MASTER MUSICIAN

Steely Dan and Doobie Brothers legend Jeff ‘Skunk’ Baxter shares vivid memories of the “joyous” experience of playing alongside Les Paul

Words Jamie Dickson

“There are guitar owners, there are guitar players, and then there are guitarists. Les was a guitarist. The man was the personification of excellence,” Jeff ‘Skunk’ Baxter says, with some authority. Jeff is one of the most respected players in the world, who was a founding member of Steely Dan and a session ace with a list of credits any player would envy. Indeed, his solos on tracks such as Steely Dan’s Bodhisattva and My Old School gave the band a reputation for hot playing. But just as thousands of aspiring guitarists have looked up to Jeff’s guitar work, so Jeff has always held special regard for a master of an earlier generation: Les Paul. “There was a lot of stuff for a human brain to decode [in Les’s music],…

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Guitarist (Digital) - 1 Issue, October 2021

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