NME article

[snoot]

Originally Posted by slipkid

There's no doubt Ginger Baker had chops, I just don't like his style. He was a master at the double bass drum, however he never used his wrists the way Mitch Mitchell, Keith Moon, Ian Paice, or Clive Bunker did. It wasn't an effortless style of play. He thumped the drums.

Yeah well he was in a power trio at the time, and in such configurations the drummer is expected to carry extra weight to add to the mix and fill things out a bit better. I always felt he pulled the task off well. I like your anointed ones though - not a weak one in the crop. But there are a lot of other talented stick men too, starting with Baker's ultimate replacement in the Slowhand sphere, Jim Gordon (albeit rotting in a Cali prison now for killing his mama).

Originally Posted by dino

Cream are mindblowingly boring compared to The Jimi Hendrix Experience or Green-era Mac. IMHO, Cream were best when they stuck to 4-5 minutes per song - witness the early live tapes. Hendrix and Green had the imagination to make a 10-minute solo worthwhile, something very rare. I can't think of another guitarists with that gift, but that's just me. And drum solos are always boring.

You're too guitar minded for your own good. But that's cool, to each his own. There's more to a band and its ultimate place in the sun than just the point man. Clapton easily fits in with the company of Hendrix and Beck, and certain other axemeisters who took to the stage immediately upon their heels. They were/are all superb rockers, but each possessed varying degrees of strengths and weaknesses. No man possessed it all. But when it came to 1963-1967, NO ONE topped EC in leading the charge - and if there was a single exception, it would have to be Jimi on technical, cutting edge ability alone. Thus the name Clapton got. As for 1968 and beyond, that's a whole different story with the emergence of Green, Allman, Lee and so many others (just to cite those three is cherry picking in a way). I'm also going by the time they had a truly effective splash on the public at large, and in the jam or improv style.

Now I'll give you that drum solos are generally boring, but they're even more boring when caught on tape. In concert they're mostly a diversion and break for the rest of the band, plus a chance for the guy on the sticks to show off his chops and add a little percussive punch to the proceedings. It was obligatory back in the day, especially in the psychedelic arena. I'll go one step further - for every ten 10-minute guitar solos, nine probably could have been reduced for better effect and punch. Again, especially if they're going to be transferred later into permanency, that is, to tape or disc. But live and direct, most tend to be a blast and crowd pleasers. A few even shine on extended merit alone. But even in this precious space, Duane and Dickey (like nearly every other) could overdo it at times - dare I say Live At The Fillmore has a number of meandering moments in the mix ... check.