Ginger Baker's Air Force - 1971 - Air Force 2

Ginger Baker's Air Force 

1971

Air Force 2

UK / USA version

01. Let Me Ride 4:22
02. Sweet Wine 3:34
03. Do U No Hu Yor Phrenz R ? 5:40
04. We Free Kings 4:22
05. I Don't Want To Go On Without You 3:56
06. Toady 9:45
07. 12 Gates Of The City 4:05

German, French, Australian and New Zealand version

01. We Free Kings 4:57
02. Caribbean Soup 3:10
03. Sunshine Of Your Love 5:49
04. You Wouldn't Believe It 3:42
05. You Look Like You Could Use A Rest 5:41
06. Sweet Wine 3:34
07. I Don't Want To Go On Without You 3:56
08. Let Me Ride 4:23

Bonus Tracks From The Same Recording Sessions on CD

08. Sunshine Of Your Love 5:46
09. Caribbean Soup 3:06
10. You Wouldn't Believe It 3:41
11. You Look Like You Could Use A Rest 5:37
12. We Free Kings (Alternate Take) 4:53

Alto Saxophone, Organ, Piano – Graham Bond

Baritone Saxophone, Alto Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone – Bud Beadle
Bass – Colin Gibson, Rick Grech
Drums – Ginger Baker
Drums [African] – Neemoi (Speedy) Acquaye
Guitar, Vocals – Denny Laine
Percussion – Rocki Dzidzornu
Piano, Organ, Guitar, Vocals – Ken Craddock
Saxophone, Flute – Harold McNair
Tenor Saxophone, Flute – Steve Gregory
Vocals – Aliki Ashman, Catherine James, Diane Stewart

Recorded at Trident Studios, London and Olympic Studios, London betwee May and October, 1970.

Denny Laine took "Go Now," a Larry Banks/Milton Bennett tune originally cut by Bessie Banks and the Jelly Beans, and made it his own with the Moody Blues. That Ginger Baker's Airforce has Laine cover the Drifter's "I Don't Want to Go on Without You" is very clever, and a hint that this band was very serious about making a go of it. The Bert Berns/Jerry Wexler composition might have been a bit too soulful for Top 40, while Graham Bond's rendition of Roebuck Staple's "Let Me Ride" is beyond soul, it's rock-gospel and genuinely great. Here Ginger Baker is far more restrained than he was in Cream, and fans of his former supergroups seeing this Airforce album with its childishly psychedelic cover probably had no idea what was inside. Laine's guitar is a tremendous contribution -- as this is Laine in his prime, post-Moody Blues and pre-Wings. Cream's "Sweet Wine" has a majesty here with the lead vocals of Aliki Ashman accompanied by Diane Stewart and Catherine James. Although Laine is listed as an "additional personnel" along with Rick Grech, Harold McNair, Rocki Dzidzornu, and Catherine James, Laine makes three appearances. On an album with seven tracks, that's pretty significant. "Do U No Hu Yor Phrenz R?" is pretty much this version of Ginger Baker's Air Force and the music is solid on the Baker original. Horns and keyboards combine and sway to the lilting vocal -- a very expressive and well-constructed track -- leading one to think maybe Baker wasn't the madman he portrayed, or at least that there was a method to his madness. His other contribution to side one is "We Free Kings" which weaves percussion and flute with the jazzy vocals of Ashman and Stewart. There are solos galore by Bud Beadle on saxes, Steve Gregory, and Graham Bond. The barely audible lyric sounds like something about Lady Godiva, togetherness, and happiness. Nice pyschedelic '60s sentiments, except that the '60s were over. "Humpty Dumpty had a great fall" can be clearly heard, making it obvious that this song is about the music, and the music is refreshingly intact and enormous. Baker's excess has to emerge on at least one track, and his drums are all over "Toady," of course, which is like a "Son of" "Toad" from the previous live album produced by Jimmy Miller. Baker does the production work here, and after eight minutes and 21 seconds of "Toady"'s haunting vocal and piano, Bond's "12 Gates of the City" concludes the disc. This material was clearly as hip as Eric Clapton's Layla album, just not as commercially organized or executed. There is no doubt that Derek & the Dominoes contained a special magic elevating those performances and songs to a sacred realm, but something should be said for the honesty and purity of Ginger Baker's Air Force 2, and if it is too musical and avant garde for an audience that embraced Clapton, it should be commended for its sense of adventure and elegance. "12 Gates of the City" is a delight, swimming with sounds from the Arabian nights and the swamps of New Orleans, a sublime and uncharted mix that sounds better years after it was recorded. A timeless, yet pretty much forgotten record which deserved more FM airplay in its day than it got.

As most fans are aware, there are two versions of this record, with the much rarer version being the more interesting. The rarer (non-US/UK) version, judging by writers credits for Laine, Grech, and McNair, seems to be a collection of tracks put down in late spring / early summer. It would seem that the aforementioned trio walked out, leaving Baker scrap those tracks in favor of replacement Baker and Bond compositions, and much lesser-known replacement musicians.

"Let Me Ride", "Sweet Wine", and "I Don't Want to Go On Without You" are common to both sets, and are the highlights in both cases. The earlier version of "We Free Kings" is longer, and preserves a tempo closer to the Christmas carol it's derived from. McNair's instrumental "Caribbean Soup", as the name implies, has a breezy island feel unlike anything else the group (in all its various incarnations) ever waxed.

The GBAF version of "Sunshine of You Love" is a bit too long and unstructured in relation to their other Cream cover, and "You Wouldn't Believe It" is pretty much a throwaway. "You Look Like You Could Use A Rest", though, while beginning and ending as a mundane pop-song, has an inspired, jazzy middle section that could easily have been stretched out in the same manner as the earlier live album tracks.

As is to be expected when a fair percentage of your band quits, the replacement tracks penned by Baker have a decreased level of inspiration. "Do U No Hu Yor Phrenz R?" is likable fluff. "Toady" is less-likable fluff, serving (as its name suggests) as a vehicle for an extended drum solo in lieu of better material. At this point, it seems as if Baker was attempting to save the set from rejection by the label.

As others here have noted, the one replacement track to stand out is Bond's "Twelve Gates of the City". Interesting more for Bond's growing interest in religious mysticism and occultism than for it's lyrical content, it is nevertheless bolstered by Bond's earnestness, and sense of melodic adventurism.

Perhaps my infatuation with the rarer tunes is just that. A product of hearing material which, for me, is new, in relation to songs I've known for years. I'd rate the rarer version maybe a half-star higher, but it would be balanced by the loss of Bond's inventive closing piece.

For the German issue with 1st vers. of track list.

This issue has a significantly different track list, with more than half the tracks either completely different or re-recorded versions. I can best describe this album as soul influenced, prog flavored rock featuring extensive use of brass and reeds, along with some soulful female backing vocals. What I think I was missing the last time I heard the other version so many years ago, is that this has a fairly decent, heavy sound running beneath all of the brass (which I am still not the biggest fan of, though I am mellowing somewhat). The cover of the Cream classic started out almost laughable to these ears, but as it proceeded, I found myself conceding that it was actually pretty good, and then good, and then very good, despite the horns. I really must question the wisdom of trashing most of these tracks in favor of those on the newer version, and yet retaining something such as "I Don't Want to Go On Without You", which I found rather awful. Bottom line: significantly superior to the second version track list.

For the U.S. issue with 2nd vers. of track list

Hearing this version of the album all those years ago, I was significantly underwhelmed. After all, Baker was fully 1/3 of that incredible underground blues/rock band Cream. Shouldn't this later work bear at least some resemblance? But I rated it as I heard it, and didn't often go back for more. Then I heard about the alternate track list and had to investigate. What a difference! Though somewhat similar in style, the overall thrust of the album was substantially altered. While it may not have been anything close to Cream, I could surely find some solid material to enjoy on it. So I went back to this issue while the other was still fresh, to compare and see if indeed my taste has changed, or if the two versions really were all that different. A little of the first, and much, much more of the second. What they did by substituting the original tracks with these was to almost totally shift this into strong, funky soul/rock territory, with extensive use of horns, sax and soul-ish female vocals. Though I did bump a few of my original track grades on this one up somewhat, I'm going to stand by my opinions: The original version of this is a solidly good album. The second version struggles to reach pretty good zones. It's off the pace of their debut. It's still progressive, but I recommend seeking out the first attempt.