Late Cream legend, Ginger Baker, was a member of Hawkwind for a short time in 1980, but left the band after the album Levitation.
However, Baker's manager Roy Ward had already planned a tour of Italy for March 1981, albeit for Hawkwind. But that didn't stop Ginger from putting together a band to play the concerts himself. He wanted to present a fait accompli to the promoters.
The new band was called Ginger Baker's Nutters and included Keith Hale (keyboards, vocals) from Hawkwind, his old friend Riki Legair (bass), as well as Ian Trimmer (sax/vocals) and Billy Jenkins (guitar/vocals), who had previously recorded two great albums with Burlesque on Arista and were touring as an idiosyncratic comedy jazz fusion duo.
The band immediately began working on new songs that were difficult to categorize, a mixture of jazz, blues and rock with lyrics that were typically British humor à la Monty Python.
Baker decided to continue working with the band. He liked the young musicians. They were fresh, full of ideas and enjoyed jamming. He believed in the success of his new band, especially since the audience was totally enthusiastic at every performance.
After a successful tour of Italy, the Nutters worked on new songs and played two shows at the legendary Marquee Club in London on May 18 and 19, 1981, which were recorded by Ian Trimmer's friend Andy Shuttleworth and his camera crew.
The original U-Matic tapes, long lost, resurfaced in the fall of 2023 and have since undergone extensive restoration. Now, for the first time, this concert by this great band, which Ginger described in an interview as his most innovative band since Airforce, is available on CD, DVD and digitally.
Order here, and watch a video trailer below.
Tracklisting:
Disc 1 (CD)
"Chemical Babies"
"Perfect Nation"
"Everything I Say"
"Wheel Chair Dance Festival"
"Lost In Space"
"Where Are You?"
Disc 2 (DVD)
"The Hawkship Mutiny"
"Perfect Nation"
"Chemical Babies"
"Everything I Say"
"Land Of Mordor"
"Blackmail Man"
"Where Are You?"
"I'm So Glad"
"Wheelchair Dance Festival"
"Toad"
"Sunshine Of Your Love"
Interview
