Baker was a miserable cunt; never afraid to pick a fight, quite opinionated, and absoltely certain about himeslf. By all accounts he was the type of person who was disliked the most by people who knew him the best.
With that understood, he likely said that because in his eyes they weren’t accomplished musicians. Repeat: in his eyes.
But first, I think we need to know what he may have meant by “musician”. Just because some tosser can strum a guitar and play a tune doesn’t make him a “musician”. And since he was such an arrogant prick, Ginger likely held rock stars to a high standard, and thought that simple pop music was garbage. He almost certainly believed that the ability to play complex time signatures, intricate melodies, and write sophisticated songs are all part of being a “musician”. Think of it like this: being able to do a simple exercise in chemistry class doesn’t make one a scientist.
Anyway, Ginger’s thinking was probably that just playing an instrument doesn’t mean one is a musician, and that any pop stars were just a pack of poseurs sucking up the attention from bona fide musicians like himself.
So, does any of this apply to the Stones?
Let’s start with the guy I think was the best “musician” in the Stones:
That’s Charlie Watts (RIP) for those who don’t know. He was a trained and accomplished jazz drummer, but with the Stones his main job wasn’t to go all Keith Moon, Gene Krupa, Neal Peart, or Chad Wackerman on drums. His job was to keep time and provide the foundation for the band. And Charlie could keep time. There is no doubt he was an elite musician, but with the Stones, he didn’t have to be complex and engage in musical wanking to show off, he just had to be consistent because that was what their music needed.
Next we go with these fellows:
That’s Keef on the left and Ronnie on the right. Both are quite capable guitarists, and have created some of the most memorable riffs and guitar pieces ever heard. In fact, Keef is one of the most underrated players even though he’s been on the cutting edge of alternate tunings, playing only five strings, and mastering some of the more tricky little bits of getting that blues sound. But neither Ronnie nor Keef had to play anything as intricate as Adrian Belew, Robert Fripp, Steve Vai, Steve Hackett, or Eddie Van Halen did. Why? Again, because the music the Stones played didn’t need someone to set the fretboard on fire.
Finally, we can end with this dude:
This is Bill Wyman, the bassist. Like Charlie, his job was to anchor the music with a steady, dependable backbeat, keeping rhythm and occasionally letting a few nice runs rip. Sure, he didn’t blast that bass like Jaco, Ox, Bootsy, Geddy, or Les, but (all together now) he didn’t need to because the Stones didn’t play that kind of music.
So, are these guys musicians?
Of course they fucking are!
But remember that the Stones were a blues-based band. At its core blues is not a complicated form of music. It can be made complicated, certainly, but at heart it isn’t. Blues is 4/4 time, basic melody, and sticking within one or two keys with the guitarist making occasional runs. That’s why so many guitar hobbyists can play basic blues without too much difficulty. The music the stones wrote never needed virtuousos to play. The Stones weren’t King Crimson or Yes or ELP or Frank Zappa. Shootz den, they weren’t even Led Zeppelin!
They were a basic, stripped down blues band, playing somewhat mid-level complex songs. But that should be more than enough, and in my mind it is. Because these musicians were really good at it. The blues were in their soul and you can hear that when you listen to them. I mean, put on Beggar’s Banquet, Exile on Main Street, or Sticky Fingers. Those albums are just dripping with genuine soul.
So, Ginger’s dismissal of the Stones’ ability was almost certainly biased mainly because they were a blues band that didn’t feel the need to be complex. Now, another reason for Ginger’s nastiness was that Cream and the Ginger Baker Air Force (and many of the other bands he played with) were also blues-based, but were more complex in their music. Howver, this is the crux, none of Ginger’s bands were ever as widely popular, successful, or long-lasting as the Stones. Oh, Cream came close, but they flamed out fast because, well, because as I opened with, Ginger is a miserable cunt and those who knew him best hated him the most.
I’m convinced that Ginger’s low opinion was based quite a bit in jealousy and the mistaken belief that unless one constantly plays overly complicated music, one cannot be considered a musician. Plus, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he were also just taking the piss out of the Stones.