This band was such an interesting outfit. Of course, for some the main claim to fame for them was the fact that Ginger Baker was the "Baker" of the group's name. Everyone in the band was very talented, though. This cool box set gathers up three CDs of live audio shows recorded for radio and two DVDs worth of video from television.

The performances captured here are all strong, and the various leanings of the group, from hard edged blues rock to prog, funk and jazz, are present at different points. Since this was all recorded professionally for broadcast, the audio (and on the DVDs video) is all excellent. I should note that since we don't do track by tracks on video, I've only done the three CDs that way. The first DVD contains two songs from the "Old Grey Whistle Test" show and five from another BBC presentation. The second DVD has a Musikladen show from Germany.

This review is available in book (paperback and hardcover) form in Music Street Journal: 2024  Volume 2 More information and purchase links can be found at: garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2024.

After a spoken introduction, keyboards are heard. Then another spoken voice comes over for the rest of the introduction to the set. A cool rocking groove rises up gradually after. They work it out to a bluesy rocking number that calls to mind things like The Allman Brothers. There is some killer jamming built into this beast. It's a real powerhouse and great opener.

There is some smoking hot funk built into this thing. It's another great tune, and another change. There is some great guitar soloing in the instrumental section later in the song.

Fast paced and hard rocking, this is another killer tune. It has some solid hooks, too.

This starts on the mellower end of the spectrum and gradually builds outward. It gets pretty rocking before it's over. It has a great driving insistence built into it. I love some of the bass work on this so much, and the guitar really shines.

I definitely prefer this version of the song to the performance on the other disc. This has a lot of hard edges, but it also has more prominent keyboards, It's more unique and leans toward progressive rock. This is a real powerhouse. I dig the spacey slide guitar based movement later so much.

Here they turn their attention to the classic Cream song. They put in quite a potent rendition of the song. It's both faithful and fresh at the same time. It seems a bit faster than the original version.

Funk, blues rock and jam band sounds seem to merge as this thing gets going. It's a real powerhouse tune that just seems to get stronger as it continues.

Here we get another stab at Cream music. This seems even more faithful than the previous one. They put in a great rendition of the song. This was obviously the closer for the main part of the show. We hear their "good nights" along with applause before they come back out.

Another repeat, this feels a bit funkier here. It rocks out just as well, though. It's another winner. I dig the keyboard work on this track. This just keeps growing and evolving. They take it into some really proggy territory later.