Odds and Ends

A Redneck and a Smiling Face

Odds and Ends

From Richard Russell's Byrdmaniax Discography Pages:

I think all fans know of Topanga Skyline. The tracks were recorded in 1973 and were meant to be released as Skip Battin's second solo LP. They remain unreleased, purportedly because the oil shortages made the price of vinyl prohibitive. Tragically, Clarence White, who was to appear on the album, was killed while loading his equipment just prior to the start of recording . Playing on these tracks are Al Perkins, Roger Bush, Byron Berline, Alan Munde, Roland White, Chris Ethridge, Herb Pedersen, Bob Beeman and Mike Botts. This tape was sent by Skip to his son Brent in August 2002. Work was done on the tape in order to release it on CD, but Skip's death stopped the project. Brent and Scott Stevens are still working to find a way to release it.

This is unconfirmed, but I include it because I HOPE it is true.

From The Best NRPSBlog in the World:

There was almost more to the Skip Battin story. There once was a demo called "Starlite Special" (from from the NRPS song "Strangers on a Train"). This is from his lady Peggy regarding the demo.

It is one he and I put together here in his studio in the house. It is a compilation from several older material sources which we assembled and tweaked a little to meet his perfectionist standards. When it was finished it was sent out to several producers around the country. Among them was Burnside Records in Portland. We hand delivered it to Terry Currier late one night when we went up to see Gene Parsons perform. Later Terry contacted Skip and wanted to produce a CD. We worked at a studio in Portland for 2 days, but then Skip's alzheimers began to cause him problems playing, so we had to stop in the middle and it was never finished.

If not for the Alzheimers, there would have been another collection of Skip's great work. Wish it could have been finished. I'll bet it would have been great.

We're all saddened to hear that Sneaky Pete Kleinow has been diagnosed with Alzheimers. As we know, Sneaky played on just about everything Skip did post NRPS. All our prayers, good wishes or what ever one does in this situation go out to Sneaky and his family.

Update 12/12/06

"I want all the fans, musicians and media to know that my father was
diagnosed with Alzheimer's about a year ago. It hit him so hard and fast
that he is now living in a skilled nursing facility. He would enjoy
receiving a card, photo or note from you." - Anita Kleinow (daughter)

Please no phone calls or emails.

Sneaky's mailing address is:

Sneaky Pete Kleinow
c/o The Oakes
450 Hayes St.

Petaluma, CA 94952

Lets show Sneaky some love.

For more on Sneaky Pete- See the RIP Sneaky Pete page

More recent pic of Sneaky Pete

I bet Sneaky and Skip are making some great music up there.

As long as we remember, Skip lives!

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