Biography
Jeff "Skunk" Baxter (b. Dec. 13, 1948, Washington D.C.) is a musician, composer and producer. He was a
member of Steely Dan and the Doobie Brothers, and he has played
guitar with a large number of bands and performers (Carly
Simon, Dusty Springfield, Joni Mitchell, Ringo Starr, Willy
DeVille, Rod Stewart and Nils Lofgren to name a few).
Walter Becker and Donald Fagen meet and play with Jeff Baxter in
New York. Baxter's credentials already included working with the
Boston based band Ultimate Spinach, and session work on several
albums from various musicians. Becker and Fagen end up in Los Angeles to put together a band. The
producer, Gary Katz suggests the addition of Jeff "Skunk" Baxter to
the ensemble to strengthen the guitar line. Steely Dan hits the
recording studio to work on their first album Can't Buy a Thrill
(1972). He plays the guitar and steel guitar on this album, and on
the following, Countdown to Ecstasy (1973). I won't even
attempt to describe his refined guitar play on these albums.
Baxter tours for about three years with Steely Dan, and then after
a July 4, 1974 show (in Santa Monica, CA) Becker and Fagen decide that
they should focus on studio work instead of touring. This decision
prompts Baxter who loves live playing to leave the band and join the
Doobie Brothers.
Baxter convinces Michael McDonald, who was enlisted as a backup
singer for Steely Dan to join the band, when their lead
singer/vocalist Tom Johnston is hospitalized. The influence of Baxter
and McDonald on the Doobies' sound is very strong, and eventually Tom
Johnston decides to leave the band to pursue a solo career. Following
his departure, the Doobies release their most successful album Minute by
Minute (1979). However, after the supporting tour, the musical
directions of the members seems to diverge: Baxter along with John
Hartman decide to leave the Doobie Brothers. This also allows Baxter to
become a music producer.
After his split with the Doobie Brothers, Baxter works with a large
number of musicians spanning a large number of musical styles. He is
still involved with playing guitar, but also produces several albums.
Baxter is currently also enlisted as an advisor to the Republican
Party, and he was contemplating running for the U.S. House of
Representatives.
The nickname
Jeff "Skunk" Baxter is very mysterious about the origin of his nickname.
Maybe one day he'll tell us in a
biography. In a July 1992
interview he mentions:
"Everybody wants to know and I really enjoy listening to all
the myriad theories."
Discography
1969 Ultimate Spinach - Ultimate Spinach III
Guitar, Vocals
1971 Buzzy Linhart - Time to Live Is Now
Guitar, Guitar (Steel)
1971 Carly Simon - Carly Simon
1972 Navasota - Rootin'
Guitar, Guitar (Steel)
1972 Swallow - Out of the Nest
Guitar (Steel)
1972 Cashman & West - Song or Two
Guitar (Steel)
1972 Steely Dan - Can't Buy a Thrill
Guitar, Pedal Steel Guitar, Guitar (Steel)
1973 Cashman, Pistilli & Wes - Moondog Serenade
Guitar (Steel)
1973 Doobie Brothers - Captain & Me
Guitar, Pedal Steel Guitar, Guitar (Steel)
1973 Steely Dan - Countdown to Ecstasy
Guitar, Pedal Steel Guitar, Guitar (Steel)
1973 Thomas Jefferson Kaye - Thomas Jefferson Kaye
Guitar
1974 Thomas Jefferson Kaye - First Grade
Guitar
1974 Ian Matthews - Some Days You Eat the Bear Some Day
Guitar
1974 Tom Rush - Ladies Love Outlaws
Guitar (Electric)
1974 Bob Neuwirth - Bob Neuwirth
1974 Doobie Brothers - What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits
Guitar, Pedal Steel Guitar, Guitar (Steel)
1974 Steely Dan - Pretzel Logic
Guitar
1975 Eric Mercury - Eric Mercury
Guitar (Steel)
1975 Jim & Ginger - Ain't It Good to Have It All
Guitar (Electric)
1975 Doobie Brothers - Stampede
Guitar, Guitar (Steel)
1975 Joni Mitchell - Hissing of Summer Lawns
Guitar, Guitar (Electric)
1975 Carly Simon - Playing Possum
Guitar
1976 P.J. Colt - P J Colt
Guitar
1976 Richie Havens - End of the Beginning
Guitar
1976 Brian Russell - Word Called Love
Guitar
1976 John Sebastian - Welcome Back
Guitar (Steel)
1976 Doobie Brothers - Best of the Doobies
Guitar, Guitar (Steel), Slide Guitar
1976 Doobie Brothers - Takin' It to the Streets
Guitar, Guitar (Steel)
1976 Carly Simon - Another Passenger
Guitar, Guitar (Electric), Guitar (Steel), Slide Guitar
1977 Gene Clark - Two Sides to Every Story
Guitar
1977 Steven Fromholz - Music from Outlaw Blues (3 Tracks)
Guitar
1977 Hoyt Axton - Road Songs
Dobro, Guitar
1977 Doobie Brothers - Livin' on the Fault Line
Guitar, Guitar (Steel)
1977 Little Feat - Time Loves a Hero
Dobro, Guitar
1977 Hoyt Axton - Snowblind Friend
Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar, Guitar (Electric)
1978 Dusty Springfield - It Begins Again
Guitar
1978 Bliss Band - Dinner with Raoul
Guitar, Guitar (Steel), Producer
1978 Commander Cody - Flying Dreams
Guitar
1978 Burton Cummings - Dream of a Child
Guitar
1978 Cheryl Ladd - Cheryl Ladd
Guitar
1978 Stanley Clarke - Modern Man
Synthesizer, Guitar, Guitar (Electric)
1978 Doobie Brothers - Minute by Minute
Guitar, Guitar (Steel)
1978 Gene Simmons - Gene Simmons
Guitar
1978 Hoyt Axton - Free Sailin'
Guitar (Electric)
1978 Dolly Parton - Heartbreaker
Guitar Synth
1979 Four on the Floor - Four on the Floor
Guitar
1979 Bill Quateman - Just Like You
Guitar, Guitar (Rhythm)
1979 Leo Sayer - Here
Guitar
1979 Freddie Hubbard - Skagly
Guitar
1979 Jakob Magnusson - Special Treatment
Guitar
1979 Sandy Farina - All Alone In The Night
Guitar
1979 Brooklyn Dreams - Joy Ride
Guitar
1979 Steely Dan - Greatest Hits
Guitar
1979 Donna Summer - Bad Girls
Guitar, Vocals (bckgr)
1979 Barbra Streisand - Wet
Guitar
1979 Judy Collins - Hard Times for Lovers
Guitar, Pedal Steel Guitar, Guitar (Electric), Guitar (Steel)
1980 Bryan Adams - Bryan Adams
Guitar
1980 Terence Boylan - Suzy
Guitar
1980 Patrick Juvet - Still Alive
Guitar
1980 Livingston Taylor - Man's Best Friend
Guitar, Producer
1980 Dolly Parton - Dolly Dolly Dolly
Guitar
1980 John Cougar Mellencamp - Nothin' Matters & What If It Did
Pedal Steel Guitar, Guitar (Steel)
1980 Nazareth - Malice in Wonderland
Producer
1980 Donna Summer - Wanderer
Guitar
1980 Sesame Street - In Harmony
Pedal Steel Guitar
1980 Firesign Theatre - Fighting Clowns
Guitar
1980 Dolly Parton - 9 to 5 and Odd Jobs
Guitar
1980 Steve Goodman - Hot Spot
Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar, Pedal Steel Guitar, Guitar (Electric)
1981 Billy Vera - Billy & the Beaters
Guitar
1981 Lisa DalBello - Drastic Measures
Guitar
1981 Nils Lofgren - Night Fades Away
Guitar, Producer
1981 Sneaker - Sneaker
Guitar, Producer
1981 Doobie Brothers - Best of the Doobies, Vol. 2
Guitar
1981 Nazareth - Fool Circle
Synthesizer, Producer, Vocoder
1981 Rod Stewart - Tonight I'm Yours
Guitar, Pedal Steel Guitar
1982 Steve Cropper - Night After Night
Guitar
1982 Al Kooper - Championship Wrestling
Guitar
1982 Sneaker - Loose in the World
Producer
1982 Steely Dan - Gold
Guitar
1983 Patrick Simmons - Arcade
Guitar
1984 Spirit - Spirit of '84
Guitar
1984 Spirit - Thirteenth Dream
Guitar
1984 Carl Wilson - Youngblood
Guitar, Vocals (bckgr), Producer
1984 Deniece Williams - Let's Hear It for the Boy
Guitar
1984 Bobby & The Midnites - Where the Beat Meets the Street
Synthesizer, Guitar, Producer
1985 Johnny Gill - Chemistry
Guitar, Guitar (Synthesizer)
1985 Steely Dan - Decade of Steely Dan
Guitar
1986 David Cassidy - David Cassidy
Guitar, Engineer
1987 Nazareth - Classics, Vol. 16
Producer
1987 Billy Vera - By Request: The Best of Billy Vera
Pedal Steel Guitar, Producer
1987 Steve Goodman - Unfinished Business
Guitar (Electric)
1988 Kristen Vigard - Kristen Vigard
Slide Guitar
1988 Guitar Workshop in L.A.
Guitar, Drums, Programming, Producer, Bass Programming
1988 Barbra Streisand - Till I Loved You
Guitar
1989 Guitar's Practicing Musicians
Guitar
1989 Michael Shrieve - Big Picture
Guitar
1990 Classic Country Music - Classic Country Music, Vol. 4
Guitar
1991 MC Lyte - Act Like You Know (Clean)
Guitar (Acoustic)
1991 Bob Welch - Best of Bob Welch
Producer
1991 MC Lyte - Act Like You Know
Guitar (Acoustic)
1992 Wayne Newton - Moods & Moments
Vocals (bckgr), Producer
1992 Ringo Starr - Time Takes Time
Guitar
1993 Ian Matthews - Soul of Many Places
Guitar (Acoustic), Pedal Steel Guitar, Guitar (Electric), Guitar (Steel)
1993 Steely Dan - Citizen Steely Dan
Guitar, Pedal Steel Guitar, Spanish Guitar
1993 Roberto Carlos - Mujer Pequena
Guitar (Acoustic)
1994 Willy DeVille - Backstreets of Desire
Guitar (Electric)
1994 Robert Shaw - Songs of Angels: Christmas Hymn
Tenor (Vocal)
1995 Jackie DeShannon - You're the Only Dancer/Quick Touche
Guitar (Electric)
1995 Tales from the Rhino 2 - Tales from the Rhino 2
Producer
1995 Nelson - Because They Can
Pedal Steel Guitar
1996 Brooklyn Dreams - Music, Harmony & Rhythm
Guitar
1996 Deniece Williams - Best of Deniece Williams
Guitar
1996 Edgar Winter - Real Deal
1996 Bosstown Sound
Guitar, Harmonica, Vocals
1996 Nazareth - Greatest Hits (A&M 1996)
Producer
1996 Enanitos Verdes - Guerra Gaucha
Production Director
1996 Joe Esposito - Treated & Released
Guitar
1997 Inventing the Abbotts - Inventing the Abbotts
Guitar
1998 Livingston Taylor - Carolina Day: The Collection (1970-
Guitar, Producer
1998 Rod Stewart - When We Were the New Boys
Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar, Pedal Steel Guitar, Guitar (Electric)
1998 Hoyt Axton - Rusty Old Halo/Where Did the Money
Guitar
1998 Vampires - Vampires
1999 Stranger Than Fiction - Stranger Than Fiction
Guitar, Engineer
1999 Linda Ronstadt - Linda Ronstadt Box Set
Pedal Steel Guitar
1999 Nils Lofgren - Ultimate Collection
Guitar, Synth Guitar
1999 Wayne Berry - Home at Last
Guitar (Electric), Guitar (Steel)
1999 Sean Delaney - Highway
Guitar (Electric), Guitar (Steel)
1999 John Henry Kurtz - Reunion
Guitar, Guitar (Steel)
1999 Paul Pena, - Paul Pena
Guitar (Steel)
1999 Thomas Jefferson Kaye - Not Alone
Guitar, Guitar (Bass), Guitar (Rhythm)