Unhappy with being musically stifled by the weight of audience expectations in super-supergroup Blind Faith, Eric Clapton quit less than a month after the band’s album was released.

Apparently, however, keyboardist/guitarist Steve Winwood, drummer Ginger Baker, and bassist/violinist Ric Grech enjoyed playing with each other enough that Baker was able to convince them to stay together in a project the drummer had in mind—one that would add jazzier elements to the blues rock mix. Thus, AIR FORCE (often referred to as “Ginger Baker’s Air Force”) was born in late 1969.

Already having 3/4s of the “superest” of groups already, Baker added a few more all-stars to the mix. Having the unenviable task of filling Clapton’s shoes was ex-Moody Blues guitarist (singer of “Go Now”) Denny Laine. From Winwood’s ex-band Traffic came tenor sax/flute player Chris Wood. On alto sax was one of Baker’s early benefactors, Graham Bond of the Graham Bond Organization. Baker also added TWO addition drummers—the Plastic Ono Band’s Alan White, and Phil Seaman from Alexis Korner and Georgie Fame’s bands. Adding additional vocal support was Jeannette Jacobs, from the American girl group, The Cake; it probably helped that Jacobs was married to Wood. Rounding out the unwieldy aggregation were an additional sax player and percussionist.

Alas, there was not strength in numbers. The 10-person band released their debut album in March 1970, a recording of a January show at the Royal Albert Hall. Alas, the sound quality of the album was horrible, and the record was not well received. Robert Christgau gave the disc a D+, writing, “Contrary to rumor, Baker is not the best drummer in the world. Elvin Jones is. (Not to mention Keith Moon. Or Tony Williams. Or whoever’s at the Village Vanguard this week.) And I wouldn’t want to hear Elvin Jones’s ten-piece horn band, either–good horn players lead their own bands, and bands led by drummers tend to leave a lot of space for drum solos. Plus this is a live double album and the sound is terrible. Plus I’m starting a rumor that Stevie Winwood is no longer the best Stevie Winwood in the world.” Over the years, the album has grown in stature, AllMusicGuide offering that it is “a must-own for jazz-rock, Afro-fusion, blues-rock, or percussion fans.”

As one might expect, this lineup fractured pretty quickly. Everyone but Bond split, and Baker carried on with a second version of Air Force that released one album and was quickly forgotten.

Still, pretty much everyone in the band would be heard from again: Winwood and Wood returned to a reformed Traffic, eventually adding Grech; White would join Yes; Laine would become a key component of Paul McCartney’s Wings. Baker would spend the rest of his life further pursuing the Afro-rhythms he exhibited such fondness for with Air Force.

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