Jeff "Skunk" Baxter looks back on Steely Dan's "My Old School" - Interview

[@davewilliams639]

I actually met Jeff last weekend at a St.Jude fundraiser in Florida. A fantastic player and a wonderful man.

[@SirFixAlot72]

His guitar at the end of My Old School is pure gold.

[@dynamitekiddo85]

Jeff playing with Steely Dan on Midnight Special and playing with that legendary ensemble at the end of Blues Brothers 2000 are some of the best moments in rock history.

[@alhemphill8296]

Jeff is a friend, great patriot and a hell of a guitar player. He did so much to help us out in the Missile Defense Agency! Great new album Jeff. Cheers Al!

[@bothyrat]

Guys like have my greatest respect. You do your best to stop genioses like him going down 'the memory hole' Thankyou thankyou thankyou. These guys helped me though life, its lovely to meet them... Bothyrat xx

[@MrDaveaccord]

Great stuff. Skunk used to live in my hometown in Massachusetts many years ago when he was active in the Boston music scene.

[@dennisjohndreher7258]

Love his playing on the outro of " How do the fools survive" Doobie brothers. Some of the greatest playing I've ever heard.

[@SuperStrik9]

Skunk rules.🎸

[@bradleyshuppert3393]

He could have played or chose a Wah Wah pedal for that scattered note bliss…..and all those little artifacts would have been lost …. Instead… you hear combination of jazz, rock and blues with a chicken picking country feel…. Staccato jumping around notes that are so damn cool…. When you hear it isolated….. your jaw drops like hearing eruption the first time….. it seems so impossible but seamless and timeless….. God Bless the Skunk 🦨

[@harmono8766]

That guitar solo on the original sounds like he had the guitar plugged straight into the board. The part where he's playing octaves and it sounds like it's cutting off or he's just using the pickup selector switch for an effect.

[@ottohoffmanjr.2387]

Great Paich organ solo!!!

[@ToddSauve]

It doesn't look like Skunk has trimmed his mustache since the early 1970s! It was blonde back then but looked the same! He is also a genuine rocket scientist who consults for the US government, in case anyone was wondering. He's one smart guy!!! 😉

[@FrankHudsonbass]

Thanks for your opinion

[@Osnosis]

He’s on tour now, playing music, instead of discussing the defense industry.🎃

[@RoryVanucchi]

👍

[@wheatonna]

The solos on My Old School are hall of fame material. For my money, better than any Clapton or Van Halen. Don't get twisted up: I've played for 47 years, and you have every right to your own opinion too.

[@FreeBrunoPowroznik]

Yes, awesome solos. These few solos influenced my playing more than a whole album of EVH stuff!

[@joshuawestlund]

Yeah but some opinions are better than others and yours wheaty is the right one.

[@carnivaltym]

They are among the goat solos for sure!

[@NeverTalkToCops1]

No, he's not a "genuine rocket scientist". He cobbled up a paper on how to use Aegis system components as a missile defense mechanism. This is no big deal, as the military is too rigid and does not have many creative people. Where do you think all the geniuses with inadequate social skills or mental disorders go to? The military. Hell, there's a huge building full of these folk, the NSA. Mr. Baxter's musical skills and body of work are unsurpassed, deserving credit.

[@tw364]

Like to get Jeff’s thoughts on Fagen. Saw the band twice when Fagen and the original guys were in the band. Never could get into the latter day deputized studio rat version of SD. Fagen’s voice is long gone and the hired guns tend to have no soul Too smooth jazzy no edge in concert.