The Steel Guitar Forum

I recently ran across a "Youtube" video of the Ventures playing their version of "Sleepwalk". They had a steeler named Jeff Baxter who was playing an absolute "Killer" version of the song.
He looked somewhat familiar, like perhaps he was a rock star of that era.The video was probably made in the 70's. I am interested to see if Jeff Baxter is still with us and if he still plays PSG.

Jeff "Skunk" Baxter. Doobies, Steely Dan et al. of that era.

Search the archives for lots more discussion about him.

Jeff "Skunk" Baxter also played steel on "At This Moment" by Billy Vera and the Beaters.

Brett

I don't know if he is playing steel or guitar anymore but I understand that he is often seen in the Washington DC area and is in the big time 'security' business.

I know I'll sleep better at nite knowing a former Doobie Brother is in the "security" business

Check out Skunk's pedal steel playing on Steely Dan's Pearl of the Quarter and East St. Louis Toodle-oo

edit: I read somewhere that around 2001 he was "working as a defense analyst to Congress on military defense and national security issues mostly in the area of missile defense."

http://guitar.about.com/od/guitaristsat ... rofile.htm

Here's a feature news piece about "Skunk"

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10480407

Skunk is a master of employing Lloyd Green licks into the rock sound of Steely Dan. "Pearl of the Quarter" is a Lloyd-fest of licks, loosely executed but perfectly integrated into the style of the tune - with that warm Sho~Bud tone to top it all off. Check out 1:38, 2:32, and 2:45- 2:56 for some nice Lloyd stuff:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jC8_KGHbrOI

Chris,

I hear more Weldon, Emmons, and Young in Jeff's playing with a sprinkle of the Bakersfield attitude. Listen to "Poco", along with the "Suite Steel" and "Area Code 615" records to hear the similarities in style.

I also think its really amazing how Buddy's influence was dominant across the board. Buddy has influenced all of the other great steel guitarists.

Paul

double post

I loved his playing with Steely Dan, but my favourite track has to be 'Razor Boy' - simple, tasteful and thoroughly musical.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6ipL7EC ... re=related

(Didn't hurt having Ray Brown on upright bass, either...)

I believe he was in Ultimate Spinach, a group from the sixties.

Paul, I must admit that I'm not that well-versed in Weldon's playing besides my familiarity with his signature 2nd-string runs. I am more familiar with Rusty Young's playing and can hear some influence there for sure, especially in the aggressive rock-style approach. A Lloyd Green song that can be referenced in Skunk's playing is "Motel Time Again", the main lick of which can be heard in the 2:32 riff. There are other examples if I go through the Lloyd instrumentals again and find the passages that reflect the influence of Lloyd. Not saying that Skunk slaved over Lloyd's recordings, but I think there's a sensibility in his playing that he seems to have picked up from Lloyd - possibly from Sweetheart of the Rodeo and of course the radio saturation of Charley Pride in the late 60s. Granted, some of the Lloyd stuff could have in turn come from Buddy; I'm not educated enough in the history of particular runs and passages to be able to trace them with any authority. From my limited scope, I can certainly hear Buddy's influence in the intro passage, which is quite beautiful.

These are the conversations I live for on the forum. There is so much to learn about the history of the instrument and the lineage of influence. I will definitely check out more of Weldon Myrick. Thanks for expanding on this, Paul.

Also important to note that Jeff spent some time working for Red Rhodes at "Red's Royal Repair" in LA, I believe as a guitar tech. At one time Jeff was playing a Sierra, with Red's diatonic tuning, and I can still hear Red's influence on Jeff's playing.
Years ago I read in a "Guitar Player" interview that during the "Steely Dan" days Jeff was playing the Sierra through a Vox Super-Beatle head (no mention of what speaker set-up).

Gary Jones

If you build a man a fire you can keep him warm for a day. If you set a man on fire you can keep him warm for the rest of his life.

Wow, Gary....that is a revelation as well. I can totally hear that. I am thinking of the tone on "Joanne" and that particular bar vibrato Red had.

Chris,

I promise I am not picking on your assessment of Jeff's influence. I love Lloyd's playing......Knowing which players influenced the players we admire is an important study....If I assumed most licks are created from one players mind I could never comprehend how the creative process works within all my favorite players. No matter how original I believe any player is, and Lloyd certainly falls into that category, every great player has multitudes of influences. Influences don't always have to be other steel guitarists.

I asked Jerry Reed where he got the idea to create his style of licks. He smiled and said "Son, A true genious never reveals his sources". I laughed and took that to heart. I also heard Chet say, "There's nothing new, everything is borrowed". Those two players were pure genious in my opinion. They were creative to the bone. Their music came out as strictly their own, yet they had learned so many things from other players. I believe the most original players are the ones who learn from the most diverse sources.

In your listed examples the first lick can be found on the very earliest Buck Owens recordings. Either Mooney or Jay McDonald may have created that particular phrasing of those notes. The second lick was a phrase lowering the E's to Eb. That chromatic chordal move probably came from Day or Emmons. The rest of the licks you pointed out have Weldon written all over them.....I actually heard after the last lick you referenced a Pete Drake lick (We call Daryl's). Jeff phrased the lick the same as Pete. Only difference was Drake uses two strings 5 and 8, Jeff used the 5th string only.

Do a discography search on Weldon at allmusic.com and you'll see that his session career equals any other player from that period. Listen to the first Connie Smith album. Listen to the following years of all of the recording steel guitarists and judge for yourself. Did Weldon's steel parts on her records influence other players? Listen to an obscure recording from Bill Anderson, titled "3AM". I believe that was the beginning influence of a sound that was expanded on in depth by another amazing player. Listen to "I'll Come Running" to hear the solo that cemented Weldon's legacy. In my opinion Weldon's body of session work is pure genious.

Listen to Jimmy Dickens "Hole In My Pocket" for perhaps the first rockin' aggressive chicken pickin' style. Jimmy Day was a great source for everyone because of his interpretive creativity in the studio.

I clearly hear the Buddy and Jimmy influence in everyones playing. And Buddy has sat on top of the mountain his entire career.

Paul

Paul,

Your name is mentioned X number of times here in the Northeast. You are among the true geniuses of our time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCGiG4rg ... re=related

This song is one of my all time favorites,Jeff Baxter with Steely Dan:"Brooklyn"

Paul, thanks a million for sharing all this. Probably the most wonderful thing about pedal steel education is that you climb the mountain on a downward-moving escalator. In other words, just when you think you have a grasp on a particular aspect, something else blind-sides you and takes you somewhere new again. I think that's what hooks us onto the pedal steel - the constant newness and freshness. I am just as interested in the history of the instrument and the players as I am playing it. Expanding on Bill's post, you are a very important part of this history and I appreciate hearing about your musical influences and what impressed you when starting out. I will check out Weldon for sure.

I can't think of a more fluid, capable steel player who's first, or main instrument is not steel guitar, than Jeff Baxter. Now I don't know for a fact that it's not his first learned instrument, but I think he's more well known for his guitar playing. Anybody know? What a freak!

Oh yeah, I forgot Barbara Mandrell!

Yeah, Jeff Baxter's talents are truly remarkable! I'll never forget wearing out the grooves on the Stampede album working out his amazing solo on Neal's Fandango, and of course all of his brilliant guitar work with Steely Dan. I was at a guitar workshop Jeff put on several years ago, and during the Q&A afterward found out a lot of very interesting tidbits about his careeer, including one that he considered almost too embarassing to relate: Remember the old Meow Mix cat food jingle (how could you forget that - had to be one of the most annoying jingles ever!)Well guess who not only wrote it, but also recorded his own cat 'singing' the thing..... none other than Jeff Baxter!!
I think he said that he was broke ( and very stoned) at the time, and the residuals pretty much saved his ass from bankruptsy!

one of my all time favorite pedal steel rides is the break on "neal's fandango" from the doobie brothers album "stampede"