Read our 2009 profile of one of rock’s most legendary drummers
.” It’s not a legacy that Baker is proud of. “People try to say that Cream gave birth to heavy metal,” he says. “If that’s the case, we should have had an abortion.”
Baker recalls it differently. “My habit had nothing whatsoever to do with the end of Blind Faith!” he insists. “I was straight for most of that period. I only got fucked up at the end of the U.S. tour!” He pauses. “I was an evil person back then,” he acknowledges. “I think Eric just wanted to get away from me.”Jimi Hendrix
Unlike his revolutionary friend Fela, Baker was invited to join the Lagos Polo Club, where members of Nigeria’s military dictatorship held court. The members took bets to see how long the white man could stay on the back of a wild pony. Baker never let go, and he began what would become a deep passion for the sport. “I said, ‘Where’s the brakes!'” Baker recalls of his first ride. “But that was it. Ten days later, I was playing polo.
Baker, now playing at an elite level, was drawn to the sport in part because of the status it seemed to confer on those who played it. “He’s always wanted to be part of the aristocracy,” says Loucks. Polo replaced heroin as Baker’s costly new habit. “As soon as the royalty checks started coming in, the money was gone,” Loucks says. “He’s like a little kid with his money, since he never had it growing up.
This morning, after the morphine kicks in, Baker heads to the two stables that house his 39 polo ponies. The doctors have warned him to stop riding, but without the horses, Baker says, he has no reason to live. “It’s therapeutic,” he insists. On the verge of entering his eighth decade of life, Baker can still play at a professional level.
For the next hour, Baker threatens the lives of the players while inhaling cigarettes. Then, suddenly, the estate’s front buzzer goes off. Baker looks up at a monitor that’s hooked up to four cameras around the property. A police car sits at the gate. “Kudzai!” he screams. She comes running and opens the entrance gate.
As we enter town, several locals wave from outside the Tulbagh Animal Hospital, where Baker donated $25,000 to build a horse clinic. At a nearby restaurant, Baker sits down for lunch with his polo team. Rain pelts the grass behind us, filling the awkward silence as the players wait for an opportune moment to discuss the dismal state of his polo field. The ground is flooding, and it will most likely not be ready for the season opener.
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