Andy Burrows on meeting Ginger Baker: "I was petrified"

Andy Burrows
Andy Burrows

Razorlight sticksman Andy Burrows has revealed that - although interviewing the legendary Ginger Baker for Rhythm magazine was "an amazing experience" - he was, in fact, "petrified."

"I was petrified about doing the interview to be honest," Andy Burrows told Rhythm after the meet-up. "On one hand he's a big hero of mine, so it was really daunting, but also he has a reputation of not being the nicest person to talk to, but it was an amazing experience."

"To begin with he didn't put us at ease because he was annoyed about the way his drum kit had been set-up, but then we met and he warmed to me and was a really sweet guy."

"To begin with he didn't put us at ease because he was annoyed about the way his drum kit had been set-up" Andy Burrows

No more Cream

Ginger Baker laid rest to any speculation that he'd hook-up again with Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce to reform Cream, but Burrows admitted: "I am more of a Ginger fan than a Cream fan."

"He kept not wanting to talk about particular things, then a few minutes later would tell me these really long stories! I didn't realise there was quite so much tension in Cream. It was interesting to hear it first hand," he continued.

Zildjian Awards

As we've said before, fans can get one more Cream hit next month at the Zildjian Drummers Achievement Awards, taking place at London's Shepherds Bush Empire on 7 December. Baker will be receiving an honour, before taking the stage with bassist Jack Bruce.

Other drummers performing include Simon Phillips, Steve White, Keith Carlock, Gary Husband and Tony Allen. Tickets are available here.

Rhythm

Rhythm

You can read the full Ginger Baker interview in December's copy of Rhythm magazine, on sale today (25 November).

Tom Porter worked on MusicRadar from its mid-2007 launch date to 2011, covering a range of music and music making topics, across features, gear news, reviews, interviews and more. A regular NAMM-goer back in the day, Tom now resides permanently in Los Angeles, where he's doing rather well at the Internet Movie Database (IMDB).