Skip Boone died July 10 at his home in Westhampton Beach.
In 1953, when he was 16 and the oldest of four brothers living in the Pocono Mountains of eastern Pennsylvania, he took up playing the guitar. At first it was an acoustic, but soon he’d started playing electric. At the time, electric guitars were relatively new on the music scene, but it was the instrument of choice for musicians such as Bill Haley, front-man for the Comets, a fact that Mr. Boone could not help but notice. When his family moved to St. Augustine, Florida, in 1954, he and several of his new friends, including Arthur Osborne, formed one of the first rock bands in northeast Florida. The Blue Suedes took their name from a hit record by a new music sensation, Elvis Presley. From that point on, Mr. Boone devoted his life to playing, performing, learning and teaching others the beauty of guitar in rock music, survivors said.
In 1957, Mr. Boone and Mr. Osborne, the Blue Suedes lead singer, traveled to Nashville, hoping to get two of their newly written songs on the radio, perhaps even appear at the Grand Ole Opry. At the same time, RCA Records had just hired a young producer named Chet Atkins and assigned him to produce these new songs by the young men from Florida.
While the songs did get produced and they did get to stand in the wings at the Grand Ole Opry stage during a performance, their songs never made it to the Hit Parade. That did not deter Mr. Boone as he followed his family to the East End, where he would become well known as a performer and music teacher.
Mr. Boone also worked as a high-end paint contractor to support himself. He soon found his way back to his acoustic guitar and found a new audience at Jack of Eagles in East Hampton and Ashawagh Hall in Springs.
In 1965, he and future Lovin’ Spoonful drummer Joe Butler started up the first electrified band to play in Greenwich Village. The Sellouts would shake up the folk scene and had quite a few pass-the-hat folk musicians come by to see the electric performance, survivors said. Among them were two musicians looking for a bass player and drummer to round out a band they hoped to form. John Sebastian and Zal Yanovsky became fans of The Sellouts and Mr. Boone eventually recommended his brother, Steve, for their bass gig. Mr. Butler left The Sellouts to join them, and The Lovin’ Spoonful was born.
Mr. Boone soon realized that his future in rock would depend on finding a group of like-minded musicians to create a sound that was new as it was untested. With the help of his brother Steve and band mate Mr. Yanovsky, he recorded a demo record that RCA Records liked and signed. AutoSalvage, as the band was called, went on to receive critical acclaim and was considered ahead of its time. When Led Zeppelin would top the charts, that band would be compared to AutoSalvage, which had by that time disbanded. Mr. Boone was headed back to Long Island, starting a family in the 1980s.
Even as his young family was occupying much of his time after work, he kept his musical skills sharp. He never lost his interest in music and helped many young musicians along the way.
Survivors said his success is measured by way he influenced a generation of musicians on their way up, including his son James, who has taken up a career in music and lives in New York City. In addition to James, he is survived by his son Emmett and wife Julienne of Westhampton; daughter Lauren of Westhampton Beach; brothers, Steve, Charles and Michael; grandchildren, Ryleigh and Isaiah; and cousins, EJ Kane, Diane Soudas, Richard Sweeney and their spouses and children.
A memorial service took place on July 16 in Eastport.
on Aug 10, 2015