Beware of Mr. Baker

"Beware of Mr. Baker" (2012) — watch online on iFILM — a documentary portrait of Ginger Baker, the man who drummed for Cream and Blind Faith and spent the rest of his life burning through everything else.

Baker built his reputation with Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce in Cream during the late 1960s, then moved to Lagos in 1972, fell in with Fela Kuti, and recorded some of the most rhythmically daring work of his career. What followed was decades of drug use, collapsed marriages, and disputes with collaborators that turned physical with enough regularity to keep them wary. By the time director Jay Bulger tracked him down, Baker was 73 in South Africa with a young wife and 39 polo ponies — and he broke Bulger's nose on camera in the first scene. Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, Steve Winwood, Carlos Santana and Stewart Copeland all give testimony. The film picked up the Audience Award at SXSW 2012.

There is no redemption arc, and the film doesn't pretend otherwise. Stream "Beware of Mr. Baker" (2012) online on iFILM.