Ginger Baker on stage with Cream in the 1960s. His kit had two bass drums that he played simultaneously with each footREX FEATURES

By his own admission Ginger Baker was “an obnoxious git”. He was truculent, rude, abrasive, arrogant, prone to outbursts of physical violence and the lash of his tongue could be even more vicious than his fists.

Eric Clapton, who played with Baker in his salad days in Cream and Blind Faith, admitted that he was “scared” of him and there was no mellowing in the autumn of his years. When a documentary film was made about his turbulent life in 2012, it was appropriately titled Beware of Mr Baker. The opening scene showed him attacking Jay Bulger, the film’s director, with a walking stick and breaking his nose.

The saving grace was that Baker also happened to be the finest rock drummer of his generation.…