Greyowlphotoart
118 posts
Oct 09, 2010
12:07 PM
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Way back in this mists of time, to be exact, 28th September 1968. I went to a gig at the Top Rank Suite in Brighton, UK to watch Cream (Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker) and at the end of the gig Ginger Baker tossed his drumsticks into the crowd. I caught one of them and my mate standing a few yards away caught the other. He generously gave me the other stick, so I have the pair!! One of the sticks has his name faintly printed thereon. One is labelled as GINGER BAKER MODEL MADE IN ENGLAND HICKORY and the other without the GINGER BAKER bit which is not legible due to too many rim hits.
Question:-
Do I
a)keep hold of them for nostalgic reasons and show them to excited grandchildren who will say Ginger who??
b) Put them on ebay and sell them to finance a custom made harp.
c) Wait for the departure of Ginger to maximise their value - trouble with that is I may well beat him to it!!
Having been in the Forum for only a little while I have already become familiar with the argument that a better harp doesn't make a better player and I can understand this point of view because I have tried the drumsticks and I sound nothing like Ginger Baker, perhaps they are faulty in some way and that's why he threw them away!! :)
Anywho, I have in my posession Vintage Celebrity Drumsticks, two careful owners (me and Ginger) only 80,000 paradiddles. nb This is an estimate +/- 10,000 Pd's (I executed one of these by the way and not very well if I'm brutally honest)and so ended my drumming career. Hell, I can't even play harp and tap my foot at the same time!!
"Inside every old person there is a young person wondering....What the fu*k happened"
Last Edited by on Oct 09, 2010 12:08 PM
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TNFrank
390 posts
Oct 09, 2010
12:21 PM
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First off, any collector that would buy them from EBay or other site would want documentation to authenticate that they were indeed used by Baker. If there's anyway you can get in touch with him and have him write up a note stating that they were his and have it notarized that would be a huge plus. Unfortunately, without it they're just another pair of used drum sticks.
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Suzuki HarpMaster in C
Suzuki FolkMaster in D,E and F
Hohner Old Standby in A
Hohner Special 20 in Bb
Hohner Big River in Low F,G,A,Bb,C and D
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captin beef harp
43 posts
Oct 09, 2010
12:36 PM
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hell hang on to them
play them the song traintime
(wheels of fire) almost all harp and drums i learned to play from this one and still play it when i can find a crazy drummer who will do it
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Greyowlphotoart
120 posts
Oct 09, 2010
12:44 PM
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@TN Frank. Yeah authentication is the issue really. just my word which I know to be true. I recently found out he lives in the next town to me funnily enough. So I could knock on his door and ask him Hey Ginger you don't know me from Adam but would you mind autenticating these old sticks of yours, but he would probably say @@~*** off!!! :)
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Hobostubs Ashlock
1130 posts
Oct 09, 2010
12:51 PM
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Harps come and go great memories last a lifetime
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TNFrank
391 posts
Oct 09, 2010
1:34 PM
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I don't know, you may find that he's a pretty decent guy. Jack Bruce, Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker all seem to be people kind of persons, I'm sure he'd love to see a set of his old sticks from "back in the day", heck, he may even invite you in for tea to sit and talk about the old days on the road.
We all know how Clapton went on to become a super star but I think Baker and Bruce are a couple of really great musicians in their own right. I'd at least see if you can get in touch with him, with a simple, notarized piece of paper your sticks can go from a couple pieces of wood to a real collector's item. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Even if you keep em' it'd be worth trying for future generations.
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Suzuki HarpMaster in C
Suzuki FolkMaster in D,E and F
Hohner Old Standby in A
Hohner Special 20 in Bb
Hohner Big River in Low F,G,A,Bb,C and D
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MP
899 posts
Oct 09, 2010
1:36 PM
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i got to jam with ginger baker once. my band was playing a polo match and he's big on polo.
when the match was over, we noticed ginger and the bartender toasting us so we asked ginger to sit in.
nice guy, didn't even hesitate.
we played some shuffles and stuff. he was smiling the whole time.
he's a hard hitter and tore the bass drum head.
he signed it for our drummer.
ahhh, the good ole days.
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MP
hibachi cook for the yakuza
doctor of semiotics
superhero emeritus
Last Edited by on Oct 09, 2010 2:32 PM
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harmonicanick
925 posts
Oct 09, 2010
2:24 PM
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@Greyowl
An aquaintance of mine, not a friend, some years ago, because I told him I played the harp, said he was given a harmonica by John Lennon, no less, at a gig the Beatles did in the '60's at Bath Pavilion uk.
He bought said old Hohner harp along to the pub next evening. I don't know, and Frank is absolutely right that provenance is everything!
I suggested he did a D&A test and maybe check with Yoko!
Don't sell 'em keep 'em them Ginger sticks..
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Greyowlphotoart
124 posts
Oct 10, 2010
6:16 AM
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Aw Give us a break guys,I'm getting all misty eyed and nostalgic now. OK of course I've got to keep 'em!!
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TNFrank
401 posts
Oct 10, 2010
7:33 AM
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I would still try to get documentation for em' then I'd get a frame made up to put them in along with the documentation. That'd make a killer wall hanger in a den or music room.
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Suzuki HarpMaster in C
Suzuki FolkMaster in D,E and F
Hohner Old Standby in A
Hohner Special 20 in Bb
Hohner Big River in Low F,G,A,Bb,C and D
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Oisin
680 posts
Oct 10, 2010
1:49 PM
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GOPA...here is the e-mail contact from Gingers site...drop him a line and i'll bet he'll sign something for you.
mailto:peterbrkusic@hotmail.com
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Oisin
Last Edited by on Oct 10, 2010 1:49 PM
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Greyowlphotoart
125 posts
Oct 10, 2010
2:02 PM
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@Oison Hey thanks for that man, I'll give it a go.
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groyster1
532 posts
Oct 10, 2010
2:43 PM
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@Greyowl
it matters not that those drumsticks are authenticated-YOU KNOW they came from ginger baker a legendary drummer from a very legendary band their reunion dvd that I have is awesome they are all 3 topnotch musicians if those sticks were mine they would have to take them from my cold dead hands
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