Another week, another passing. Actually, two. One was a drummer for an acid rock band that was short-lived but very influential, the other a bassist for two visible and important Southern rock outfits.
Let's start off with Ginger Baker, the drummer for the psychedelic/acid rock trio Cream, which also featured Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce. Although the band was around for only two years, their music has had a profound impact on not only that era, but in rock history. Cream formed in 1966 and actually transcended those rock classifications. Baker was noted for his styling which reflected jazz and African rhythms in addition to his rock prowess.
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| Ginger Baker, who rose to stardom as drummer for the rock band Cream, has passed away at age 80. |
Cream released four albums in its brief history; it was Clapton's third noted band, after The Yardbirds and John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. For Baker (born Peter Baker but nicknamed "Ginger" because of his red hair), it was his second band as he had been a member of the Graham Bond Organization which also included Bruce. That band played a jazz/rhythm & blues hybrid, giving Baker much experience in that field. Cream formed in July 1966 when both Clapton and Baker felt confined in their roles in their previous bands. Adding Bruce, they released their first album, Fresh Cream, in late 1966.
While not getting any big top 40 airplay, the band added to the rise of FM progressive rock radio when their subsequent album Disreali Gears, like Fresh Cream, hit the top 10. A single was released, "Sunshine Of Your Love", but only was a minor hit initially. Their third set, Wheels of Fire was released in August 1968, and became their only #1 album on the Billboard 200. A month later, "Sunshine of Your Love" was re-released and hit the #6 on the Hot 100, after which the single from Wheels, "White Room" hit #5, however, by that time the band had broken up.
Much of the friction that would eventually cause the split came between Baker and Bruce, who were also at odds in Graham Bond Organization. Much of their later concerts, as Clapton noted, were rather incohesive and according to Clapton, basically were themselves, showing off rather than being into the music. The loud music had gotten to both Clapton and Baker and were ready to call it quits. A posthumous final album, Goodbye, was released in 1969 and contained their final single "Badge" which only mid-charted on Billboard, but landed in my year-end top 20 for 1969 and is still a big favorite of mine.
Following the breakup of Cream, Clapton and Baker formed Blind Faith, along with Steve Winwood who had just left Traffic. The band, heading in a different direction than Cream, only lasted one year, one album and one tour before calling it quits.
Following the demise of Blind Faith, he went solo and formed Ginger Baker's Air Force, when he was able to explore more of his jazz fusion leanings, as well as build on his afrobeat skills by setting up a recording studio in Nigeria. In 1974 he teamed with Paul and Adrian Gurvitz to form the Baker-Gurvitz Army, which had some success that year. The band released three albums and broke up in 1976.
Baker closed his Nigerian studio in the early 1980's and played little music, occasionally sitting in on a recording session or two (most notably with John 'Johnny Rotten' Lydon, then of Public Image Ltd.) , but not releasing anything himself. In the 1990's, he played with the band Masters of Reality and a power trio called BBM which reunited him with Jack Bruce. In 1993, Cream was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the three members played for the first time in 25 years. They were reluctant at first, but Robbie Robertson of The Band persuaded them to do so.
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| Cream reunited in 2005 for a series of concerts at Royal Albert Hall. L to R: Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker and Eric Clapton. |
Since then, there was a Cream reunion in 2005 at the Royal Albert Hall for a series of concerts, although the relationship between him and Bruce was still stormy at best. Bruce passed in 2014, and Baker released a solo effort, Why? in 2014. He had several health issues the last few years of his life, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and had open heart surgery.
Ginger Baker died on October 6. He was 80. He was regarded as one of the best drummers of all time.
At another end of the rock spectrum was Larry Junstrom of the band .38 Special who was also a founding member of legendary southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, although he left well before that band's first album was recorded. The twobands had a connection as they were both from the south, and Skynyrd's frontman Ronnie Van Zant (who died in the plane crash in 1977) and 38 Special's Donnie Van Zant were brothers.
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| Larry Junstrom, original Lynyrd Skynyrd bassist, and member of 38 Special for 37 years, including its hit-making period, has passed at the age of 70 |
Skynyrd's bass player until 1971, he joined 38 Special in 1977 and stayed with the band until 2014 when he retired. Much of that band's success was in the 1980's and they had a series of big hits and top-selling albums. The band melded Southern rock that Skynyrd was noted for with more of a pop/rock edge that enable them to have mainstream success in that decade.
The band had fifteen songs on the Hot 100, in which Junstrom was the bassist throughout. Their biggest hits were "So Caught Up in You" (#10 in 1982), "If I'd Been the One" (#19, 1983), "Back Where You Belong" (#20, 1984), "Like No Other Night" (#14, 1986) and "Second Chance" (#6, 1989).
Junstrom was 70 when he passed on October 6.
CURRENTS, BRIEFLY: "Imagination" by Foster the People holds at the top spot on my SNS 100 for a fourth week, with "Song For Winners" by Nick Waterhouse behind at #2. In fact, the top 5 hold on to last week's positions. Two big movers in the top 10 are "My Cheating Heart" by Love Fame Tragedy (16-7) and "Love is Everywhere" by Wilco (17-10). "Cheating" is Matthew Murphy's third SNS top 10 hit; his other two were as a member of The Wombats. It's the third top 10 for Wilco, whose "I Might" reigned for four weeks at #1 on my list back in 2011.
Interesting new adds this week. Another single by Kungs, "Be Right Here", featuring Stargate and GOLDN is yet another imaginative progression, similar to the string of hits by fellow DJ/producer Calvin Harris, coming in at #74. Right behind is Lauren Daigle's follow-up to "You Say", "Rescue", in which she keeps that Adele vibe coming. Bishop Briggs has one of her strongest songs to date with "Champion", it echoes her SNS #1 song with Cold War Kids, "So Tied Up". Fall Out Boy, who recently hit the top spot as featured artists on Lil Peep's "I've Been Waiting", is back with "Dear Future Self" which is back along the lines of their recent releases; it features rapper Wyclef Jean. Rounding out the debuts are Death Cab For Cutie's "Kids in '99", and Phoebe Ryan gets one more crack at my playlist with "Build Me Up".
Last week, I added Eddie Money's "Brand New Day" as a posthumous release; the song was released in May, two months before his album of the same name was to drop. Money, who passed away last month recorded the album but was never released. I had added the single last week, however, the song was not available for download on either amazon.com or iTunes, even though it was supposed to be out a few months ago. A requirement for inclusion on my SNS 100 is that the song has to be commercially available as a download, thus the points it was assigned last week has been taken away. The song is still at #96 as only 95 songs have points on this week's list; songs without any point are then ranked by last week's tally and then by weeks on chart. I'm not sure why the song and the album was withdrawn, especially with his recent passing garnering notice in his prior work.
A similar situation happened late last year with Shannon Marsyada's "Oceans", where I had added the song, not realizing that it wouldn't be commercially available for a few months yet. Although it peaked at #4, I rapidly moved it down my survey, then re-added it when the album came out. Incidentally, the third cut from that awesome album, "The Message" wins the Impact award this week as it climbs 22-13.
Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100
October 6, 2019
| This Week | Last Week | ARTIST-Title | Weeks on List |
| 1 | 1 |
NUMBER ONE:
(Single Only)
(4 weeks at #1)
|
12 |
| 2 | 2 | Nick Waterhouse - Song For Winners | 11 |
| 3 | 3 | Fitz and the Tantrums - I Need Help | 13 |
| 4 | 4 | The Black Keys - Go | 16 |
| 5 | 5 | Band of Skulls - Love is All You Love | 14 |
| 6 | 7 | Cage the Elephant - Social Cues | 10 |
| 7 | 16 | Love Fame Tragedy - My Cheating Heart | 6 |
| 8 | 6 | The Horrors - Point of No Reply | 16 |
| 9 | 9 | Øffguard - Lights | 8 |
| 10 | 17 | Wilco - Love is Everywhere (Beware) | 10 |
| 11 | 10 | Winnetka Bowling League - Kombucha● | 17 |
| 12 | 13 | Cold War Kids - Complainer | 13 |
| 13 | 22 |
TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK:
Album: Oceans
|
5 |
| 14 | 25 | Andreya Triana - Woman | 4 |
| 15 | 12 | Brittany Howard ft. Terry Crews- Stay High | 10 |
| 16 | 24 | Grace Potter - Love Is Love | 5 |
| 17 | 20 | The Heavy - Better As One | 10 |
| 18 | 8 | Tommy James - I Think We're Alone Now (Acoustic) | 9 |
| 19 | 14 | Amber Arcades - Something's Gonna Take Your Love Away | 16 |
| 20 | 11 | Zac Brown Band - Someone I Used to Know | 12 |
Songs with the greatest increase in favorite
points over the prior week.
● Songs
with 25 or more plays on my iPod/iTunes.
▲ Songs with 50 or more
plays on my iPod/iTunes.
¨ Songs with 100 or more
plays on my iPod/iTunes.
The “Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100” is a list
of current and recent song playlist which I am listening to.
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