Editing Jeff Baxter (section)

==Music career==
{{BLP sources section|date=August 2022}}

===Early years===
Baxter joined his first band at age 11.<ref name= rocker /> At the Taft School, he played drums in a band called King Thunder and the Lightning Bolts.<ref>{{cite journal| title= King Thunder Band| first= Chris "Kit"| last= Brown| journal= Taft Bulletin| url= https://www.taftschool.org/uploaded/Bulletin/2016Summer/TaftSum16spreads.pdf |date= Summer 2016| page= 5| publisher= Taft School| access-date= September 5, 2017}}</ref> While still a high school student, he worked at Jimmy's Music Shop in Manhattan in 1966. At Jimmy's, Baxter met guitarist [[Jimi Hendrix]], who was just beginning his career as a [[frontman]].<ref name="Roby">{{Cite book| last = Roby| first = Steven| title = Black Gold: The Lost Archives of Jimi Hendrix| location = New York City| publisher = [[Billboard Books]]| year = 2002| isbn = 0-8230-7854-X| pages = 53–54}}</ref> Later, Baxter claimed to have sat in with the Hendrix-led band [[Jimmy James and the Blue Flames]], when the regular bassist could not make the show.<ref name="Roby"/>  Moving to Boston to attend college, Baxter worked as a guitar technician and amplifier repairman at Jack's Drum Shop on Boylston Street.

Baxter first reached a wide rock audience in 1968 as a member of the [[psychedelic rock]] band [[Ultimate Spinach]].<ref name= rocker>{{cite news |url= https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB111689939107541385 | title= Rocker Jeff Baxter Moves and Shakes In National Security| first= Yochi J.| last= Dreazen| author-link= Yochi Dreazen| date= May 24, 2005| work= [[The Wall Street Journal]] | access-date= September 5, 2017 | via= [[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]| archive-date= June 7, 2015| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150607015454/http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB111689939107541385}} [http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05144/509629.stm Alt URL]</ref>

Baxter joined the band for ''[[Ultimate Spinach III]]'', their third and final album.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title = Jeff Baxter (credits)|url = http://www.discogs.com/artist/336761-Jeff-Baxter?filter_anv=0&type=Credits| website = Discogs.com |access-date = 2015-12-27}}</ref> After leaving the band, he played with the [[Holy Modal Rounders]] and backed singer [[Buzzy Linhart]].<ref name=AOL /><ref>{{Cite web|title = GP Flashback : Jeff Baxter, December 1980|url = http://www.guitarplayer.com/article/gp-flashback--jeff-baxter-december-1980/3998|website = Guitarplayer.com|access-date = 2015-12-27|last = Obrecht|first = Jas|archive-date = July 20, 2013|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130720123346/http://www.guitarplayer.com/article/gp-flashback--jeff-baxter-december-1980/3998|url-status = dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title = GP Flashback : The Doobie Brothers, June 1976|url = http://www.guitarplayer.com/article/gp-flashback--the-doobie-brothers-june-1976/3999|website = Guitarplayer.com|access-date = 2015-12-27|last = Menn|first = Don|archive-date = December 3, 2013|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131203004531/http://www.guitarplayer.com/article/gp-flashback--the-doobie-brothers-june-1976/3999|url-status = dead}}</ref> He was using the moniker "Skunk" by this time; so far, Baxter has kept the origin of the nickname a secret.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-may-20-me-39121-story.html|title=Origin of Ex-Doobie's Nickname Revealed--Well, Maybe|first1=Miguel|last1=Bustillo|first2=Patrick|last2=McGreevy|date=May 20, 1999|access-date=December 14, 2017|website=Articles.latimes.com}}</ref>

===With Steely Dan===
After the breakup of Ultimate Spinach, Baxter relocated to Los Angeles, finding work as a [[session guitarist]].

In 1972, he became a founding member of the band [[Steely Dan]], along with guitarist [[Denny Dias]], guitarist-bassist [[Walter Becker]], keyboardist-vocalist [[Donald Fagen]], drummer [[Jim Hodder (musician)|Jim Hodder]] and vocalist [[David Palmer (vocalist)|David Palmer]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/entertainment/music/story/2022-07-31/jeff-skunk-baxter-a-rock-hall-of-famer-and-u-s-government-defense-contractor-picks-carefully|title=Jeff 'Skunk' Baxter is a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee and a ballistic missile and anti-terrorism expert|date=July 31, 2022|newspaper=[[San Diego Union-Tribune]]|access-date=November 16, 2023}}</ref>

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. He contributed the guitar [[Fill (music)|fills]] and signature solo heard on the group's highest charting hit "[[Rikki Don't Lose That Number]]."<ref name=":0" />

===With The Doobie Brothers===
[[File:The Doobie Brothers - Jeff Skunk Baxter.jpg|thumb|Baxter performing with [[The Doobie Brothers]] in the 70s.]]
While finishing work on ''Pretzel Logic'', Baxter became aware of Becker and Fagen's intentions to retire Steely Dan from touring and work almost exclusively with session players. 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 had contributed pedal steel guitar on ''Vices'' as well as "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 (The Doobie Brothers album)|Stampede]]''. He contributed an acoustic interlude ("Precis") and significant turns on slide and pedal steel guitar.

While preparing to tour in support of ''Stampede'', Doobie Brothers founder [[Tom Johnston (US musician)|Tom Johnston]] was hospitalized with a stomach ailment. To fill in for Johnston on vocals, Baxter suggested bringing in singer-keyboardist [[Michael McDonald (singer)|Michael McDonald]], with whom Baxter had worked in Steely Dan. With Johnston still convalescing, McDonald soon was invited to join the band full-time. McDonald's vocal and songwriting contributions, as well as Baxter's jazzier guitar style, marked a new direction for the band. They went on to continued success with the 1976 album ''[[Takin' It to the Streets (The Doobie Brothers album)|Takin' It to the Streets]]'', 1977's ''[[Livin' on the Fault Line]]'', and particularly 1978's ''[[Minute by Minute]]'', which spent five weeks as the #1 album in the U.S. and spawned several hit singles; Baxter's work on the album includes an extended solo at the end of the closing track "How Do the Fools Survive?".

In early 1979, Baxter left the band, as did drummer and band co-founder [[John Hartman]].

===Later music career===
Baxter has continued working 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]], [[Tim Weisberg]], [[Joni Mitchell]], [[Ricky Nelson]], [[Dolly Parton]], [[Carly Simon]], [[Ringo Starr]], [[Gene Simmons]], [[Rod Stewart]], [[Burton Cummings]], [[Barbra Streisand]], and [[Donna Summer]].<ref name=AOL /> He has worked as a touring musician for [[Elton John]],<ref name=AOL /> [[Linda Ronstadt]],<ref name=AOL /> and [[Billy Vera and the Beaters]].

In 1982, he featured on [[Spirit (band)|Spirit]]'s album ''Spirit of '84,'' released as ''[[The Thirteenth Dream]]'' outside of the US.<ref>[{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r18663/review|pure_url=yes}} Review of ''Spirit of '84''] at Allmusic.com</ref>

In 1984, Baxter played keyboards with [[Bobby and the Midnites]]' [[Bob Weir]], [[Billy Cobham]], [[Bobby Cochran]], [[Kenny Gradney]] ("Tigger"), and Dave Garland at the Capitol Theatre in Passaic, New Jersey.<ref name="BobbyMidnitesConcert">{{cite web| url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syEOq1Syr4I |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/syEOq1Syr4I| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live| via= YouTube| title= Bobby and The Midnites - Full Concert - 08/01/84 - Capitol Theatre (Official)|date=December 29, 2014 | place= Capitol Theatre (Passaic, New Jersey)| access-date= September 5, 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref> That same year, he produced and played guitar and synthesizer on the band's album ''[[Where the Beat Meets the Street]]'' on Columbia Records.

In 1986, Baxter joined [[James Brown]] and [[Maceo Parker]] on guitar for several North American tour dates.<ref name="Ritz 1986">''[http://www.musicvault.com/james-brown/video/theres-no-business-like-show-business-cold-sweat_1011948.html 1/26/1986 - Ritz (New York, NY)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518091432/http://www.musicvault.com/james-brown/video/theres-no-business-like-show-business-cold-sweat_1011948.html |date=May 18, 2015 }}'', Music Vault</ref>

In 1990, Baxter joined [[John Entwistle]], [[Joe Walsh]], [[Keith Emerson]], [[Simon Phillips (drummer)|Simon Phillips]] and relatively unknown vocalist Rick Livingstone in a [[Supergroup (music)|supergroup]] called [[The Best (band)|The Best]].  The group released a live performance video in Japan before disbanding. He also produced two albums for the [[hard rock]] band [[Nazareth (band)|Nazareth]], and also produced albums for [[Carl Wilson]], [[Livingston Taylor]], [[The Ventures]], and [[Nils Lofgren]]. He was producer on the 1982 [[Bob Welch (musician)|Bob Welch]] album [[Eye Contact (Bob Welch album)|''Eye Contact'']]. In 1991 Baxter also produced a documentary video, "Guitar" (Warner Brothers VHS and LaserDisc), in which he travels the world and interviews guitarists he admires. In 1994 he performed on the video game ''[[Tuneland]]''.

In 1997 Baxter [[Film score|scored]] the movie ''The Curse of Inferno''.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-07-21-re-26379-story.html|title='J.R.' Will Sell Malibu Spread|last=Ryon|first=Ruth|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=July 21, 1996|access-date=July 25, 2019}}</ref>

Baxter continues to do studio work, most recently on tribute albums to [[Pink Floyd]] and [[Aerosmith]]. In 2012, he appeared on keyboardist [[Brian Auger]]'s ''Language of the Heart'', and [[The Beach Boys]]' ''[[That's Why God Made the Radio]]''. He also 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 Jr.]], former United States [[Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs]]. On June 19, 2007, Baxter jammed with former White House Press Secretary [[Tony Snow]]'s band Beats Workin' at the [[Congressional Picnic]] held on the White House South Lawn.

===Other media===
Baxter appeared on the TV sitcom ''[[What's Happening!!]]'' in the two-part episode "Doobie or Not Doobie" (1978) as a member of the Doobie Brothers.

Baxter worked on the animated TV series ''[[King of the Hill]] '' in 1997, composing songs for three episodes: "Peggy the Boggle Champ", "Hank's Unmentionable Problem", and "Square Peg". Also in 1997, he worked on two other TV series as a composer: ''[[The Blues Brothers]] Animated Series'' and ''The Curse of Inferno''. He composed for ''[[Shelley Duvall|Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories]]'' TV series episode "Bootsie Barker Bites/Ruby the Copycat" in 1993, the ''[[Pee-wee's Playhouse]]'' episode "Tons of Fun"  in 1987, and the ''[[Beverly Hills, 90210]]'' episode "The Green Room" in 1990. He is credited on the movie soundtrack for the feature film ''[[Roxanne (film)|Roxanne]]'' (1987) as writer and producer for the songs "Party Tonight" and "Can This Be Love". Other credits include music for ''[[Class of 1984]]'' (1982): "You Better Not Step Out of Line" and as a performer on "Suburbanite".{{citation needed|date= September 2017}} He appeared in the film ''[[Blues Brothers 2000]]'' and can be heard on the cast album.

Baxter has appeared in a number of documentaries, including ''[[Jan & Dean]]: The Other [[Beach Boys]]'' (2002), ''[[The History of Rock 'n' Roll]]'' (1995), ''[[American Bandstand]]'s 40th Anniversary Special'' (1995), ''Emerson'' (2013), ''Turn It Up!'' (2013), ''[[Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who]]'' (2007), ''Overnight'' (2003), ''The Doobie Brothers: Let the Music Play'' (2012), ''The Making of 'Blues Brothers 2000' '' (1998) and ''Guitar'' (1991).<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,315571,00.html|title = Guitar|website = EW.com|date = 1991-09-20|access-date = October 19, 2014|archive-date = December 21, 2009|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091221094521/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,315571,00.html|url-status = dead}}</ref>