Dylan's Never-Ending band:
The death of Bucky Baxter, 25 May 2020 - (Michael Gray on Facebook)
Tony Garnier -
Stuart Kimball -
George Receli -
Denny Freeman -
Don Herron -
Bucky Baxter, Pedal-Steel Great Who Toured With Bob Dylan, Dead at 65 - (Rolling Stone)
olof@hsn.sll.se (Olof Björner): In 1992 Dylan added the multi-instrumentalist (assorted guitars (steel, slide, dobro etc) Bucky Baxter, thus giving the band a softer, more country like sound. Replaced by Charlie Sexton in Dylan's tour band from June 5, 1999. Number of Dylan shows played by Bucky: 1992 - 92 1993 - 80 1994 - 104 1995 - 116 1996 - 86 1997 - 95 incl. bologna, beverly hills & phoenix (all above according to Olof's files) 1997 - 118 (according to Bill's setlists) 1998 - 47 (according to Bill, up to May 2) total of 739. (Counted by Carsten Wohlfeld, May 30, 1999)
To: HWY61-L@listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu Cc: Karl Erik Andersen (karlerik@monet.no) Subject: Discography for Bucky Baxter (updated a little) From: "Nishimura, Itsuko" (VFF20242@nifty.ne.jp) Date: Tue, 20 Apr 1999 23:55:27 +0900 Discography for the band (updated a little) William (Bucky) Baxter: Pedal Steel Guitar, Lap steel guitar, Dobro, Guitar (Steel, Acoustic, Electric), 6-striing Bass, Mandolin, Zither, Vocals, Vocals (bckgr), Multi Instruments. Appeared on: year artist title 1986 Steve Earle Guitar Town 1987 Steve Earle Exit O 1988 Steve Earle Copperhead Road 1988 REM Green 1990 Steve Earle The Hard Way 1991 Steve Earle Shut up and Die Like an Aviator (Live) 1992 Suzy Bogguss Voices in the Wind 1993 Paul Metsa Whistling Past the Graveyard 1995 Bob Dylan MTV Unplugged 1996 Steve Earle Ain't Ever Satisfied: The Steve Earle Collection 1996 Joe Henry Trampoline 1996 Jim Lauderdale Persimmons 1996 [Various Artists] Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 1997 Sara Evans Three Chords & the Truth 1997 [Various Artists] Songs of Jimmie Rodgers -Tribute 1997 Bob Dylan Time Out of Mind ? Steve Earle BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert Steve Earle (live Cd only released in Europe) 1998 Bob Dylan Not Dark Yet [single CD] 1998 Bob Dylan Love Sick [single CD] - First show with Bob in Springfield, Illinois on August 19, 1989. At that time, he was member of Steve Earle's band, the support act during the part of the tour. - Joined Bob's tour band from the show in Perth, Western Australia on March 18, 1992. - Has known as "formar mayor of Bluefield, West Virginia". But it seems a Bob's joke influenced by Bill Monroe. - Has also introduced as, "played on Bill Monroe's early recordings" "once shot a man just to watch him die." etc? - Album, titled "Most Likely, No Problem" has not been released yet. Source: - All-Music Guide, http://205.186.189.2/cg/AMG.exe?sql=2P_IDP||||55049 - Music Central http://musiccentral.msn.com/Artist/Display/503465 - ISIS, Issue 73, P.43 - Tangled Up In Tapes by Glen Dundas - Olof Bjorner's Yearly Chronicles - EDLIS The Bob Dylan Who's Who - rec.music.dylan/HWY61-L posts - CD now - Music Boulevard - Deja News And thank you for Kevin, Rich and all who emailed information to me. - Itsuko
Subject: Re: Bucky Baxter Departure From: Glynne Walley tgwalley@email.msn.com Date: 23 Jul 1999 07:07:33 -0700 >I simply do not believe that the full impact of Bucky's >departure has yet been felt (and it may not become evident >for some time yet). I do believe that at some point in the >future the true value of Bucky's contributions will >become evident to more and more people. I sort of agree. I mean, there was some discussion of Bucky's departure, and many people did express appreciation for his work, but I never saw the kind of elegizing that I had kind of expected. Maybe people were just distracted by the looming Dylan/Simon tour (not to mention whatever lame controversies were raging here then). I wasn't reading the newsgroup when Winston or JJ left--what was the reaction then? As for appreciation of his contributions, well, I think that the same thing could be said of the NET as a whole. The book just hasn't been written yet. I mean that literally: there just hasn't yet been a book published to put the NET years into the kind of relief and perspective that Scaduto did with the '60s, or Heylin with the '80s (even though I disagree with a lot of what he says, I welcomed the attention he gave that decade in his bio). I agree, though: I think that when the book does get written, Bucky will be fondly remembered as the defining element in Bob's sound during (so far) the best years of the NET. And if the writer of that book agrees with me that the best moments of the NET rank up with the best live work Bob has ever done, then that will be high praise indeed. It goes without saying that Bucky is a fantastic steel guitar player. People also repeatedly commented that he could make the thing sound amazingly like an organ when he wanted to. I think that's where his genius lay. Not in disguising the sound of his instrument so much as in stretching it to accomodate the wide range of musical styles that Bob works in. I mean, think about the NET band before Bucky. Great at times--I'm definitely a fan of the GE Smith years--but with that kind of limited instrumentation, basically everything comes out sounding like a garage band. Adding another instrument brought the possibility of added color to the music. But still, one normally thinks of the steel guitar as a fairly monotone instrument--i.e., it's a country instrument. And not all of Bob's stuff is country. But Bucky was just as effective on "Jokerman" and "Seeing The Real You At Last" as on "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight." If we're talking colors, well, Bucky could play in a whole lot of different colors. I guess you could say that he broadened the band's palette a whole lot more than a pedal steel player could normally be expected to do. I always wondered why Bob never hired a keyboard player, but really, with Bucky around, one would have been redundant. So I definitely think Bucky's contributions to Bob's live work were valuable. If there were an MVP award for Bob's sidemen, he'd've taken it three or four years running; if there were a Hall of Fame for Bob's sidemen, he'd be a shoo-in. Glynne np: The Band: mix
Subject: Re: Bucky Baxter Departure From: John Junker Junkerman@email.msn.com Date: Fri, 23 Jul 1999 15:40:52 -0400 I have to say as a very highly critical musician I had never before heard a Rock and Rock band that sounded like Bobs with Bucky in 98. It was a sound that was full of color and emotions. It was a melding of everything Bob had done over the years, it was old and it was new and I hope it will be a reference point for many musicians for years to come. The sound for me was a revelation, I never imagined it or expected it. What more can I say.... Regards, JJ www.buckybaxter.com
