{"id":628127,"date":"2026-04-25T17:13:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T17:13:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/628127\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T17:13:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T17:13:19","slug":"there-was-always-something-in-the-back-of-my-mind-that-scared-me-i-didnt-want-to-lose-my-chops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/628127\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cThere was always something in the back of my mind that scared me. I didn\u2019t want to lose my chops\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

1970s Los Angeles wasn\u2019t exactly known for moderation. Between the free-flowing booze, drugs, late-night sessions and occasional onstage meltdowns, excess was practically part of the rockstar gig. While plenty of players got swept up in it, for Jeff \u201cSkunk\u201d Baxter<\/a>, surviving it as a guitarist meant knowing where to draw the line.<\/p>\n

Speaking on the latest episode of The Magnificent Others with Billy Corgan, the Steely Dan<\/a> and Doobie Brothers guitarist opens up about life at the epicenter of a notoriously indulgent era \u2013 and the mindset that helped him come through it unscathed.<\/p>\n

\u201cListen, I partied hard,\u201d Baxter admits. \u201cAnd especially playing in country bands\u2026 So, a tough night at the Jack of Diamonds, you know, a bottle of Jack Daniels.\u201d<\/p>\n

He recalls long, chaotic nights onstage, where the music often had to compete with whatever was happening in the room.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m playing [pedal] steel on Talent Night, Thursday night doing Faded Love. Waiting for the two guys to finish killing each other so we can go into Foggy Mountain breakdown.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut there was always something in the back of my mind that scared me. Because I didn\u2019t want to lose my ability. I didn\u2019t want to lose my chops,\u201d says Baxter, who\u2019d seen firsthand the toll that lifestyle could take on other players around him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw people who damaged themselves to the point where they lost something. That was always in the back of my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elsewhere in the chat, Baxter recalls a formative encounter with Jimi Hendrix<\/a> before the latter\u2019s rise to stardom \u2013 one that left a lasting impression not just for his playing, but his personality.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was at Jimmy\u2019s [Music Shop]. And he just walked in the store. Very nice guy,\u201d he says. \u201cI loved his guitar playing. To me, it was that welcoming thing. It was just a joy about it that I love. And then I got to sit in for one song and of course that blew up into me playing with Jimi Hendrix. But we became friends. We didn\u2019t see each other a lot, but you know, there are people that you see every once in a while and [it\u2019s like you saw them yesterday]. Very special guy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had no axe to grind and his life certainly wasn\u2019t easy, but I don\u2019t think \u2013 he could have been James Brown\u2026 And listen, I love James. I played with him. I love the guy, but there was a hardness, a hard edge to James. There was no hard edge to Jimmy at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watch the full interview below.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"1970s Los Angeles wasn\u2019t exactly known for moderation. Between the free-flowing booze, drugs, late-night sessions and occasional onstage…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":628128,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[1896,49,48,75,341,1352],"class_list":["post-628127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-artist","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-rock"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=628127"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628127\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/628128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=628127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=628127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=628127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}