While working at Jimmy’s Music Shop in Manhattan in 1966, Baxter met guitarist Jimi Hendrix, who was just beginning his career as a frontman. For a short period during that year, Baxter was a member of a Hendrix-led band called Jimmy James and the Blue Flames, along with Manny’s employee Randy California.
With Steely Dan
After the breakup of Ultimate Spinach, Baxter relocated to Los Angeles, California, finding work as a session guitarist. In 1972 he became a founding member of the band Steely Dan, along with guitarist-bassist Walter Becker, keyboardist Donald Fagen, guitarist Denny Dias, drummer Jim Hodder and vocalist David Palmer. Becker and Fagen were employed at the time as staff songwriters for ABC Records, and they formed the band as a vehicle to promote their songs.
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. Among his contributions were guitar solos on the 1974 hit single “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” and “My Old School.
With the Doobie Brothers
While finishing work on Pretzel Logic, Baxter became aware of Becker and Fagen’s intentions to retire Steely Dan from touring, With that in mind, Baxter left the band in 1974 to join The Doobie Brothers, who at the time were touring in support of their fourth album What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits. As a session man, he played on Vices as well as playing pedal steel on “South City Midnight Lady” on its predecessor, The Captain and Me. Baxter’s first album as a full member of the group was 1975’s Stampede. Baxter contributed an acoustic interlude entitled “Precis,” significant turns on slide and pedal steel guitar, and the guitar solo for the hit single “Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me A Little While)”.
Baxter jammed with former White House Press Secretary and close friend Tony Snow’s band Beats Workin at the Congressional Picnic held on the South Lawn of the White House.
Defense consulting career
Baxter fell into his second profession almost by accident. In the mid-1980s, Baxter’s interest in music recording technology led him to wonder about hardware and software that was originally developed for military use, i.e. data-compression algorithms and large-capacity storage devices. As it happened, his next-door neighbor was a retired engineer who had worked on the Sidewinder missile program. This neighbor bought Baxter a subscription to an aviation magazine, provoking his interest in additional military-oriented publications and missile defense systems in particular. He became self-taught in this area, and at one point he wrote a five-page paper that proposed converting the ship-based anti-aircraft Aegis system into a rudimentary missile defense system. He gave the paper to California Republican congressman Dana Rohrabacher, and his career as a defense consultant began.
The largest classic rock benefits for U.S. Vets happening this Fourth Of July weekend
–The “American Vinyl Festival.”
This event will feature The American Vinyl All Star Band (AVASB), comprising Jeffrey “Skunk” Baxter (Doobie Bothers/Steely Dan), Barry Goudreau (formerly of Boston), Robert “Mousey” Thompson (James Brown), Leroy “LRS” Romans (The Wailers/3rd World), Tim Archibald (RTZ/Peter Wolf) and Danny Beissel (Fosterchild), as the event’s headliners.
An onslaught of special guests will also be lending their musical talents to the day, including: Matt Sorum (Guns N’ Roses/Velvet Revolver), Wally Palmer (The Romantics), The Uptown Horns (The Rolling Stones), Conrad Korsch (The Rod Stewart Band), Brian Quinn (Candlebox), Mark McGrath (Sugar Ray), and Phil Stokes (Pure Prairie League).
The “American Vinyl Festival” will support Freedom Drives U.S. Inc., a not-for-profit charity engaged in the facilitation of mobility converted vehicles other than minivans for veterans with mobility needs.
Sat, July 6, 2019 5:00 PM – 10:00 PM EDT
Location Suicide Six Downhill Ski Area 247 Stage Road
Pomfret, VT 05067
The event kicks off at 5 PM ET and will include food vendors, merchants and a silent auction. Tickets are $20 - $65 and veterans get in free with a ticketed guest.
For more information about AVASB visit https://www.americanvinylallstarband.net.
JEFF "SKUNK" BAXTER
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The Doobie Brothers
are one of those bands that we’ve depended on, year after year, and
expect to see performing invariably at outdoor music festivals,
pavilions, arenas, casinos and bike week events across the nation. The
group has been exhilarating audiences for decades yet appear timeless
onstage. One of the principal reasons for the longevity and success of
the Doobie Brothers
has a lot to do with an unmitigated affection shared between the band
and its audience. It’s been an amazing love affair that has persevered
for over forty-two years. When the Doobie Brothers finally call it quits
… rock ‘n’ roll will probably call it quits too.
Tom Johnston is
the voice, lyricists and guitarist on numerous classic hit recordings
by the Doobie Brothers. Inspired by listening to R&B music on the
radio, California native Johnston started his first band at 14,
eventually broadening his musical horizons by singing with soul and
blues groups.
After moving to San Jose to finish college, Tom met Skip Spence, original drummer for the Jefferson Airplane. Spence introduced Johnston to drummer John Hartman. Spence was also a founding member of Moby Grape which had a major influence on the Doobie Brothers. Tom Johnston, John Hartman and bassist Greg Murphy formed the power trio “Pud.”
When “Pud” unraveled, the evolution of the Doobie Brothers began to
take shape. While living in a home dubbed as their “musical
headquarters,” guitarist Patrick Simmons and bassist Dave Shogren joined the group. The band quickly generated a huge following in California.
In 1971, the Doobie Brothers launched their self- titled debut album, The Doobie Brothers on the Warner Brothers label with legendary producers Ted Templeman and Lenny Waronker. The first track on the album, “Nobody” penned by Tom Johnston, would later resurface in 2010 on their latest release, World Gone Crazy.
Their second studio album Toulouse Street
(named for a street in the French Quarter of New Orleans) introduced
new bassist Tiran Porter and second drummer Michael Hossack (Navy
Veteran). The album spawned the Tom Johnston penned classic hits,
“Listen to the Music” (#11 Top 100 Billboard Hit -1972), “Rockin’ Down
the Highway” and “Jesus Is Just Alright,” (#35 Billboard Top 100 Hit
-1973) written by Arthur Reynolds (1965) and performed by The Byrds
(1969).
In 1973, the Doobie Brothers released, The Captain and Me spotlighting some of the bands most memorable classic rock
tunes penned by Tom Johnston … “Long Train Runnin’”(#8 Billboard Hot
100 Hit) and perhaps the bands anthem song, “China Grove” (#15 Billboard
Hot 100 Hit). The Captain and Me also featured a guest performance by future Doobie Brothers and Steely Dan guitarist Jeff “Skunk” Baxter.
The Doobie Brothers fourth studio album, What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits released
in 1974 spawned the Tom Johnston penned songs, “Another Park, Another
Sunday”(#32 Billboard Hot 100 Hit) and “Eyes of Silver”(#52 Billboard
Hot 100 Hit). The album also featured Pat Simmons penned tribute to “The
Big Easy,” “Black Water” (#1 Billboard Hot 100 Hit -1975).
Stampede released in 1975 was the final album before Michael McDonald
took over lead vocalist duties from an ailing Tom Johnston. The album
featured the cover version, “Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me A Little
While)” (#11 Billboard Hot 100 Hit -1975) written by the Motown team of Holland-Dozier-Holland. Subsequent albums …Takin’ It to the Streets (1976), Livin’ on the Fault Line (1977), Minute by Minute (1978) and One Step Closer (1980)
featured a successful second incarnation of the band, which primarily
consisted of Michael McDonald(vocals, keyboards) Patrick Simmons
(guitars/vocals) Jeff “Skunk” Baxter (guitars, steel guitars), Tiran Porter(bass, vocals), John Hartman (drums) and Keith Knudsen (drums).
*Tom Johnston played and sang on, “Turn It Loose” and “Wheels of Fortune” on the album Takin’ It to the Streets. John McFee was added to the Doobie Brothers lineup in 1979 replacing Jeff “Skunk” Baxter and was featured on One Step Closer.
After a successful run, the bands signature sound and direction
became disillusioned. While working on his solo project, Tom Johnston
rejoined the band for a Farewell Tour, and then the Doobie Brothers
would call it quits as a band for the next five years.
The reformation of the Doobie Brothers was contrived when the bands
alumni were asked by drummer Keith Knudsen to perform at a concert to
benefit veterans’ causes. The band discovered that tickets were in great
demand and soon embarked on a twelve city tour.
In 1989, Cycles the tenth studio recording by the Doobie Brothers, now on Capitol Records, witnessed the return of Tom Johnston and drummer Michael Hossackto the studio as a band. Tom Johnston’s distinctive vocals returned and the band reestablish their musical roots.
World Gone Crazy was the Doobie Brothers highest charting album since 1989 receiving rave reviews and featuring the longtime core lineup of Tom Johnston and Pat Simmons.
The Doobie Brothers band functions like a well-oiled machine, touring
consistently year after year and enchanting music enthusiasts worldwide.
The current lineup of Tom Johnston (vocals/guitar), Pat Simmons (vocals/guitars), John McFee (guitar/strings/vocals), John Cowan (bass), Guy Allison (keyboards/vocals), Marc Russo (saxophones), Ed Toth (drums) and Tony Pia
(drums)… represent a musical legacy that defines the quintessence of
rock ‘n’ roll and a band that we’ve always depended on throughout the
years.
The Doobie Brothers have sold more than 40-million albums worldwide.
…So why aren’t they in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
I had the great pleasure of speaking with Tom Johnston
recently about the bands current and future projects, family, and the
future of rock ‘n’ roll. Here’s my interview with
singer/songwriter/guitarist/and founding member of classic rock legends
the Doobie Brothers … TOM JOHNSTON. Ray Shasho: Good morning Tom. Tom Johnston: “Good morning Ray, how are you?” Ray Shasho: You guys just performed at the Lucky Star Casino in Concho last night, are you still in Oklahoma? Tom Johnston: “No, we’re in Dallas right now. We
drove here over night, it took about six hours … but I’m happy to be
moving on down the road.” Ray Shasho: Well, the band will be playing in Tampa on Sunday as part of the Bands,
Brew & BBQ concert series at Busch Gardens. We’ve had a bit of a
cold spell here lately Tom; you might need to bring your jacket when you
play on Sunday. Tom Johnston: “Is that right, it’s like that every place we’ve been so far …it’s freezing.” Ray Shasho: You’ll be playing solo at ‘Petty Fest’ at The Fillmore in San Francisco also this month. Tom Johnston: “Oddly enough, I’ll be playing a show
in Hollywood, then getting up the next day, flying alone and playing
that same night in San Francisco. It was ‘Dylan Fest’ and now it’s
‘Petty Fest.’ It’s a benefit for the ‘Sweet Relief Music Fund & The
Musicians Cancer Fund.’ A musician based charity that takes care of
players that have had any number of things going on like stroke or
cancer. It’s been very helpful, we’ve used it for this band and I know
other bands that have used it. There a great organization, I’ve met with
them a couple of times and they’ve really helped a lot of people.” Ray Shasho: Unfortunately there are a lot of musicians who can’t get health care either. I know plenty of guys without it. Tom Johnston: “Isn’t that a drag? Hopefully that’s all going to change. Ray Shasho: Tom did your parents encourage your music career? Tom Johnston: “No way. (Laughing) Ray Shasho: What did your parents do for a living? Tom Johnston: “My dad had an automotive shop that my
brother has now. Mom was a school teacher. She also helped my dad in
his shop later on. My mom played piano a little bit but only once in a
blue moon. My dad played saxophone but I hardly ever saw him play it, he
was usually on mine when I brought it home from school. But they didn’t
encourage me to get into the music business what-so-ever.” Ray Shasho: I guess your dad wanted you to follow in his footsteps and work in his shop? Tom Johnston: “Yea, I think so. I’m not mechanically
sound; it’s just not my thing. But I did work over there for years …
like working in the parts room or I’d work on engines but under the
direction of somebody else.” Ray Shasho: What would you be doing if you weren’t in the music business? Tom Johnston: “I was studying to become a graphic
designer, as a matter of fact was one semester short of my degree,
although nowadays I’d probably have to start all over again. Yea, so if
that didn’t happen would have gone straight into graphic design.” Ray Shasho:I‘ve seen the Doobie Brothers
perform at least 6 or 7 times since the early 70s. The band is timeless
and always performs at the same energy level every concert. How do
maintain that tremendous work ethic in the band? Tom Johnston: “I don’t know it just happens. I can’t
really point to one thing that really causes it… just the way it is.
Everybody has a good time onstage and we try to let the crowd share in
that as much as possible, because the crowd is what drives it. We have
fun playing, but when the crowd is out there rockin …everything works
better.” Ray Shasho: The Doobie Brothers tour consistently every year and your schedule is still rather lengthy. Tom Johnston: “Actually this year we wanted to pull
back. We usually do around ninety shows a year and this year pulled it
back to around seventy. When we put out the new album we did over a
hundred shows that year in a very short period of time, we did that in
about six months and included Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan,
Canada and all the United States.” Ray Shasho: Tom, I’m worried about rock ‘n’ roll …is it in jeopardy of disappearing? Tom Johnston: “I don’t think it’s in jeopardy … I
think what’s in jeopardy is just getting it available for people to
hear. My son keeps me informed with what’s going on these days in rock
‘n’ roll. He’s a Metal-head, but he tells me about bands that I’ve never
even heard of. I give him credit; he’ll listen to all types of music
but he’s still a Metal-head. He went to see Dr. John the other night.
But I think it’s just a matter of exposure and finding more independent
labels that will facilitate that type of music. The advantage of using
the internet is to push your product, play whatever you want, and get it
out to a fair amount of people.” Ray Shasho: Do you take advantage of all the modern technological conveniences? Tom Johnston: “I have been for awhile. I use all
kinds of software for writing and as far as recording everybody uses Pro
Tools, that’s the state-of-the-art thing these days. The thing about
that is it’s the demise of a lot of great studios. The strongest ones
are still hanging in there, but a lot of the huge studios that were
around for years are now gone. You can literally record in your bedroom
with Pro Tools just as good as if you were recording in a fantastic
studio, if you had the right gear.” Ray Shasho:You recorded your most recent release World Gone Crazy in a studio. Tom Johnston: “We did it in several studios
actually. A little bit at John’s studio which is pretty much a full home
studio and Pat did some work over in Hawaii and most of the basics were
done at Sunset Sound. We also used various studios around LA to do
overdub stuff and up in the Bay Area we used Studio D.” Ray Shasho: World Gone Crazy was a terrific album and a breath of fresh air for today’s music scene. Tom Johnston: “We enjoyed making it. We took our
time making it and paid for it ourselves. I had fun doing all those
songs on the album and tried things that I haven’t tried before.” Ray Shasho: Like “Law Dogs?” Tom Johnston: “Yea, that’s one of them. I’m not usually a slide guy but it worked pretty well. I had some help from John.” Ray Shasho: Talk about your tune “Young Man’s Game” on the World Gone Crazy album. Tom Johnston: “Just kind of poking fun more or less
about being out here and doing this for so long. Seeing the kids coming
up and semi-reminding them where it all came from. It’s really sort of
tongue and check.” Ray Shasho: I liked the Robert Johnson album art cover also. Tom Johnston: “That’s off a painting in New Orleans
somewhere and John must have taken a picture of that at some point in
time, remembered it, and they tracked down the guy that painted it and
asked him if he would allow us to use it for an album cover and he said
sure go ahead. So we did.” Ray Shasho:I’m sure it was fantastic working with Ted Templeman again. Are there future plans to work with Ted again on another album? Tom Johnston: “As far as a brand new album with all
new tunes … we haven’t really talked about it since we’ve been on the
road a lot and just been working. There’s an album we’re talking about
doing with a bunch of other artists …but it’s all Doobies tunes. I can’t
really talk about it too much because the inks not on the paper yet and
it’s still not a definite. So we’ll see what happens.” Ray Shasho: My favorite Tom Johnston composition has always
been, “Another Park, Another Sunday” and I told Pat my favorite tune of
his was, “Clear As the Driven Snow.” Tom Johnston: “We’ve been playing that live. We’re
going to be doing a rehearsal here this week and working in some music
that we haven’t played in forever and a day and see how it flies with
the crowd. When we see you we’ll probably be playing some of that stuff
…something new.” Ray Shasho: Tom, do you have an amusing road story from back in the day? Tom Johnston: “(Laughing) They’re all funny, either
that or a mess. There’s always the one where the plane was going down in
Detroit during a huge storm and we lost an engine. We thought that was
going to be it. It was sometime in 1974. We did lose an engine, Jeff was
up flying at the time and luckily Sam took over and got us landed
…pretty exciting.” Ray Shasho: I understand your daughter Lara is in the music business. Tom Johnston: “She’s in the business and has
recorded a lot of tunes. It’s a lot harder nowadays than it used to be, I
can tell you that. She has an incredible voice and works at it
tirelessly, always-always practicing. she’ll be finishing up school this
year and I guess going to take it out in earnest, and have been so far,
she’s probably recorded a whole album worth of tunes. But there are a
lot of people doing that these days and I hope for her sake she does. I
told her you’ve got to realize it’s not an easy business, but would back
her up all the way if she wants to do it. There’s a lot more people
trying to do it now than there used to be. I mean, everybody’s banging
on the door.” Ray Shasho: What type of music does Lara like to sing? Tom Johnston: “She’s singing what she calls
‘Pop-Soul.’ She grew up singing R&B and that was her choice, I
didn’t make her do that (All laughing). But she has a very distinctive
sounding voice and has really worked herself hard to get where she is
now. She practices hours a day singing and gigging as much as she can
and has won various awards. We’ve had a gazillion people that have
showed up banging on the door wanting to do something but it’s been the
kind of folks that you really don’t want to do something with. I’ve
actually had some of her songs given some airtime on the radio and the
audience has always responded very-very positively. So it’s just a
matter of getting the backers into this whole thing. That’s really what
it’s all about. Check her out online at http://larajohnston.com” Ray Shasho: How’s your bassist Skylark been doing after his stroke? Tom Johnston: “He’s doing pretty good, living out in
Las Vegas. He keeps his spirits up and is always determined; I really
admire him for that. As to whether he’ll ever play again … I don’t know.
” Ray Shasho:Tom one final question and I ask
everyone that I’ve interviewed this same question …If you had a “Field
of Dreams” wish like the movie, to play or collaborate with anyone from
the past or present, who would that be? Tom Johnston: “Wow, that’s a hard question to answer
because for me, that’s a lot of people. I think for the day … I would
get a kick out of working with Otis Redding. I absolutely loved Otis
Redding.” Ray Shasho: Tom, thank you so much for being on the call
today, but more importantly for all the great music you’ve given to us
throughout the years and hopefully a lot more music to come from the
Doobie Brothers …we’ll see you in Tampa on Sunday! Tom Johnston: “You’ve got a deal; we’ll be there …take care Ray!
Purchase Ray’s very special memoir called ‘Check the Gs’ -The True Story of an Eclectic American Family and Their Wacky Family Business … You’ll LIVE IT! Also available for download on NOOK or KINDLE edition for JUST .99 CENTS at amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com-Please support Ray so he can continue to bring you quality classic rock music reporting. ~~Pacific Book Review says Ray Shasho is a product
of the second half of the 20th century, made in the USA from parts
around the world, and within him is every trend in music, television,
politics and culture contributing to his philosophical and comically
analytical reflections collected in his fine book of memories. I found Check the Gs to
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all, I say if you have a bit of grey hair (or no hair), buy this book!
It’s a great gift for your “over-the-hill” friends, or for their kids,
if they are the history buffs of younger generations trying to figure
out why we are the way we are.
With Steely Dan
