Ginger Baker Verbally Abuses Reporter
It's no secret that former Cream drummer Ginger Baker isn't a very pleasant man to be around. In fact, there's a whole documentary, 'Beware of Mr. Baker,' about his difficult behavior. A U.K. music writer recently became the target of Baker's ire during a public Q&A session.
You can see for yourself in the above video, which Michael Hann of the Guardian edited to omit "the times Baker dismissed my questions, or raised his eyebrows in disgust. It omits the one-word answers, by and large. It omits his more withering responses to questions from the audience. It leaves out the 15-second pause where I simply sat in silence, wishing the earth would swallow me whole."
Hann was conducting the Q&A at a London movie theater after a screening of "Beware of Mr. Baker.' Things got off to a rough start immediately, Hann writes in the Guardian, as Baker refused to acknowledge the writer during their pre-show introduction. It only got worse from there.
In the seven-minute video, Baker consistently dismisses Hann's questions, calls his questions "stupid" and basically spits every word with contempt for the writer, the forum and at times the audience.
"I am not a rock drummer," Baker scoffs at one question. "Cream wasn't rock 'n' roll." When Hann, a patient moderator, asks him to elaborate, Baker refuses to answer. And so it goes.
Hann pretty much sums up his grueling experience by writing, "Ginger Baker was never my hero, so he couldn't disappoint me. But the single question I'd most like to have asked Ginger Baker -- and which should have been asked in the film -- is ... Why are you such an unpleasant man? What possible benefit does it bring you? After all, you don't watch 'Beware of Mr. Baker' and think: He might be a tosser, but at least he's happy. In fact, he just seems filled with anger and bitterness."