Jeff "Skunk" Baxter - ...and on guitar (1978)

Jeffrey Allen "Skunk" Baxter was born on December 13, 1948, and joined his first band at age 11. While still a high school student, he worked at Manny's Music Shop in Manhattan in 1966, and it was there that he met Jimi Hendrix, who was just beginning his career as a frontman. For a short period during that year, Baxter was the bassist in a Hendrix-led band called Jimmy James and the Blue Flames, along with fellow Manny's employee Randy California. He first reached a wide rock audience in 1968 as a member of the psychedelic rock band Ultimate Spinach, joining them for the third and final album 'Ultimate Spinach III'. After leaving the band, he played with the Holy Modal Rounders, and also backed singer Buzzy Linhart, and it was around this time that he started to use the nickname "Skunk," although its origins are shrouded in mystery to this day. Relocating to Los Angeles, he found work as a session guitarist, playing on Carly Simon's first album among many others, and in 1972 he became a founding member of Steely Dan, along with guitarist Denny Dias, guitarist-bassist Walter Becker, keyboardist-vocalist Donald Fagen, drummer Jim Hodder and vocalist David Palmer. Baxter appeared with Steely Dan on their first three albums, 'Can't Buy a Thrill' in 1972, 'Countdown To Ecstasy' in 1973, and 'Pretzel Logic' in 1974, and contributed the classic guitar solo on their highest charting hit 'Rikki Don’t Lose That Number'. While finishing work on 'Pretzel Logic', he became aware of Becker and Fagen's intentions to retire Steely Dan from touring, and to work almost exclusively with session players, and so with that in mind he left the band in 1974 to join The Doobie Brothers. As a session man, he had contributed pedal steel guitar on the band's fourth album 'What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits', so he fitted in straight away, and is much in evidence on 1975's 'Stampede'. While preparing to tour in support of 'Stampede', Tom Johnston was hospitalized with a stomach ailment, and so to fill in for him on vocals, Baxter suggested bringing in singer-keyboardist Michael McDonald, with whom Baxter had worked in Steely Dan. With Johnston still convalescing, McDonald was invited to join the band full-time, and his songwriting contributions, as well as Baxter's jazzier guitar style, marked a new direction for the band, but after three more albums Baxter left the band. He continued to work as a session guitarist for a diverse group of artists, including Willy DeVille, Bryan Adams, Hoyt Axton, Eric Clapton, Gene Clark, Sheryl Crow, Freddie Hubbard, Ricky Nelson, Dolly Parton, Ringo Starr, Gene Simmons, Rod Stewart, Burton Cummings, Barbra Streisand, and Donna Summer. 
He continues to do studio work, most recently on tribute albums to Pink Floyd and Aerosmith, and occasionally plays in The Coalition Of The Willing, a band comprising Andras Simonyi, Hungarian Ambassador to the United States; Alexander Vershbow, US Ambassador to South Korea; Daniel Poneman, formerly of the United States National Security Council and later the Obama Administration's Deputy Secretary of Energy; and Lincoln Bloomfield, former United States Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs. This is linked to a second profession that he fell into almost by accident when, in the mid-80s, his interest in music recording technology led him to wonder about hardware and software originally developed for military use, specifically data compression algorithms and large-capacity storage devices, and after extensive research he wrote a paper on missile defence systems, which he gave to California Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, and his career as a defense consultant began. However, we're more interested in the music here, so this double disc set collects some of those pre-Dan sessions from Carly Simon, Cashman & West, Buzzy Linhart, and Paul Pena, and a few post-Dan recordings from Bob Neuwirth, Wayne Berry, and Tom Rush. The second disc all takes place while he was a member of The Doobie Brothers, and features Cher, Richie Havens, Little Feat, Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, and John Sebastian. Outside of the timeframe of these two discs he also played on records by Leo Sayer, Judy Collins, Cerrone, Roger Miller, and Nazareth, but the decade from 1970 to 1978 contains arguably his best work, so that's what we have here. 

Track listing

Disc One
01 Once In The Morning (from 'P. J. Colt' by P. J. Colt 1970)
02 The Best Thing (from 'Carly Simon' by Carly Simon 1971)
03 We Let Love Slip Away (from 'A Song Or Two' by Cashman & West 1972)
04 One For The Lonely (from 'Paul Pena' by Paul Pena 1972)
05 Danny's Song (from 'Reunion' by John Henry Kurtz 1972)
06 Tell Me True (from 'Buzzy' by Buzzy Linhart 1972)
07 Come Home Woman (from 'Out Of The Nest' by Swallow 1972)
08 Ole Slew-Foot (from 'Rootin'' by Navasota 1972)
09 Thanks For Nothing (from 'Thomas Jefferson Kaye' by Thomas Jefferson Kaye 1973)
10 We Had It All (from 'Bob Neuwirth' by Bob Neuwirth 1974)
11 Claim On Me (from 'Ladies Love Outlaws' by Tom Rush 1974)
12 All I Needed (from 'Home At Last' by Wayne Berry 1974)

Disc Two
01 Down The Backstairs Of My Life (from 'Eric Mercury' by Eric Mercury 1975)
02 These Days (from 'Stars' by Cher 1975)
03 Hot (from 'Moving Targets' by Flo & Eddie 1976)
04 Dreaming As One (from 'The End Of The Beginning' by Richie Havens 1976)
05 In France They Kiss On Main Street (from 'The Hissing Of Summer Lawns' by 

                                                                                                                      Joni Mitchell 1975)

06 A Song A Day In Nashville (from 'Welcome Back' by John Sebastian 1976)
07 Highly Prized Possession (from 'Word Called Love' by Brian & Brenda Russell 1976)
08 Missin' You (from 'Time Loves A Hero' by Little Feat 1977)
09 A Heartfelt Line Or Two (from 'Blowin' Away' by Joan Baez 1977)
10 Guns Guns Guns (from 'Dream Of A Child' by Burton Cummings 1978)
11 Cry Baby Cry (from 'Flying Dreams' by Commander Cody 1978)
12 He Lives On (Story About The Last Journey Of A Warrior) (from 'Modern Man' by 

                                                                                                                  Stanley Clarke 1978)