morning sunshine

With Africa going through
my head.

I think with Ginger
and the heroin,

It was more he thought
it would improve his playing.

You're fearless
if you use smack.

You don't have any feelings.

You're not scared of anybody
or anything.

Whatever you wanted to play,
you played.

It was just wonderful.

[Laughs]

He didn't want to be
a family man

Or anything like that,
really and truly.

Liz discovered
she was pregnant,

And we were only 20 years old.

So she tried to get rid of it,
and it didn't work, thank God.

They didn't want to have
a child,

And my mom took something,
some tablets.

He got some tablets off another
drummer to get rid of me.

I don't care.
[Laughs]

They would have been doing me
a bloody favor.

No, I don't mind,
but it didn't work.

[Laughs]

No screaming or anything.

The baby come out.

And I'm carefully looking

To make sure it's got all
its toes and fingers and stuff,

You know,
thinking about the time

We tried to abort it and stuff.

There was this little kid.

And that's when I decided
to get straight,

And it took me
another fucking 19 years or so.

So, what's the difference

Between your state
of chemical dependencies now

Than it was
when you were a junkie?

I've no idea.

I take it every day.

It's called degenerative
osteoarthritis.

Is that why you haven't been
playing the drums?

What?!

Don't you fuck...

How I restrain myself

From throwing everything
at you, Jay, I don't know.

There's nothing you can do
about it, is there?

[Coughs]

You're not gonna give up?

Sometimes I feel like doing
just that.

When you first met Jack Bruce,

Was it as if you knew you had
met your musical counterpart?

Early on, for sure, yeah.

I mean, he's a fucking
brilliant player.

There's no doubt about that.

Ginger looked like
a complete and utter madman.

He was the loudest drummer
I'd ever heard.

And I wanted to play with him,
so I asked if I could sit in.

Kept bugging us to sit in,
and he wouldn't fucking go away.

So, of course,
they did the thing

That jazz musicians always do,
which is to try and cut you.

I think the first thing
they played was very, very fast.

And he played it.

[Laughs]

Which is quite extraordinary.

Jack got the gig

With Alexis Korner's
Blues Incorporated,

And none of them were
terribly happy with the drummer,

Who was Charlie Watts.

I actually don't know how long
Ginger was with the band.

I know he took over for me,
on my recommendation.

Charlie left the band
so that I could join.

[Down-tempo jazz playing]

Can you tell me the story
of Mick Jagger?

[Mutters]

"Can you tell me what it was
like meeting Mick Jagger?"

This effeminate-looking kid
got up and sung one number.

And I'm going, "Jack, who is
this stupid little cunt?"

What's he doing here?"

Jack and I used to put
some jazz things in,

Completely throw him off.

I mean, I was a heavy junkie
at the time,

So I just terrified
the shit out of him.

[Laughs]

And then Alexis decided
to get Graham in the band.

My first reaction to that was,
"Fucking no.

Alexis, watch it, 'cause he'll
steal half the band,"

Which is exactly what he did.

Can you contextualize who we're
speaking about right now?

Well, I've just said it,
for fuck's sake.

You just said "Graham."
That's it.

People who don't know
who Graham is.

Graham Bond was a fat guy.

[Harmonica playing]

* Well, I was standing on
the corner, waiting to go home *

* When I heard this sound
that made me want to go *

* Well, it was coming from
a doss across the street *

* It was kind of stompy,
with an R&B beat *

* It went... *

Harmonica!
Oh!

Graham Bond Organization
was to musicians

What The Beatles were
to the public.

Brilliant.

Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker,
Dick Heckstall-Smith,

And Graham Bond were at the top.

We were a band trying to be
like a band in Chicago.

But they were something else,
you know?

* Playin' with an R&B band *

* Oh, yeah! *

His reputation was as being,
you know,

Probably the best drummer around
in those days.

It was really Ginger's
first taste of fame, yes.

It's the same with you, Ginger.

This is beat.

[Beats drum]

Don't worry about
splitting your skins.

They can be replaced.

And so can you.

They did sort of contain the
seeds of their own destruction,

What with Graham
and Ginger's bad habits

And the conflict
between Jack and Ginger.

For two musicians

Who were incredibly
complementary to each other

And who have played
consistently over the years,

It's really remarkable
how well they didn't get along.

It was a very sad
situation, really.

In the early days,
when he was following me more,

The music was
really fucking great.

When I switched from
upright bass to bass guitar,

That wasn't what Ginger wanted.

I think that was when
the problems started.

Jack's like a guy who gets up
before the sun comes

To see the sun rise.

He sees the sun come
halfway over the horizon

And runs home and says,
"I've seen the sun rise."

That was how Jack
got the time things

That I was showing him.

He didn't get the full picture.

I have perfect time, which is
a quite useful thing to have.

Very few people have that.

It's just a gift.

The last number
was always the drum solo.

And I've kicked into
the drum solo,

And Jack's, like,
playing with me.

I wouldn't be playing
during his drum solo.

And I off-loaded
a right-hander on him.

He went down on the ground,
and I'm kicking him.

You know,
"Get up, you little cunt!"

I was kicking the shit
out of him.

[Drum solo]

I just let go, and I was gonna
kick him to death.

And then he pulled a knife
on me and said, "You're fired."

And I said,
"But you can't fire me.

"It's The Graham Bond
Organization,

And I'm the founding member."

But poor old Graham...

He was well gone
into smack by that time,

So he didn't really care.

Graham was probably a bigger
disaster area than Ginger was.

We would be using a mixture
of cocaine, heroin,

And lysergic acid in a fix.

[Laughs]

I was very hurt
by not the knife thing,

But the fact that I was out
of that band.

And it was very stupid of him,
because the band was doing well,

And I was quite an important
part of the band.

The band continued
being very successful

And just reached a point
where I thought,

"I've been running the band
successfully for three years.

Why don't I run my own band
instead?"

[Cream's "White Room" plays]

The first person I thought of
was Eric.

[Guitar solo]

He saw something in me
that I never saw before.

He would say it was about time.

He had time
that very few people have.

Eric had it.

Ginger was pretty dismissive
and antisocial...

Seriously antisocial.

But he had the gift.

He had the spark, the flair,
the panache.

He had it in spades.

And Jack had the same thing.

He said, "What about Jack
as the bass player?"

And all the red lights
in the world went off,

And I thought, "Oh, God."

I was very surprised
when he came knocking again.

I didn't see that coming.
No.

I didn't expect that, no.

["I Feel Free" plays]

* Feel when I dance with you *

* We move like the sea *

* I feel free *

* I can walk down the street,
there's no one there *

* Though the pavements
are one huge crowd *

* I can drive down the road,
my eyes don't see *

* Though my mind
wants to cry out loud *

When an atomic bomb
went off like that,

Like I think Cream
really represented,

It overwhelmed everything.

["Tales of Brave Ulysses"
plays]

When Hendrix came to England,
he wanted to jam with Cream,

Because there was nobody else
that he admired as much.

They were the beginning
of many, many things.

Cream absolutely
might be called

The first progressive band.

The first supergroup.

The first band that played
in big arenas.

The first jam band.

They were breaking out
of the chains of pop.

We were fucking good.

That's how we called ourselves
Cream.

We knew we were the three
best musicians around.

If Cream did not invent
heavy metal,

They certainly were part
of a band of brothers

That were very instrumental
in facilitating it.

The birth of heavy metal
should have been aborted.

He was really at the forefront

Of a complete revolution
of rock.

["Sunshine of Your Love"
plays]

It's hard to find fault
with the notion

That he was the pioneer
of a rock drummer.

There was no context for him.
There was no archetype.

He is the archetype.

Before Ginger, rhythm was

"Ting, ting, ting-ting,
ting, ting-ting."

And Ginger comes along...

"Dug-a-dug-dug, dug-a-dug-dug,
Dug-dug-dug-a-dug..."

* I'll be with you,
darling, soon *

* I'll be with you
when the stars start falling *

* I've been waiting so long *

* To be where I'm going *

* In the sunshine of your love *

When he was listening to music
as a kid,

He wasn't listening
to the Jimi Hendrix

And guitar-hero bands and so on.

He invented all that stuff.

Jack brought it in as going

"Diddle-a-di-di,
di-di-da-dee-dee, diddle..."

Dingbat, ditty bat.

That's where Jack's head is
writing.

And I said,
"Man, that's terrible.

Why don't you slow it down
and play it backwards?"

Ba-da-da-ba, ba-ba...

Another one is "White Room,"
the 5/4 bolero that makes it.

Da, bum-bum-bum-bum,
bum-bum-bum, da...

Wasn't written like that.

Jack wrote it in 4/4.

He now declares
"I wrote it in 5/4."

I mean, hello?

* In the white room *

* With black curtains *

* In the station *

Today and for the last...
How long is it now?... 40 years,

Pete Brown and Jack Bruce
have been earning

A hell of a lot more money
from Cream

Than Eric and I will ever earn,
to this day.

The guy who gets the credit
for writing the song

Is the guy who writes the lyric
gets half of it,

And the guy who writes
the melody of the lyric

Gets the other half.

The drums are part
of the arrangement,

And the arrangement
doesn't get royalties.

Zip. Nada.

Cream was my thing.

And it did exactly
what I planned it to do.

Only I'm the guy
who lost out on it.

I'm fucking broke right now.

* Run from themselves *

[Crowd cheering]

To Jack Bruce's counterpoint,
he gives rhythm,

And to Eric Clapton's technical
virtuosity, he gives shape.

On their first tour together,
he practiced so intensively

That he left behind him
a trail of hotel bills

For broken furniture.

We asked him
if he still practiced as much.

No.
I don't practice at all.

Not at all?

I used to, but I don't anymore.

I just used to play solos.

Just used to sit on the drum kit
and play it all day.

Can you show us some?

- You want me to play?
- Please.

[Chuckles]
At this time of the day.

Independence... the ability
to play a different thing

With all four limbs,

Which is how I play things
that sound incredibly fast

When I'm not actually moving
anything very fast.

Because all four beats are
landing in a different place,

So what comes out
is four times as fast.

[Laughs]

But it's not how fast you play.

It's what you say.

[Drum solo]

Ginger Baker's
most notable achievement

That should be recognized
is the first rock drum solo.

And me as a 15-year-old kid
at the time

Was like, "Yeah, yeah, that's
the rock drummer I want to be."

I must have been 16.

I was exactly the sweet spot

Where my brain clicked on
and said, "What's it all about?"

It was Ginger's drums.

I'm here today
because of Ginger,

Because he was
the absolute inspiration

For me being in a band,
playing the drums.

I absolutely thought, "You know,
that's what I'd like to be."

[Music continues]

It became Ginger's thing.

He'd do these very long
drum solos.

You either liked them
or you didn't like them.

I liked them because I could go
off and have a smoke, you know?

Cream... How popular were they?

Oh, huge, huge.

How huge is "huge"?

Well, they did three nights
in Madison Square Garden.

They could have done two weeks
and sold out every night.

When a promoter hired
The Cream,

Ginger wanted a case of beer
and two black hookers

And a white limo
or he wouldn't play.

I've been in hotel rooms,

And there's been a knock on
the door.

I've opened the door,

And there's been three groupies
all standing there.

Just queues of chicks waiting.
[Laughs]

One would knock on the door
and climb into bed.

We used to call them
"star fuckers."

You know, they'd come
and say like,

"I'd like to give you a blowjob
and see you come."

They all wanted to fuck Cream,
you know?

It was quite a rapid rise
to fame.

I don't know whether it was
too fast for Ginger.

I didn't really care.

We'd lived in a succession
of not very nice places.

And then for once, we thought,

"Oh, we can actually buy
a house of our own."

The family at home
was something totally separate

From being on tour.

His dad died when he was 4
or something like that.

So he didn't really have
someone, a role-model father.

He communicates more through his
drums than through his words.

I told my wife
long before we were married,

"If you get me to choose
between the drums and you,

I'm gonna choose the drums."

[Chuckles]

We had no other interest.

There was nothing else going on.

There was no family.

There was no desires
for success.

There was no commerciality
involved.

There was no responsibility

Other than to that unique moment
in time when we were together.

And for a short,
sweet period of time,

It was unfettered and extreme
and beautiful.

They were like Vikings.

You know, they just came
on our shore

And just took the women
and the children,

It was scorched earth.
There was no question about it.

They were here to take heads.

We went there to show the Yanks
how to play.

I saw them when they first came
to San Francisco.

They looked and sounded
like giants.

They took off and started
playing supersonic music.

And supersonic music is when
the Holy Ghost takes over

And you're playing something
that, when you hear it back,

You have no idea
what the hell you did.

[Up-tempo rock music playing]

There was something about that
little chemistry that we had,

Ginger and me and Eric.

It'll never be repeated
by anybody else.

Cream... They were together
shorter than our last tour.

You know, we've been on the road
for two years and two months.

That's two months longer
than their entire life-span.

Sam Kinison would say,
"I've had parties

That lasted
more than two years."

* We... *

[Crowd cheering]

Cream only lasted as long as it
did because it was so popular.

I just couldn't handle
working with Jack anymore.

Whatever energy was happening

Between Jack Bruce
and Ginger Baker

Also mounted Eric

To play beyond what he was
playing with John Mayall

Or later on, all the other bands
that he played.

They focused on one another
all the time

For their aggression
and their frustrations,

And it wore me out.

I remember Eric breaking down
in tears once.

[Laughs]
That was not very good.

Sorry, Eric.

From time to time,
I would break down

And just go,
"I can't stand this anymore."

'Cause I was really
on the sidelines,

And I knew I couldn't
affect anything,

Because I didn't have
the understanding

Or the power to be able to do
anything about it.

You'd just run, really.

And, you know, when Cream,
I thought, had run its course,

I was quite keen to get out of
there and have a break, really.

A banger...
You know, a firework,

Whatever you call them...
Cracker or whatever...

They only last a second,
don't they,

And they fizzle up
and burn up and that's it.

It's all dead and gone.
And the band was like that.

They were never, ever going to
be a long-lasting band.

* We're going wrong *

[Music ends]

Hello, Bonnie.

Mimosa, don't be scared
of the camera.

You're a soldier boy,
aren't you?

Big old, tough soldier boy.

Eric and I decided
that we wanted to get together

With this project
with Blind Faith.

And...
[Tires screech]

Ginger showed up.

[Engine revs]

I just hit it off musically
with Stevie

In the same way
as I had hit off with Eric.

Stevie had time.

I actually didn't realize
until quite a bit later

That Eric was so horrified

That he was hooking up
with Ginger again.

The last person
that Eric wanted on drums

With his new venture was Ginger.

I believe he turned up
at a rehearsal and said, "Right."

Where do we start?"

["Had To Cry Today" plays]

* It's already written *

* That today will be one
to remember *

* The feeling's the same *

* As being outside of the law *

* Had to cry today *

* Saw your sign,
and I missed you then *

We were called a supergroup
from day one.

We hit the road too early.

And, you know,
it overpowered us.

I think Ginger was as happy
as a pig in shit in Blind Faith.

You know, there was no one...
There was Rick Grech...

Great player, you know,
but no Jack Bruce.

And Ginger could fucking do
what he wants.

* Do what you like *

I was driving a Shelby Cobra
up the coast to Los Angeles

With three gorgeous chicks
in the car.

And the radio station
stopped the music

With the news that Ginger Baker,
Blind Faith drummer,

Had just been found dead
in his hotel room

From a heroin overdose.

[Laughs]

And I went "Fucking hell.
I must be in heaven," you know?

I'm driving this supercar
with three super chicks.

[Laughs]

["Do What You Like" plays]

There was huge amounts
of drugs,

Which at the time, I must admit,
I didn't really know about,

Because I was probably smoking
so much weed,

I didn't really know
what was going on anyway.

Every time
we got to Los Angeles,

The drugs would appear,

So I decided to go to Hawaii
after the tour

To try and get straight.

So Liz come out with the kids.

Considering all the places
we've left him before,

I have to say it was marvelous.

["Can't Find My Way Home"
plays]

* You are the reason
I've been waiting so long *

* Somebody holds the key *

* Well, I'm near the end *

* And I just ain't got
the time *

* And I'm wasted *

* And I can't find my way home *

Only at that time,
there was more heroin on Hawaii

Than there was in Los Angeles.

It wasn't a good place to be
to get straight.

So we decided to go to Jamaica.

That's when I flew my car out.

That is wild, to fly your car
over to Jamaica.

That's crazy.

You get to feel that the money
is inexhaustible,

Which, of course, it isn't.

It was like nearly three months
after the last gig

That I came back to London.

I'd brought back quite a lot
of dope in some masks and stuff.

And so I went to see Stevie

With a bag of grass
as a little present.

And he told me that Eric
had gone off

With Delaney and Bonnie

And he was getting Traffic
back together.

I take full responsibility
for having, you know,

Strong interests
in going somewhere else.

But they wouldn't have been
quite so strong

If the core of the band
had been better.

Were you hurt at all that Eric
had left without telling you?

No.
You could see it coming.

Something to do with me
getting so fucked up

On the end of the tour.

He's the best friend I've got
on this planet

And always will be, okay?

Whether it be polo
or the drums or drugs,

Ginger seems to always go
full force

Into whatever he's doing.

Compulsion.
We're talking about compulsion.

You know, what's the payoff
in being compulsive?

You know, for Ginger, I'm not
gonna be his doctor in this

Or psychologist
or make a diagnosis.

I can't make a diagnosis
of Ginger.

When I was driving in today,

I thought, "Well, do I know
Ginger well?"

Do I?"

I've been with him
in fairly rarefied situations,

Which allowed me to see
certain sides of him.

I probably haven't seen him
like you've seen him,

Because I didn't take
the effort, the time,

The risk to step into his life
and become a part of it

For any length of time.

You know,
I've always pulled back

When it started to get scary
or threatening

Or just difficult.

You guys want to wait a minute?
'Cause I'm about to cry.

Why?

'Cause, I mean...

[Voice breaking]
I might cry.

Why? Because Ginger is...

He's all by himself, all alone,
in the woods or something.

Well, he's got a wife.
He's got...

Oh!
Well, then I won't.

[Laughter]

You guys are trying to live
a pretty quiet life here.

As quiet as possible.

Lisa's a little angel.

Hello, Lisa.

I'm extremely fond of her.

I think of her
like she's my own.

I wasn't studying yesterday.

[Both laugh]

She's a great little kid.

It's really nice
to have a family again.

[Laughter]

If that falls apart,
I really don't know what to do.

So Ginger is a good stepfather?

Stepfather.

Yeah.

Do you find yourself
to be a tragic hero?

Go on with the interview.

Stop trying to be
an intellectual dickhead.

["Toady" plays]

[Drum solo]

[Music continues]

* Tell me *

* Tell me, Toady *

Ginger's not just a player.

He's also a bandleader
and arranger.

We were all brought up
on the big-band era, you know?

And that's what Air force
was like.

* Tell me *

* Tell me, Toady *

I made a stupid decision
of saying, "Okay."

"Well, I've made my money
with Cream and Blind Faith,

So I will pay the band
all the money."

Just ridiculously expensive...
Hotel bills,

The transportation, the wages.

The name came from
the air force section

Of the Duke Ellington Band,
which was the junkie section.

It really was an air force.

I think somebody said that they
were flying at 30,000 feet,

I think it was.
[Laughs]

It was a very high band.

[Music continues]

Now they're saying Air force
was some kind of a fusion band.

I don't know
what the fuck that is.

You can't put music in boxes,
especially my music.

[Music ends]

It was really exciting.

I thought it was gonna last
forever.

But, you know, Ginger's bands
have tended to be like that.

Didn't they?

Like what?

You hear them,
you think, "This is fabulous."

It's gonna go on forever."

And it lasts a week.

Maybe that's just part
of being him, you know?

I don't know.

Because of his fame from Cream
and Blind Faith,

You know, he was considered

The great rock drummer
of his generation.

But as Ginger will tell you,
he was a jazz drummer.

The general public
are so fucking dumb.

That, you know, like, that
anybody could think of Bonham

Was anywhere near
this kind of drummer I am,

It's just extraordinary.

Bonham had technique,

But he couldn't swing
a fucking sack of shit.

Or Moonie, for that matter.

I mean, if they were still alive
today, ask them.

[Laughs]

When they think of Ginger,

They think of Keith Moon
and Bonham.

No, no, no, no.

Ginger was nothing like
those players.

His musical capabilities
are full-spectrum.

He can write
and compose and arrange,

And he has an ear,
and he is harmonic.

He's a fully formed musician.

He wanted to be respected
by the jazz drummers,

So Ginger did these drum battles

With the guys he looked up to,
thought were the great drummers.

[Drum solo]

[Whistling]

[Drumming continues]

[Crowd cheering]

[Cheers and applause]

[Applause]

What always happens
is you end up,

If you're playing
with a good guy,

You end up playing together.

[Drumming continues]

[Cheers and applause]

By him taking
all these guys on...

And nobody else really did
in the "rock world"...

He was considered to be
in that elite echelon

Of great jazz drummers,
which, ultimately,

That's what he considered
himself to be...

The great jazz drummer
of his generation.

[British accent]
Not a fucking rock drummer.

So, here you are,
at the height of your career.

You've battled
all the greatest drummers.

You've become a bandleader.

[Laughing]
And you decide to go to Africa.

Oh, God.

Way back, when Phil turned me on
to all the African drummers,

It was obviously very high on my
priorities to go to Africa.

Ginger says, "How do you feel
about filming me"

Going across the Sahara?"

And I said,
"How are you proposing

To go across the Sahara,
Ginger?"

And he said, "I'm gonna drive."

* Ah-ah-ah-ah *

* Ah-ah-ah *

* Ah-ah-ah-ah *

* Ah-ah-ah *

[Man singing
in native language]

* Ah-ah-ah *

* Ah-ah-ah *

* Ah-ah-ah *

[Singing continues]

There was that questing spirit
of a true artist there.

It was news
that Ginger dropped out,

Or he went following the groove.

[Music continues]

From Africa.

[Drums playing]

He predates everybody else
who later on said,

"We discovered
the sounds of Africa."

The only person that made me
cry before playing was Phil,

And these guys had me crying,

Because the time things they
were doing were just so subtle.

This is why I went to Africa.

When I arrived in Nigeria,

I went straight
to the Afro Spot.

And there was Fela
playing onstage.

And it was just like, "Wow, man.
This is cool."

[Up-tempo music playing]

It was unlike anything
anybody else was playing.

Fela was like,
"That's Ginger Baker!

That's Ginger Baker!"

Who is Fela?

Some say he's the greatest
musician in Africa,

Others that he's a prophet,
still others that he's a rebel,

A revolutionary tribune.

Fela was one of the most
important, influential,

And courageous musicians
of the 20th century.

[Music continues]

Ginger got the opportunity

To sit in the drum chair
for a while

Of one of the greatest bands

Ever to play
African popular music.

[Singing in native language]

Ginger was very close
to everybody...

The girls, my father, the band.

It was a color-blind situation.

They smoked together, they drank
together, had women together.

They played together...
Everything together.

[Music continues]

The first... or only Western
musician to go out there

And immerse himself
and live in it,

In the squalor of it,
was Ginger.

And this studio became
the first 16-track studio

We've got in our country.

Fela stopped using EMI

And started to use
Ginger Baker's studio.

Now, who leaves England
to go and record in Lagos?

Africa at that time in Nigeria
was an absolute hotbed

Of revolution, of death,
of unaccountable violence.

It was a great place to be
in those days.

[Mid-tempo rock music plays]

I was in Africa
for a period of six years.

It was sort of like
the "flower power" days

In Nigeria, you know?

You can't imagine
the '70s in Nigeria,

How much fun they all had.

[Music continues]

Fela... We used to call him
the black president,

And he formed
the Calakuta Party.

And we all used to sit around
a table the shape of Africa,

And I was elected
one of the party.

He was just cool.

He was real cool.

Ginger's a cool white boy.

Meanwhile,
no one in Europe knew

What the fuck was going on
there.

Nobody what?

Nobody in Europe,

All the people you had
left behind, you know?

What people I'd left behind?

I think he just goes.

That's a great thing in music.

You don't want to be thinking
too much when you're playing.

He who hesitates is lost.

Just go.

He really desperately
wanted a boy.

And when he got a boy,
he was awful to him.

He said some nasty things
to my mom.

Like, "I wish I had black kids,"
or something.

Were you guys still in contact
with him?

Yeah, yeah.

He would just call you?

Yeah.
Like, "Hello. I'm in prison."

"Fine."

I was approached
by Range Rover.

Would I join them in a three-car
team for this Show 1000 rally?

Anyway, I arrived
at the checkpoint

And did 180
and came in backwards.

And I heard this voice say,
"Bloody hell!

The way you drive,
you should play polo."

And I shouted out of the window,

"You've got to be
bloody kidding."

He said,
"Okay, Baker. Come with me."

So off we go.

And where do we go?

Lagos Polo Club.

And I've already downed about
eight or nine Bacardi and Cokes,

And Colin comes up to me
and says, "Right, Baker."

It's time you got on a horse."

And Colin gets out a whip
and goes whack!

Boom! It's off
like fucking 900 miles an hour.

Absolutely full gallop.

My sunglasses were around
one side of my face,

And my beard's around the other,
but I was still on the horse.

And I said, "Where's
the fucking brakes, Colin?"

[Laughs]

So I'd found
an old pair of boots

And an old polo stick and a hat,
and I became a poloist.

[Laughs]

[Drums playing]

The class of Nigerians

That would have belonged
to the Lagos Polo Club

Were very elite people,

People that Fela would dismiss
as having a so-called

"Colonial mentality."

Those were definitely the people

That Fela was singing against
in the 1970s.

But it was later in the '70s

When Fela really got
more radicalized

And began to live the life
of a musical dissident.

All this nonsense
hanging around here.

They sit there in cars, man!

Fela took on
the government, the army.

He was determined
to become president.

All the government top guys
played polo,

So they were always
at the Lagos Polo Club.

So I was playing polo there

And hanging out with,
as it were, Fela's enemies.

And a lot of the people
on Fela's committee

Didn't like that and soured
Fela's mind against me.

I was pretty upset at the time.

About what?

Well, that Fela wouldn't play
with me, with his band.

On Friday, February 18, 1977,

A thousand-odd soldiers
surround Calakuta,

Machine guns at the ready.

They plunder the house.

Their clubs spare neither
pregnant women nor children.

Fela himself
is seriously beaten.

Fela and his tribe
find themselves in prison.

It was starting to go wrong,
yeah.

But, I mean, I left Nigeria

Because I lost my studio,
really.

It took us three years
to build it.

It's been open
just over two years now.

It's coming along great.

Presumably, there must be
a lot of music there.

Yeah.
We kept pretty busy.

We were working
all the time, yeah.

I think as a businessperson,
he's a walking disaster area.

Ginger's out there, discovering
a whole new world of sound...

Literally a whole new world
of sound...

And recording it in good faith,
not even blind faith.

Along comes
a gangster record company

And says, "We can take advantage
of that."

And Ginger was just taken
for a ride.

He said,
"You can't build a studio here.

This is our territory."

They banned all the artists
they had under contract

From using my studio.

I told him to fuck off.

So shortly after that,

Three armed soldiers entered
the studio.

So I just leapt out of the room,
over the balcony,

Got in the Range Rover, and went
straight towards the road.

[Gunshots]

I could hear all these gunshots
and ricochets going on

Where the police
are trying to shoot me.

Why did Ginger leave?

I just know
things were not going right.

But when he left,
Fela and him lost contact.

You had been off the scene
in Africa for so many years.

You must have missed being
a rock star to a certain extent.

No, I didn't.

I came back to England to play
with the Gurvitz brothers,

For which I got some money.

I'd just lost a fortune, so it
was a matter of doing some work.

That was really
all he could get, wasn't it?

At that time,
nobody wanted to work with him.

* Now is the time *

* Get it all together *

Shut up, you bloody fool!

* Now is the time *

- Hey!
- * Put yourself together *

Yeah, I grew up in the downward
spiral of his life,

Everything collapsing
and falling apart.

The mistake I made
was letting polo take over

From thinking about work.

The tax people saw this film
the BBC did

Of these horses arriving
and gave the impression

That I'd got a hell of a lot
of money.

Only this week, 30 polo ponies
arrived from Argentina.

This air shipment guarantees
Ginger Baker's commitment

To a sport that stands for
everything he isn't.

I went absolutely broke.

It was a very bad time
altogether.

He left my mom for my first
boyfriend's sister.

That was his second wife,
was my first boyfriend's sister.

There's a good idea!

She was 18, you know?

[Laughs]

Well, maybe 17.
I don't know.

She was still going to school.

She was a very naughty-type
girl, yeah.

Very sexy-type girl.

* Powder blues *

The tax people go, "You owe us,
you know, £150,000."

And it's like, you know,
he doesn't have £150,000,

So they took the house.

We'd lived in that house
all our lives.

And then one day you come home

And there's a whole load
of police

And a whole load of bailiffs,

And they just won't let you
back into your house.

And they just take everything
that you've ever owned.

I just, you know, took my drums

And went and lived
on the streets, lived in squats.

You know, I used to
tie my drums to my hands

When I went to sleep
so that no one could take them.

You know, I don't think
he should've had a family.

I think he would have been
way better off in his life

If he'd never had kids and just,
you know, did his thing.

He would have left
a lot less of a mess behind.

Most of the time Ginger was
with Baker Gurvitz Army,

He wasn't really
on the hard stuff.

Oh, yeah.

I'm a lot, you know...
better in myself.

Fit and well,
if you like, you know?

The hard stuff came back

In the recording
of "Hearts on Fire."

[Mid-tempo rock music plays]

It was sort of like
a pretty disastrous period,

So I got back into using.

And that's
when you sort of realize

Your idols have feet of clay,
the slight inkling coming in

That this person isn't
in control.

The cameraman's in control.

Hello.

Um...

What were you saying?

[Music continues]

[Guitar strums,
feedback rumbles]

Jeff, get us a glass of wine,
will you?

[Clattering]

Fucking hell, man.
I tried hard.

[Tape rewinds]

I'd decided, "I'd better
get away from anybody I know"

If I'm ever going to
get straight."

So I decided to go to Italy.

I went to Italy with Sarah,

Living on this place right
on top of a fucking mountain,

And I've never lived
in England since.

I didn't know anybody.

I didn't even speak Italian.

And the house was falling down.

I met him in '86,

And I was asked to find him by
a singer called Johnny Rotten,

Who was in The Sex Pistols.

He was living
in a pretty obscure situation,

Rough situation.

And in the house, which was
completely in kind of shambles,

I think there was two horses
and seven dogs, no electricity,

And a room that overlooked
the mountain

With a drum kit in it...
Only a drum kit.

But when he played in that room
and it echoed over the hills,

You could hear people
like five miles away, screaming,

"Ginger!
'Wheels of fire'!"

Sarah obviously married him
because she wanted a rock star.

Hey, you know?

And he took her
to this little bum-fuck town,

And she was like,
"Well, what the hell?" you know?

"Where's all
the rock-star shit?"

And when I went out there
with some young people,

She went off with one of them,
and that was the end of that.

And he was
absolutely devastated,

Because he couldn't handle
his own medicine, unfortunately.

Was he heartbroken?
Oh, yeah.

Yeah.
She fucked him good, yeah.

I was completely
fucking destroyed.

I was on my own with all my dogs
and a couple of horses.

[Chuckles]

I mean, it was terrible.

I went out there to get
drum lessons and stuff.

He had no money,

So he couldn't get me
a plane ticket back to England.

So we had to do this gig.

So I got really, really sick,
right, the day of the gig.

I was sitting on a chair,
and I was throwing up,

And I was just, like,
a really bad way.

I was like,
"I don't know if I can play."

So, you know,
he chops out a line of cocaine.

"Take this."

I'd never done cocaine before,
you know?

Like, "I'm 15 years old,"
you know?

So I ended up taking this line
of cocaine.

Played the gig fine.

Somehow, it just, like,
you know, makes you feel good.

So then he put me on a coach
back to England, you know,

And he took the rest
of the money

And wouldn't get me
a plane ticket.

And we made good money
at that gig.

[Dog barking]

I started getting these letters
from some guy in L.A.

He kept saying, "Oh, man",

You've got a fantastic career
in films."

[Gasps]

So I went to California.

[Drums playing]

"The Nasty Boys"
was the most extraordinary,

Stupid thing I've ever seen.

[Overdubbed scream]

"Aah!"

Hollywood.
Bah.

[Sighs]
That was the end of it for me.

I mean, it was just so stupid.

Last one on is a rotten egg.

I hadn't seen him for years.

When I arrived in L.A.,
I didn't recognize him,

'Cause he looked like
an old man.

And I thought, "Where's my dad?"

He actually put an ad
on Music Connection magazine

Looking for a job.

"Famous drummer from the '60s,"

You know,
"Ginger Baker from Cream,

Looking for a band
to play with."

Are you ready to go?

Okay. So this is a drum kit,
and I'm Ginger Baker.

You hold the drumstick thusly,

And you play the stick
like that.

The 1960s were heady times
for Ginger Baker.

He was a drummer

For some of rock music's
most influential groups.

We visited Baker
at the ranch he rents

In the California desert
as he tries to come back.

Tell me about your relationship
these days with Eric Clapton.

Do you still speak?

I don't have a lot in common
with Eric nowadays.

He's sort of...

Changed considerably.

Ginger, the way he is

And the way, you know,
his self-medication

And all of the kind of things
that go on in his life,

I would find quite hard to be
around for any length of time.

It was quite threatening,
you know, to me

And I suppose what I would call
my sobriety.

But I've always
got time for him, you know,

And I know he knows that.

There was nothing starlike
about him when I first met him.

He was pretty much penniless
when we met

And had spent everything to get
his horses over to America.

I was pretty happy.

I was gonna be going into
a master's program

And following medicine.

There was a lot of great stuff
ahead of me.

And then I got
a little derailed.

Was Karen a good person?

I don't want to discuss Karen.

He is somebody
who needs to be cared for,

And maybe that's what was
so attractive to me.

It was like,
"I can help this person."

He was somebody really
interesting to spend time with.

He started playing the drums,
and actually,

That was the first time
I really understood the drums.

Nobody wanted to play with him.

And this is L.A.

I mean, there should have been
gigs everywhere for him.

People were just like, "Mm. No.
It's too much trouble."

And then finally, he did join
The Masters of Reality.

* John Brown, bring him down *

* Pull his body to the ground *

[Mid-tempo rock music plays]

It was really
quite an enjoyable thing,

That Masters of Reality.

They were trying to say it was
heavy metal, which it wasn't.

It was music
you couldn't put in a box, Jay.

"Sunrise on the Sufferbus."

Musician magazine
simply calls "Sufferbus"

"The best rock album
of the young decade."

When we were on tour
with Alice In Chains,

I think it was a mismatch.

Most of the crowd to begin with

Didn't know
who Ginger Baker was.

Kids in the front row
with Megadeth T-shirts on

Throwing stuff at Ginger.

How much can a man take?

He was having to start
all over again,

Just like a new musician.

And they were treating him like,
"You know, you should be happy.

"We got you a tour bus.

A lot of musicians don't have
tour buses."

And he's like, "I did this,
you know, 30 years ago."

I don't want to do this again."

Do you think Nirvana
is the new Cream?

He had gotten a taste
of American music business,

Class of '93,
and he spit it out.

And I don't fucking blame him
one bit.

I didn't like L.A. at all.

He wasn't getting along
with the whole polo community

In California at that time,

So he was just ready to move on
and start all over again.

[Music continues]

When he left
to come out here to Colorado,

Nobody wanted to play with him
anymore.

So we started a polo club
called Mile High Polo.

And that worked out beautifully,

Because he didn't have to go
and play with other people.

They had to come play with him.

Here comes Ginger Baker.

Not only can he play drums,

But he can hit that ball
down the field.

People would come out, bring
their kids, bring their dogs.

We'd have polo
and then jazz in the park.

He would get off the horse,
come over in his polo uniform,

And sit down at the drums.

And then we'd just go
into something from there.

So it was a pretty wild
experience to see.

And you could feel
the passion of both things.

[Up-tempo jazz playing]

DJQ20... It was probably
the best band I had.

It was great playing jazz,
again... the music I came from.

[Music continues]

Kofi was living with us
at the time,

And we used to do
a lot of drum things together.

He's got a prodigious technique.

He's got the most amazing
technique.

He's a hell of a sweet kid.

It was the closest
I ever got to my dad.

It was great fun.

And I actually got to play
with my dad,

And there was some form
of bond going on.

I mean, I wish I could have
done that my whole life.

It would've been great.

He comes out of jazz,
plays rock, plays world music.

I just thought, "We should
get some music together"

"That shows him
as this major cat,

"Not, you know,
a lesser light than Max Roach,

But his own personal music."

Ron so inspired Ginger,
Ginger began to practice.

He began to rehearse.

Then, finally,
they came to New York

And played a gig at the Iridium

And just blew the doors
off the place.

It went down
like a fucking bomb.

[Up-tempo jazz playing]

At the Iridium in New York,
Max Roach came to the gig.

The first record he ever bought
was Max Roach.

I did one of the best solos
I've ever done

When Max was there.

[Cheers and applause]

I could see Ginger's face
on the break.

Max hugged him.

It was like Max was saying,
"Yeah. You're in here.

You're one of us."

He just had tears
coming down his face,

Because he had achieved
the pinnacle of jazz

For an improvising musician
and a drummer.

He has a working band
that can go toe-to-toe

With any band in New York,
let alone planet Earth.

And he had not only
been accepted,

But accepted as a peer
and an equal.

The actual words Max said were,

"Jesus,
Ginger plays like a nigger."

[Chuckles]

That, coming from someone
like Max Roach,

Was an enormous compliment,
you know?

Four drummers in my life
that were absolute heroes.

Phil Seamen was the first one,

Max Roach, Art Blakey,
and Elvin Jones.

All four of them
became friends...

I mean friends.

Dear friends.

[Voice breaking]
And that to me is worth...

More to me
than anything in the world.

[Down-tempo jazz playing]

Anywhere Ginger goes,
it's just a matter of time

Before there's gonna be
controversy going on.

Somebody did a very nasty

And resulted in Liz
getting arrested yesterday

By the immigration people.

He had an English groom
that was living with us.

But because her immigration
papers hadn't come through yet,

She was illegal,
and so they took her away.

And I started going crazy.

And there was these two guys,
Louis & Floorwax,

Who had a radio show
that I was on.

He came on the radio show
one morning

And started talking about it.

And he literally told everybody
to fuck off.

I mean, this is a foul deed.

He said something about
the United States of America

Can kiss my ass or blow me
or something like that.

I think that's the last thing
he said on our show.

I believe that was
the final sentence.

So we ended the interview,

And next thing we heard,
he was deported.

He thought he was seeing
the writing on the wall.

I'm the next target now.

So he decided to grab his toys
and leave

Before they could kick him out.

People are saying it's one of
the best records he's ever done,

And then he left.

We just put this record out,
and he just split.

Kofi would come over
every single day

And play with his dad.

And then a couple days
before he left,

Kind of like you
with the cane to your face,

Ginger gave a verbal cane
to Kofi's face

And just basically I think
told him,

"You're a piece-of-shit drummer,

And you'll never be what I am,
and you just can't get it."

And that was it...
His way of saying goodbye.

Well, I asked him.

I said, "Do you even care about
anything I do or anything?"

He said, "No."
So I said, "Fine."

So I got in my car and left.

That was the last time
I saw him.

["Can't Find My Way Home"
plays]

I don't know
if it's his ability to move on

Or his inability to stay.

I think he has trouble staying,
and so moving on is his option.

I went with him
on several of those moves,

And then the last one,
I decided, "No."

I'm not up
for one more of these."

[Indistinct talking on P.A.]

Maybe it goes back
to when his dad died.

He was just kind of taken away
abruptly,

And there was nothing
he could do about it.

The only time I remember
my dad clearly is on the train,

When he went off
after his last leave.

And as the train pulled off,
I broke away from my mom

And went running
down the platform

After the train, crying.

It was like I knew
he wasn't coming back.

[Music continues]

* Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh *

* But I can't find my way home *

* Can't, ooh, ooh, ooh *

* Ooh, ooh, ooh *

* But I can't find my way home *

* Still I can't find
my way home *

* And I ain't done
nothing wrong *

* But I can't find my way home *

20 years ago,
South Africa was the last place

I would ever have dreamt
of going,

Because I was so, you know,
appalled

At the apartheid regime.

Well, now it's broken up.

South Africa has joined
the rest of the world.

What are you gonna do musically
when you get there?

Do you have plans?

I have more plans
than you can dream of.

I mean, South Africa
is very rich musically.

Sweethearts
have done it all.

Fast broads, pretty, ambitious,

And after all the money
they can get out of a guy.

Those deadly dames leave behind
a trail of dead husbands.

If she has to kill somebody,
she's going to.

Real-life femme fatales.

I've got some really cool music
in my head.

I tried to do
the polo and jazz thing here.

But there's not that many
musicians over here.

But how much of it
is about you playing

Because it's
what you love doing?

Well, it depends.

To have a good time, it depends
who you're playing with.

I mean, five years ago,

The Royal Albert Hall gigs
were just fantastic.

[Applause]

[Introduction to
"We're Going Wrong" plays]

They were just great.

It was great to play with Eric,

And it was great to play
with Jack.

He did the reunion in 2005
with Cream,

Got a whole bunch of money,

And he got 24 horses
he imported from the U.K.

Yeah.
They cost him a fortune.

I've got 38 horses.

Horses don't let you down,
nor do dogs.

They all know who I am.

He got $5 million or so
from that reunion.

Now he's broke as shit.

He's blown all the money, and
he's got nothing to show for it.

He will go out of his way,
effortwise and timewise

And moneywise to do everything
for his animals.

Sometimes I get the idea
that the animals come first

And then the people.

* I *

* Found out today *

* We're going wrong *

[Music continues]

Do you think that you might
have to go back

To playing the drums again?

Why?

Because the bank might
foreclose on your property.

And besides, it's who you are.

Oh, for fuck's sake,
why are we talking this shit?!

I think he's realizing
that his time really has come

To finish playing the drums.

Dogs in general...
Maybe horses as well,

But dogs specifically know
when it's the end of the path.

They just give up.

You know, they know that this is
the end of the road.

Obviously some of them
have got fight in them.

Some doesn't.

But they realize
that they've had their life.

They won't die here
in front of you.

They will go underneath a bed,
where it's private, quiet.

* We're going wrong *

* Yeah! *

[Cheers and applause]

Thank you.

You think you can take
your glasses off for me, Ginger?

Why?

I'd like to see your eyes.

[Metal clanking]

I have terrible skepticism
about musicians that die young

And create legends
which are kind of mythical.

There's no myth about Ginger.

You know,
he is exactly what he is.

And that's the thing
that we value.

I don't know what he is.

He's his own person,
and he's great.

He's definitely the best
Ginger Baker in the world,

And I love him.

It was our last day of filming,
and here I am, saying goodbye.

He said,
"Where are you going now?"

And I said, "I'm gonna
go talk to these people"

Who are a part of your life."

And he was like, "Nah."

No, you're not."

And I don't want any of them
on my film!

[Rattling]

Are you really gonna hit me
with the...

I fucking well am!

I'm gonna fucking put you
in hospital!

Why?
Oh, my God!

Yes!

Ginger Baker just hit me
in the fucking nose.

At first I was really pissed.

Say you're sorry!
No!

But then I realized
the madman is alive and well,

With a precise message
to all those who dare enter...

Beware of Mr. Baker.

[Rhythmic clapping]

[Chanting]
Ginger Baker! Ginger Baker!

Ginger Baker!
Ginger Baker!

Ginger Baker!
Ginger Baker!

Ginger Baker!

He seems to go through wars
and bombs

And comes out the other end
unscathed, amazingly.

And you've got to admire that.

You've got to admire that,

That he doesn't ever
kind of give in and go, "Okay."

[Chanting continues]

The indomitable Ginger Baker
always gets up off the canvas.

After selling his horses,
his farm, and his Range Rover,

He goes back on the road

And to being the one thing
that he's always been.

[Cheers and applause]

Do what you like.

If you enjoy doing something
and you do it very well,

You can be successful
and enjoy life.

I like playing the drums.

[Laughs]

I know what my life's
experiences are,

And I like to exemplify them
in music.

Mr. Baker does the same.

If that makes him
an unpleasant person socially,

Well, that's exactly
what is required

For the music from him
to be so superb.

And I cannot question anyone
with end results that perfect.

[Drumming continues]

[Cheers and applause]

["Blue Condition" plays]

* Don't take
the wrong direction *

* Passing through *

This is a Hollywood movie
here, so...

Oh...

It's got to be
really dramatic,

And I need to get you to cry
at a certain point.

So if you could just cry
right now...

Oh, yeah.

You're dumb.
You know that?

You really are dumb.

Good God, I'm talking to
a fucking block of moronic wood.

Just a single tear,
like really slow-motion,

Down the side of your face.

If we could just get that shot,
it would be great.

Trying to explain to a dumb
American is very difficult.

If a stick had five right ends
and one wrong end,

You'd get the wrong end
every time.

[Sobs]

I'm crying for you.

Hello?

Spring will be a little late
this year.

Talk about three short blanks.

You take the biscuit, boy.

You drive me fucking crazy.

* For you will hear
no laughter *

* Nor see the sun *

* Life will be one disaster *

* All the way through *

* No relaxation *

* No conversation *

* No variation *

* In a very dark blue *

* Blue condition *

* Don't take
the wrong direction *

* Passing through *

* Instead of deep reflection *

* Of what's true *

* For it's a combination *

* Of judgments made by you *

* That cause a deep dejection *

* All the way through *

* No relaxation *

* No conversation *

* No variation *

* In a very dark blue *

* Blue condition *

* No relaxation *

* No conversation *

* No variation *

* In a very dark blue *

* Condition *