[BEWARE OF MR. BAKER screens Friday March 8th at 7:00 pm at the Cleveland Museum of Art Morley Lecture Hall.]
Review by Pamela Zoslov
“He is mad.” “Consistently
horrible to people.” “A fucking madman.” “The world's
greatest drummer.” These are the various ways people describe
Ginger Baker in
BEWARE OF MR. BAKER, Jay Bulger's thrilling
documentary about the legendary drummer best known as one-third of
the supergroups Cream and Blind Faith. One speaker says, “I'm
surprised he's still living,” expressing a widely held sentiment.
When I was a teenager addicted to rock magazines, critics pegged
Baker, of the explosive temper and massive heroin habit, an imminent
candidate for rock 'n' roll heaven. The laugh's on them. Baker lives
on, an irascible 73-year-old, slowed by arthritis and other ailments,
in South Africa with his fourth wife, stepchildren and beloved
horses and dogs. (The film's title is a play on the sign that warns
trespassers away from his property: “BEWARE - MR. BAKER - NO
TRESPASS.”)
