Jeff “Skunk” Baxter has cemented himself as one of the all-time music greats, amassing a credits list that includes Steely Dan, The Doobie Brothers, Steve Cropper, Joni Mitchell, Dolly Parton and many, many more.
However, as he explains in a new interview with Billy Corgan, he never even set his sights on playing guitar in the first place. In fact, his life may have turned out very differently had his parents once bought him the Christmas present he asked for.
In the latest episode of The Magnificent Others with Billy Corgan, Baxter looks back on his earliest days as a player, and recalled the moment he – begrudgingly – took ownership of his very first electric guitar when he was 10 years old.
Article continues below“I wanted a bicycle for Christmas, and they gave me a guitar. It pissed me off,” Baxter says. “So I hung out on the wall, and then a friend of mine in the apartment downstairs came up to hang out one day, and he said, ‘Oh, do you play guitar?’
“I go, ‘No.’ They said, ‘Well, I'm taking guitar lessons, and if I show you some chords maybe I can have somebody to play with us.’ I said, ‘Yeah, all right.’”
Partly thanks to his neighbor’s generosity, and partly thanks to divine inspiration that one day opened the youngster’s eyes to the beauty of the guitar, Baxter’s early skepticism for the instrument was eventually defeated.
“I don't know,” he says. “Somehow or other, I got the cosmic bolt from wherever that place is. I fell in love with it.”
Baxter also had a large suite of influences to thank, including Bob Bogle and The Ventures. But, as he tells Corgan, the guitar player that inspired him “the most” was Howard Roberts.
“I was listening to Howard Roberts records when I was a little kid,” he remembers. “Every time I would listen to a Howard Roberts recording, it was like he would open the door and welcome you.
“Then once you’re inside and comfortable, it’s like, ‘Okay, let’s see where this is going to go.’ I think maybe I got some of that [style] from Howard.”
Baxter once expanded on his love for Roberts in an interview with Guitar Player, saying, “Something I noticed even as a young guitar player was how Howard Roberts had an almost conversational approach to playing the instrument.
“He didn't try to knock you over immediately. He engaged you. A good conversationalist will engage you and draw you in before presenting an idea or a concept or initiating a discussion.”
In related news, Baxter recently sat down with Guitarist to discuss why he chose to buy a beginner $140 Squier over a “bazillion” dollar vintage Telecaster.
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