Ginger Baker says he “detests” heavy metal and is unhappy that Cream are linked to the genre at all.
The supergroup for which Baker played drums are sometimes credited with inspiring many early metal bands, but Baker is having none of it.
He tells Forbes: “I’ve seen where Cream is sort of held responsible for the birth of heavy metal. Well, I would definitely go for aborting. I loathe and detest heavy metal. I think it is an abortion.
“A lot of these guys come up and say, ‘Man, you were my influence, the way you thrashed the drums.’ They don’t seem to understand I was thrashing in order to hear what I was playing. It was anger, not enjoyment — and painful. I suffered on stage because of that volume crap. I didn’t like it then, and like it even less now.”
The outspoken musician – who was the subject of the 2013 documentary Beware Of Mr Baker – was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame with Cream bandmates Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce in 1993. But he isn’t a fan of the Rock Hall either.
He adds: That whole Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame thing — at least half the people in there don’t have a place in any kind of hall of fame anywhere, in my opinion.”
