Jeff “Skunk” Baxter on surviving the excess of the ’70s: “There was always something in the back of my mind that scared me. I didn’t want to lose my chops”
1970s Los Angeles wasn’t exactly known for moderation. Between the free-flowing booze, drugs, late-night sessions and occasional onstage meltdowns, excess was practically part of the rockstar gig. While plenty of players got swept up in it, for Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, surviving it as a guitarist meant knowing where to draw the line.
Speaking on the latest episode of The Magnificent Others with Billy Corgan, the Steely Dan and Doobie Brothers guitarist opens up about life at the epicenter of a notoriously indulgent era – and the mindset that helped him come through it unscathed.
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“Listen, I partied hard,” Baxter admits. “And especially playing in country bands… So, a tough night at the Jack of Diamonds, you know, a bottle of Jack Daniels.”
He recalls long, chaotic nights onstage, where the music often had to compete with whatever was happening in the room.
“I’m playing [pedal] steel on Talent Night, Thursday night doing Faded Love. Waiting for the two guys to finish killing each other so we can go into Foggy Mountain breakdown.”
“But there was always something in the back of my mind that scared me. Because I didn’t want to lose my ability. I didn’t want to lose my chops,” says Baxter, who’d seen firsthand the toll that lifestyle could take on other players around him.
“I saw people who damaged themselves to the point where they lost something. That was always in the back of my mind.”
Elsewhere in the chat, Baxter recalls a formative encounter with Jimi Hendrix before the latter’s rise to stardom – one that left a lasting impression not just for his playing, but his personality.
“I was at Jimmy’s [Music Shop]. And he just walked in the store. Very nice guy,” he says. “I loved his guitar playing. To me, it was that welcoming thing. It was just a joy about it that I love. And then I got to sit in for one song and of course that blew up into me playing with Jimi Hendrix. But we became friends. We didn’t see each other a lot, but you know, there are people that you see every once in a while and [it’s like you saw them yesterday]. Very special guy.”
“He had no axe to grind and his life certainly wasn’t easy, but I don’t think – he could have been James Brown… And listen, I love James. I played with him. I love the guy, but there was a hardness, a hard edge to James. There was no hard edge to Jimmy at all.”
Watch the full interview below.
The post Jeff “Skunk” Baxter on surviving the excess of the ’70s: “There was always something in the back of my mind that scared me. I didn’t want to lose my chops” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
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