My HS boyfriend was a walking encyclopedia about Cream; he filled a whole page of my senior yearbook--class of '68--with the words to "Sunshine of Your Love" and thanks to him I learned about the band. Memories...,
From what I recall, he was portrayed as an angry, angry old man. I think partially he was losing his physical ability to drum. On the flip side, he was very encouraging/supportive to the up and coming musicians in the South African area he called home.
I believe he was the oldest member of Cream (wiki says yes - Baker born 1939, Bruce 1943, Clapton 1945).
It's amazing he lasted as long as he did. If you've seen "Beware of Mr. Baker," it's presented pretty clearly that Eric Clapton walked away from Cream because he wanted to get away from Baker. ... who somehow ended up elbowing his way into Blind Faith.
That said, "Aiko Biaye" from the first Ginger Baker's Air Force album opened my ears to world music for the first time. Stunning piece.
That documentary, "Beware of Mr. Baker," is available free on YouTube. By sheer coincidence, I watched it last night, not knowing he had died. (One of the things that stuck out was that he remained a heavy chain smoker most of his long life.)