Mail Bag TOO

Hello,

I just found your website on Skip Battin and am very impressed, and it is
extremely interesting.  I had started looking for information on him about a
year ago, and was very shocked to hear that he passed away.  I am originally
from the Salem/Silverton/Mt. Angel area, where Skip lived and had a berry
farm.  In the 1990's, the Silverton Appeal published an article about a
musician who had set up a studio and was doing some recording....my memory is a bit vague.  Anyway, I was surprised to hear that this man had been
involved with so many great bands.  Years passed, and I moved away....only
to hear that he had passed away.

Recently, I found some of his Byrds material/work on I-Tunes, and have
really enjoyed it.  I plan on buying the Byrds albums that he played on this
weekend.

Anyway, I really like your website, and think it is great.  Do you know if
Skip played on any of the Byrds live albums, like at the Fillmore, or was
that to early?  Thanks for taking the time to read my message.

(I let Rob know about the Music Vault site that has three 1970-71 concerts. He is going to attempt to find the article he alluded to and if he can locate it we will post it on the site.)

Dennis - excerpts from "WHS Newsletter" of Worthington
(OH) High School 50s and 60s grads:

Pete Zuidema 65 (Arlington VA): It appears that our
Clyde "Skip" Battin, WHS '52, is indeed Skip of "Skip
and Flip" fame.  He was born in Gallipolis, OH, in
1934 and listed as a graduate in the WHS '52
Commencement Program on the "Worthington Memory"
website. They had hits with "It Was I" in '59 and
"Cherry Pie" in '60.  Skip later did bass guitar,
piano and vocals with the Byrds, New Riders of the
Purple Sage, and Flying Burrito Brothers, as well as
various other solo, duo, band and session gigs.  He
died in 2003 at age 69.

Lanny Wilson aka Alan Gray 64 (Las Vegas NV): Note to
Brian Bell 63 - Clyde "Skip" Battin was born in
Gallipolis, OH in 1934, graduated from WHS on June 5,
1952. He did play football and according to my brother
who was in the class of '54, was a 2nd string
quarterback. He had previously attended East High
School, coming to WHS as a sophomore. One interesting
thing; he brought a "cheer" to WHS from East that was
used for years, maybe still is. My brother couldn't
remember how the cheer went. After "Skip & Flip,"
Clyde went on to play with "The Byrds" 1969-72 and
"The New Riders Of The Purple Sage" 1974-76. He passed
away in 2003 from complications from Alzheimer's
disease. Forgive me if it's way too much information!

Molly Inscho 65 (Saratoga Springs NY): To Brian Bell
63 - Yes, Clyde Battin was Skip of Skip and Flip.
Another not so well known record was the "Jackie
Look".  Betsey Potter 65 and I (and Erica Frazier)
sang back up on that one.  What a thrill that was.
I'll never forget the jam sessions and the recording
dates.

Maris Bennington Clary 57 (Worthington OH): I've just
been catching up with my newsletters and felt that I
had to add my two cents worth to the information about
Clyde Battin 52.  He did bring a cheer to Worthington
when he transferred.  It was done at the end of the
third quarter of all the basketball games.  For that
reason it was called the Third Quarter Cheer.  It was
interactive.  Clyde would get out in front of our
crowd and everyone clapped in unison throughout the
cheer.  Clyde would say "What's the matter with the
team?" and the crowd would reply "The team's
allright!." I won't go through the entire cheer, but I
do remember every word of it.  Pretty good for someone
who sometimes can't remember what she wore yesterday!
I, as did many of the girls in Worthington, had a
schoolgirl crush on Clyde.  I can picture him now out
in front of the stationary bleachers at the elementary
school, where WHS played basketball games before the
new high school was built.  After Clyde graduated,
other guys did the cheer, but the only one who comes
to mind was Paul Landis 53 I'm certain that it wasn't
being done in the late seventies when my sons were at
WHS.

FROM Molly

Hi!
Sorry it's taken me so long to get in touch..........my life is in
total limbo.

Pete said to fill you in on my saga with Skip.   As we've been seeing
on our WHS newsletter, Skip caused hearts to race all through
Worthington and beyond.   I was a pup when he crossed my path.

Skip was still in touch with his high school friend, Jack Bartley, when
he was planning to record the timely tune of The Jackie Look - while
the Kennedy era reined in the U.S.    He asked Jack to contact the
choir director - Mr. Wink, at that time - at the high school and get
three sopranos from his choirs who could read music and catch on
quickly.  Betsey Potter, Erica Frazier and I were chosen and introduced
to Skip.  There were a couple of jam sessions before taping and then
the recording.  I think it was somewhere in Grandview, as I recall.
Still makes me happy to think about it.  What magnetism he had!!   I
was thrilled since "Cherry Pie" had been one of my favorites.   I liked
anything I could harmonize with and still do!

Not as exciting as others' stories, perhaps, but fun to have in my
memory bank!

Thanks for this fabulous site!
Molly
GREAT story, Molly! Thanks for sharing it with all of us.

Hi From Ray in Scotland,

my wife and i had the privililege of meeting Skip after a Michael Clark Byrds' concert in Paisley in 1988.Skip stayed behind after and came out to talk and mix with an appreciative audience and was a real gentleman and a very peaceful guy,willing to talk about anything related to the Byrds or Flying Burrittos.I donated my copy of FARTHER ALONG magazine to him as he missed that particular one and asked him a lot about the Byrds songs and what was happenningw ith other members..nothing was too much trouble for him! To top a great evening he gave me his autograph with 'KEEP ON FLYING' written on it.One of my best concerts!

To hear Skip and sneaky having a great time track down Sneaky and Skip live in Italy friends..a great concert!

Thanks for the website!

PEACE!

Thank you for sharing this great story with us!

Hi, I wanted to pass on to you what a great site you have. I grew up with Brent Battin in Topanga. Yes Skip is and will always be one of the greatest bass players of all times. Brent is a great guitar player and still has many of his fathers guitars. I have many fond memories of Skip during the Topanga years. Brent and I talk 1-3 times a week and occasionally play music, and yes I do play Skips bass it still feels great. Thanks for a great site for Skip.

Gary Miller

Webmaster,

  I really like the web page on Skip. Maybe a myspace
page is in the works? Someone asked you if Skip was on
the Fillmore CD from '69. He is not, it was John York
on bass (You probably knew that). It's a shame
Columbia in their infinite wisdom (sarcsm there)
decided to pull the later Byrds albums so they are no
longer in print on CD. Rosemary, Clarence's sister, is
right, we need to see more later Byrds stuff in print,
not just video (which would be great), but how about
keeping 'Farther Along' and 'Byrdmaniax' in print?
Sony/Columbia says for lack of sales. More and more
people are discovering Skip and Clarence every day,
like me, a newer fan. Fortunately I am also a record
collector and got some of them on LP, but cant get the
CDs. Where else can I find in print great Skip tracks,
like 'Absolute Happiness'? A true gem of a song there.
  It's touching too that Skip and Clarence's families
and other relatives and fellow musicians come here and
post, further keeping their memory and legacy alive.
Thanks so much for this site, Skip was awesome!

                                John Dunkerley
                              Casper, Wyoming, USA

Ahh, MySpace. If anyone would like to set one up we could share content, but I can bearly keep up with the things I have already. The wikipedia entry for Skip was made by a reader mostly using the content from this site.

I met Skip in the Silverton mobil estates in about 93. My mother and father in law's live there and knew him very well. A kinder person i never knew. He helped our with the signs for the quilt show the year i met him. He told me about his days with the Byrds and Rock and Roll. Of course i remember the Byrds very well. He will be missed by everyone who knew him or loved his music. Richard Hoblitt Silverton Oregon

Hello..
Just wanted to say great site...im late in finding it...I worked with skip at the Alzheimers home where he passed away...he was a great guy and one thing i will always recall is his rock star hair...lol even though the alzheimers had took its toll he still loved music...last time i saw him we were in the hospital at the same time...but he still knew me ..I wish i could of known him more.. anyway thanks for the site great stuff

Jarrod Miller
Salem Or

Hi,
I'm so glad to find
the Skip's homepage
I had the pleasure
to know him and to record
with him in 1982 sessions for
my Appaloosa album "Personal Exile"
you can listen to the song Marina
del Rey with on guest Skip at
myspace.com/maxmeazza
and you can find a picture of me and Skip
at www.maxmeazza.com where you also can
find the cover of Personal Exile
My friend and my webmaster Lucio Maggio
took the picture for the album Navigator
and the jacket you see on the cover is my jacket.....
sorry just old memories !
thank you
all the best
Max
maxmeazza.com

I remember seeing the Byrds play during graduation week at the U. S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. As incongruous as it seemed to have a great hippy band play the Naval Academy, Annapolis and Annapolitans had gotten used to accepting wide diversities. Across the street from the Naval Academy is Saint John's College, about as far left as the academy is right.

I'm fuzzy on the year, but I'm pretty sure it was before I got into radio as a progressive music DJ in late 1970. We called it "free form" radio back then. There were no music lists telling us what to play. We created our own continuity. The Byrds were a big part of that music scene for us.

I thought it pretty surreal that the Byrds, who were mostly appealing to us hippie types, would be performing for the midshipmen at the Naval Academy. (What does this say about the universality of their music?) The concert took place in the USNA Field House (a large athletic building), just inside Gate 1 of the grounds. I lived about four blocks from there. I went with three or four friends and we sat on the gymnasium floor, a lot closer to the group than would be allowed today. I don't remember individual songs, but it was a pretty trippy set. I remember Skip's beaming smile during the set. Always in tune and on time, at times he appeared lost in the space, staring up at the rafters of this huge building they were performing in.

Regards,

Ty Ford

Thanks for putting up and keeping this wonderful website in tribute to Skip Battin. I had the great pleasure of knowing Skip in the 1990's when he was an organic berry farmer in Oregon. What a great guy!!!!! His mental facilities were already beginning to fade but when he went into his studio and picked up a guitar the magic happened.... he was a great artist. He was always helping some young musician get going - working with him or her in his little studio there on the farm and then doing gigs together in little clubs in Portland. He was gentle and kind and patient and had a great sense of humor. I will never forget how he would plant a little patch of wild flowers at the ends of the berry rows - pleasing to the eye, uplifiting to the spirit, and good food and habitat to beneficial insects and butterflies.

Just a neat story I thought. One day I was at my sisters and brother in
laws house in Silverton Oregon. I was installing a CB radio in my
brother in laws pickup when some guy across the street yells "Hey! Look
at your license plate". We look over to see that my license plate is
only one letter or number different from the plate on his station wagon.
I asked my brother in law who he he was and while he was telling me Skip
headed across the street to us. Mike my brother in law asked Skip if he
had any of the video tapes to which Skip said he'd be right back.
Apparently he was at his ex wifes house and he live down the road so he
headed back to his trailer and brought back some VHS tapes. It was
amazing to see the back stage and other video of this guy and look over
and see this famous guy sitting there having a beer with us. Anyway, he
was a very cool guy. Even though I already like the Byrds it made me
look more into the life of this guy.
Ken

In the 80s I organized a tour with the so man-yest version of The Flying Burrito Brothers (Skip, Sneaky Pete, Greg Harris and Jim the drummer). We did The Netherlands, UK, Denmark, Germany, France, Belgium and Italy. That was my first and last encounter with Skip, a great warm person who impressed me so much. As it is with rock & roll, the tour must go on and live too. So I lost him out of track. From your website I learn that this gentle giant died. What a lost. I would like to express my condolences to his beloved family and friends. May God listen to his music above. It was a privilege to work with him and to listen to his wise words.

Willem Tijssen

The Netherlands (living in Sierra Leone, West Africa).

Hi all,

Just found your site and learned about Skips passing. I was lucky to have seen the Byrds play 8 or 9 times in the early 70's. Skip and Gene made a great rhythm section for Roger and Clarence and kept everything together. A live act that rivaled the Dead. (BTW, do you know where I can get the CD of the TC Williams or the American Universirty, Untitled Tour circa 70 or 71 ? It was the first time I saw them and there's a recording out there somewhere.)

I finally had a chance to meet Skip in 86? when he was a part of the Gene Clark Byrds Tribute show in Washington DC, he was playing with the Burrito Brothers. After the show most of the band members hung out and I had a nice talk with him. Even though he was tired, he took the time to talk about his career, music and anything else that I wanted to ramble on about. A real gentleman.

I hope you can keep adding to the site and wish you, his family and everyone that he touched the best.

Larry Paul
Springfield, VA

Thanks for the great rememberences! I do not know where you could get these tapes but if anyone does, contact the site and I will pass it on to Larry