Beware of Mr. Baker (2012)

Excellent but underrated film

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Ginger Baker illustrates how artistic greatness can be fed by a loathsome character that we see close-up and personal, thanks to brave filmmaker Jay Bulger. Just how brave you will see in the film.It's not hard to see how Ginger Baker was formed. He was a child in one of those horrible, dreary, violent British working-class neighborhoods. He started out life by losing his father (killed in war), then getting his face slashed with razors for not joining a local gang. Then, he gets a posthumous letter, the only input he every got from his "hero" father, advising him that "your fists are your best friend". So, partly for survival, partly out of values, Baker became a young tough.The watershed occurred when Baker was introduced, at the same time, to African drums and heroin. Drums fed into his violent nature, and heroin, he claims, gave him insight into "time," which Baker considers the key to drumming and which very few have.Deserted his wife and kids for a bimbo who left him, introduced his 15- year-old son to cocaine to do a gig, then kept the proceeds, sending the son home on a bus. Chronically unpleasant to be around, except to the four drummers he worships. Calls dogs and horses the only creatures he can depend on, while at the same time being utterly undependable to his family. Complains about his poverty, after blowing millions on drugs and polo ponies.The plus side of the ledger is that Ginger Baker is arguably the greatest drummer -- rock or jazz -- in modern history. His long-suffering son, whom he finally kissed-off, says that Baker should never have had a family, that he is only about the drums.It's not ironic that the only person in the film who seems to adulate Baker is Johnny Rotten. Even the colleagues who prize him as a talent can't stand him as a person, except perhaps, Jack Bruce, of Cream, who says he "loves" Ginger, but goes on to say that living on a different continent from Baker is still "a bit too close".

Ginger Baker, that fire-haired, heroin-addicted, mentally unstable drummer of Cream and Blind Faith fame, is given a much deserved documentary here at the hands of Rolling Stone journalist Jay Bulger. For all his notorious genius - the guy single-handedly invented the drum solo and heavy metal owes a significant debt - the man is repulsively anti-social and, well, mad. We learn this from the opening scene, as Baker yells at Bulger, who is off-camera, that he doesn't want his friends and colleagues interviewed for the film, while Bulger protests. Cue a pause, then Baker stabs at Bulger with his cane, leaving the film- maker with a bloodied nose.For the rest of the film, Baker is somewhat subdued, slumped in his reclining chair, never without a cigarette and his sunglasses, giving a reluctant commentary on his life and his career. It is Baker's discomfort at being an interviewee that slightly damages the film, as we never really get beneath those red locks and mad eyes of his to the soul (or lack of) beneath. So, Beware of Mr. Baker (the title comes from a warning sign outside Baker's South African ranch), becomes a mere birth- to-present biography of his career. It's still fascinating stuff, and Bulger has unearthed some excellent archive footage and photographs.His colleague and family provide the more personal information on Baker, such as his estranged son, who recollects that he was briefly happy with his father, even drumming alongside him on-stage, before Baker verbally attacked him and sent him on his way. Baker, in simple terms, is a horrible man, but (as the annoying sell-out Johnny Rotten tells us), he is the type of man that true genius often produces. His affection for polo and heroin are not explored enough, and the real focus here is the music. The footage shown is outstanding, ranging from his superstar- creating time with Cream through to some mind-bending footage of drumming 'battles' with his peers and heroes. Yet Baker himself still remains a mystery, and perhaps it should stay that way.www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com

This documentary, written and directed by Jay Bulger, based on the life and career of Ginger Baker, I thought was rather fascinating and filled with surprises. Baker, whom many consider to be the greatest rock drummer of all time, was living, at the time of the filming in a private gated compound in Tulbagh, South Africa. As one enters the compound a sign clearly states Beware Mr. Baker, perhaps for good reason as Baker is still quite irascible and cantankerous. He's also somewhat debilitated by osteoarthritis, but not slowed enough to stop him from physically attacking the director Bulger at one point with his cane.Apparently, Baker was a prodigy on the drums, able to just sit down one day and start playing. His first taste of fame came when he became the drummer for the Graham Bond Organisation, in the 1960's. However, what brought on instant world wide acclaim was being the founding member of the rock group Cream, bringing on Jack Bruce and Eric Clapton, to produce some of the most influential sounds in music history. However, the group only stayed together for about two years, despite their fame. Baker was already showing signs of a violent temper and he apparently was heavily into the drug culture. At one point, he viciously attacked Jack Bruce after an argument.This would be the beginning of a long series of ups and downs for Baker, which were brought to the screen in the film. I'll just note that these included continued drug use, four marriages, earning then blowing through millions of dollars, many career changes and making a lot of enemies and some friends along the way.Some of the documentary is Bulger interviewing Baker, in South Africa, while the rest is clips of his amazing talent on the drums, interviews with family and many people he worked with in his career , as well as even some animated snippets illustrating parts of his life.Although I admittedly knew virtually nothing about Ginger Baker before seeing the film, and despite the fact that Baker is obviously not a likable fellow, I was quite fascinated by it and was absorbed by one surprise after another being revealed.

Growing up during the golden age of rock (63 to 74 and the death knell sounded by the introduction of Disco)debate often centered around the best bands and players. The Beatles, best group and Hendrix, best guitarist were slam dunks but argument swirled around the best drummer with Keith Moon, John Bonham and Ginger Baker all having their loyalists but one thing for certain that we all agreed on was that from the looks of him the reed thin scarecrow Baker would be the first to push off this mortal coil. Fast forward forty years and you have Baker still with us and playing while the others (plus half of the Beatles) have moved on to R&R heaven. How feisty he remains is much in evidence in this documentary about his life and career, Beware Mr. Baker.As pop rock continued to flourish in the late sixties the introduction of Hard Rock, Heavy Metal through its purveyors, Led Zeppelin, Cream and Hendrix amped things up with a sound never before heard and Baker's beat had a lot to do with it. Cream would be selling out stadiums to this day but alas Ginger was not the easiest of people to get along with and the group disbanded after only a few years followed by one of even shorter duration with Blind Faith followed by other collaborative efforts. In between the mercurial Baker would jet off to Africa in search of drumming partners, polo ponies and Bachanallian pleasures. In Beware Mr. Baker he's in his early 70s hold up in a South African compound and still displaying the volcanic temperament as the doc opens up with him breaking the filmmaker's nose. He's definitely in the twilight of life but is determined to go out as he lived, with a bang.Onery as the old coot is you still have to show an admiration grudging or otherwise for this whirlwind of passion and intensity, incredible musical talent and poor business sense who continues to push the envelope when most of us thought he'd be long gone by now. His fellow players (Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce etc.) more or less feel this way. A good case is also made for claim as the greatest rock drummer.Given his reputation Baker may not have been the easiest guy in the world to be around or work with but you find yourself rooting for him at the end of this documentary. And why not, there is a lot to be thankful to him for, especially for a kid growing up in the era of Disraeli Gears.