Bob Baxter

Bob and his then wife Carol taught guitar and other classes for several years back in the 1960s and 1970s at McCabe's Guitar Shop in Santa Monica. I was one of those students. He also wrote a column for Sing Out magazine and later Guitar Player magazine.

Bob and Carol split off from McCabe's and started "Bob Baxter's Guitar Workshop" which was in a building at Main and Hill in Santa Monica. They also published at least one issue of a magazine. He put out quite a number of instructional books over the years (now out of print). In the mid-70s Bob even had a TV show on CBS where he talked and jammed with guest guitarists, like Ry Cooder and Clarence White. Bob put out at least one LP (I happened upon a used copy). I remember that the Baxters lived out in a nifty house in Topanga Canyon. Bob was quite a force in the Southern California folk music scene.

But alas the Workshop closed after a bit and Bob got out of the music business. He got divorced, moved to NYC and made a living as a writer. Larry Flynt asked him to become the editor of Skin & Ink magazine.

2006 news! Bob Baxter has gotten back into performing and has recorded a CD, Lucky Me. You might also want to visit the Bob Baxter MySpace page. Bob now lives in Portland, OR.

Update June 2015: Charles Johnson (a former student of Bob's) wrote to tell me that Bob Baxter passed away recently, from cancer.