Les Baxter
Encyclopedia
Les Baxter was an American
musician
and composer
.
Baxter studied piano
at the Detroit Conservatory before moving to Los Angeles
for further studies at Pepperdine College
. Abandoning a concert career as a pianist, he turned to popular music as a singer. At the age of 23 he joined Mel Tormé
's Mel-Tones, singing on Artie Shaw
records such as "What Is This Thing Called Love?
".
Baxter then turned to arranging and conducting for Capitol Records
in 1950, and conducted the orchestra of two early Nat King Cole
hits, "Mona Lisa
" and "Too Young
", but both were actually orchestrated by Nelson Riddle
(In later releases of the recordings the credit was corrected to Riddle.). This was not an uncommon practice those days: Baxter himself had arranged Nat King Cole's "Nature Boy
" in 1947 for a recording conducted by Frank De Vol
. In 1953 he scored his first movie, the sailing travelogue
Tanga Tika. With his own orchestra, he released a number of hits including "Ruby" (1953), "Unchained Melody
" (1955) and "The Poor People Of Paris
" (1956). He also achieved success with concept albums of his own orchestral suites: Le Sacre Du Sauvage, Festival Of The Gnomes, Ports Of Pleasure, and Brazil Now, the first three for Capitol and the fourth on Gene Norman's Crescendo label. The list of musicians on these recordings includes Plas Johnson
and Clare Fischer
. Baxter also wrote the "Whistle" theme from the TV show Lassie
.
Baxter did not restrict his activities to recording. As he once told Soundtrack! magazine, "I never turn anything down".
In the 1960s, he formed the Balladeers, a conservative folk group in suits that at one time featured a young David Crosby
. He worked in radio
as musical director of The Halls of Ivy
and the Bob Hope
and Abbott and Costello
shows.
Like his counterparts Henry Mancini
and Lalo Schifrin
, Baxter later worked for the film industry in the 60's and 70's. He worked on movie soundtracks for B-movie studio American International Pictures
where he composed and conducted scores for Roger Corman
's Edgar Allan Poe
films and other horror stories and teenage musicals, including The Pit and the Pendulum
, The Comedy of Terrors
, Muscle Beach Party
, The Dunwich Horror
, and Frogs. Howard W. Koch
recalled that Baxter composed, orchestrated and recorded the entire score of The Yellow Tomahawk (1954) in a total of three hours for $5,000.
When soundtrack work fell off in the 1980s, he scored music for theme parks such as SeaWorld
. In the 1990's, Baxter was widely celebrated, alongside Martin Denny
and Arthur Lyman
, as one of the progenitors of what had become known as the "exotica
" movement. In his 1996 appreciation for Wired
magazine, writer David Toop remembered Baxter thus: Baxter offered package tours in sound, selling tickets to sedentary tourists who wanted to stroll around some taboo emotions before lunch, view a pagan
ceremony, go wild in the sun or conjure a demon, all without leaving home hi-fi comforts in the white suburbs.
Les Baxter has a motion picture star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
at 6314 Hollywood Blvd.
Singles
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
and composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
.
Baxter studied piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
at the Detroit Conservatory before moving to Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
for further studies at Pepperdine College
Pepperdine University
Pepperdine University is an independent, private, medium-sized university affiliated with the Churches of Christ. The university's campus overlooking the Pacific Ocean in unincorporated Los Angeles County, California, United States, near Malibu, is the location for Seaver College, the School of...
. Abandoning a concert career as a pianist, he turned to popular music as a singer. At the age of 23 he joined Mel Tormé
Mel Tormé
Melvin Howard Tormé , nicknamed The Velvet Fog, was an American musician, known for his jazz singing. He was also a jazz composer and arranger, a drummer, an actor in radio, film, and television, and the author of five books...
's Mel-Tones, singing on Artie Shaw
Artie Shaw
Arthur Jacob Arshawsky , better known as Artie Shaw, was an American jazz clarinetist, composer, and bandleader. He was also the author of both fiction and non-fiction writings....
records such as "What Is This Thing Called Love?
What Is This Thing Called Love?
"What Is This Thing Called Love?"is a 1929 popular song written by Cole Porter, for the musical Wake Up and Dream. It was first performed by Elsie Carlisle in March 1929. The song has become a popular jazz standard and one of Porter's most often played compositions.Wake Up and Dream ran for 263...
".
Baxter then turned to arranging and conducting for Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
in 1950, and conducted the orchestra of two early Nat King Cole
Nat King Cole
Nathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres...
hits, "Mona Lisa
Mona Lisa (Nat King Cole song)
"Mona Lisa" is a song written by Ray Evans and Jay Livingston for the Paramount Pictures film Captain Carey, U.S.A. . It won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for 1950. The arrangement was by Nelson Riddle and the orchestral backing was played by Les Baxter and his Orchestra...
" and "Too Young
Too Young
"Too Young" is a popular song.The music was written by Sidney Lippman, the lyrics by Sylvia Dee. The song was published in 1951.In the United States, the best-known version of the song was recorded by Nat King Cole on February 6, 1951 and released by Capitol Records as catalog number 1449...
", but both were actually orchestrated by Nelson Riddle
Nelson Riddle
Nelson Smock Riddle, Jr. was an American arranger, composer, bandleader and orchestrator whose career stretched from the late 1940s to the mid 1980s...
(In later releases of the recordings the credit was corrected to Riddle.). This was not an uncommon practice those days: Baxter himself had arranged Nat King Cole's "Nature Boy
Nature Boy
Nature Boy is a song written by eden ahbez and later popularised by Nat King Cole. It may also refer to:In music:* "Nature Boy", a song by Primus from their album 'Pork Soda'...
" in 1947 for a recording conducted by Frank De Vol
Frank De Vol
Frank Denny De Vol, also known simply as De Vol was an American arranger, composer and actor.-Early life and career:...
. In 1953 he scored his first movie, the sailing travelogue
Travelogue
Travelogue is the second full-length studio album released by the British synthpop band The Human League, released in May 1980 before the band achieved any degree of commercial success....
Tanga Tika. With his own orchestra, he released a number of hits including "Ruby" (1953), "Unchained Melody
Unchained Melody
"Unchained Melody" is a 1955 song with music by Alex North and lyrics by Hy Zaret. It has become one of the most recorded songs of the 20th century, by some counts having spawned over 500 versions in hundreds of different languages....
" (1955) and "The Poor People Of Paris
The Poor People of Paris
"The Poor People of Paris" is a popular song, with "Paris" being pronounced as "pa-REE".It was adapted by Jack Lawrence in 1954 from the French language song "La goualante du pauvre Jean"...
" (1956). He also achieved success with concept albums of his own orchestral suites: Le Sacre Du Sauvage, Festival Of The Gnomes, Ports Of Pleasure, and Brazil Now, the first three for Capitol and the fourth on Gene Norman's Crescendo label. The list of musicians on these recordings includes Plas Johnson
Plas Johnson
Plas John Johnson Jr. is an American soul-jazz and hard bop tenor saxophonist, probably most familiar as the lead on Henry Mancini’s "The Pink Panther Theme"....
and Clare Fischer
Clare Fischer
Clare Fischer is an American composer, arranger, pianist and organist. His parents were of German, French, Irish-Scot, and English backgrounds.-Early years:...
. Baxter also wrote the "Whistle" theme from the TV show Lassie
Lassie (1954 TV series)
Lassie is an American television series that follows the adventures of a female Rough Collie named Lassie and her companions, human and animal. The show was the creation of producer Robert Maxwell and animal trainer Rudd Weatherwax and was televised from September 12, 1954, to March 24, 1973...
.
Baxter did not restrict his activities to recording. As he once told Soundtrack! magazine, "I never turn anything down".
In the 1960s, he formed the Balladeers, a conservative folk group in suits that at one time featured a young David Crosby
David Crosby
David Van Cortlandt Crosby is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. In addition to his solo career, he was a founding member of three bands: The Byrds, Crosby, Stills & Nash , and CPR...
. He worked in radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
as musical director of The Halls of Ivy
The Halls of Ivy
The Halls of Ivy is an NBC radio sitcom that ran from 1950-1952. It was created by Fibber McGee & Molly co-creator/writer Don Quinn before being adapted into a CBS television comedy produced by ITC Entertainment and Television Programs of America...
and the Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
and Abbott and Costello
Abbott and Costello
William "Bud" Abbott and Lou Costello performed together as Abbott and Costello, an American comedy duo whose work on stage, radio, film and television made them the most popular comedy team during the 1940s and 1950s...
shows.
Like his counterparts Henry Mancini
Henry Mancini
Henry Mancini was an American composer, conductor and arranger, best remembered for his film and television scores. He won a record number of Grammy Awards , plus a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously in 1995...
and Lalo Schifrin
Lalo Schifrin
Lalo Schifrin is an Argentine composer, pianist and conductor. He is best known for his film and TV scores, such as the "Theme from Mission: Impossible". He has received four Grammy Awards and six Oscar nominations...
, Baxter later worked for the film industry in the 60's and 70's. He worked on movie soundtracks for B-movie studio American International Pictures
American International Pictures
American International Pictures was a film production company formed in April 1956 from American Releasing Corporation by James H. Nicholson, former Sales Manager of Realart Pictures, and Samuel Z. Arkoff, an entertainment lawyer...
where he composed and conducted scores for Roger Corman
Roger Corman
Roger William Corman is an American film producer, director and actor. He has mostly worked on low-budget B movies. Some of Corman's work has an established critical reputation, such as his cycle of films adapted from the tales of Edgar Allan Poe, and in 2009 he won an Honorary Academy Award for...
's Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
films and other horror stories and teenage musicals, including The Pit and the Pendulum
The Pit and the Pendulum (1961 film)
The Pit and the Pendulum is a 1961 horror film directed by Roger Corman, starring Vincent Price, Barbara Steele, John Kerr, and Luana Anders. The screenplay by Richard Matheson was based on Edgar Allan Poe's short story of the same name. Set in 16th century Spain, the story is about a young...
, The Comedy of Terrors
The Comedy of Terrors
The Comedy of Terrors is an American International Pictures comedy horror film directed by Jacques Tourneur and starring Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff, and Joe E. Brown . The film also features Orangey the cat, billed as "Rhubarb the Cat"...
, Muscle Beach Party
Muscle Beach Party
Muscle Beach Party is the second of seven beach party films produced by American International Pictures. It was made in 1964 and was directed by William Asher, who also directed four other films in this series...
, The Dunwich Horror
The Dunwich Horror (film)
The Dunwich Horror is a 1970 B-movie from American International Pictures directed by Daniel Haller and produced by Roger Corman. The film was based on the short story of the same name by H.P. Lovecraft with a script co-written by future Academy Award winning director Curtis Hanson. This was the...
, and Frogs. Howard W. Koch
Howard W. Koch
Howard Winchel Koch was an American director and producer of motion pictures and television.Born in New York City, he attended DeWitt Clinton High School and the Peddie School in Hightstown, New Jersey...
recalled that Baxter composed, orchestrated and recorded the entire score of The Yellow Tomahawk (1954) in a total of three hours for $5,000.
When soundtrack work fell off in the 1980s, he scored music for theme parks such as SeaWorld
SeaWorld
SeaWorld is a United States chain of marine mammal parks, oceanariums, and animal theme parks owned by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. The parks feature captive orca, sea lion, and dolphin shows and zoological displays featuring various other marine animals. There are operations in Orlando,...
. In the 1990's, Baxter was widely celebrated, alongside Martin Denny
Martin Denny
Martin Denny was an American piano-player and composer best known as the "father of exotica." In a long career that saw him performing well into his 80s, he toured the world popularizing his brand of lounge music which included exotic percussion, imaginative rearrangements of popular songs, and...
and Arthur Lyman
Arthur Lyman
Arthur Lyman was an American jazz vibraphone and marimba player. His group popularized a style of faux-Polynesian music during the 1950s and 1960s which later became known as exotica...
, as one of the progenitors of what had become known as the "exotica
Exotica
Exotica is a musical genre, named after the 1957 Martin Denny album of the same title, popular during the 1950s to mid-1960s, typically with the suburban set who came of age during World War II. The musical colloquialism, exotica, means tropical ersatz: the non-native, pseudo experience of Oceania...
" movement. In his 1996 appreciation for Wired
Wired (magazine)
Wired is a full-color monthly American magazine and on-line periodical, published since January 1993, that reports on how new and developing technology affects culture, the economy, and politics...
magazine, writer David Toop remembered Baxter thus: Baxter offered package tours in sound, selling tickets to sedentary tourists who wanted to stroll around some taboo emotions before lunch, view a pagan
Paganism
Paganism is a blanket term, typically used to refer to non-Abrahamic, indigenous polytheistic religious traditions....
ceremony, go wild in the sun or conjure a demon, all without leaving home hi-fi comforts in the white suburbs.
Les Baxter has a motion picture star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
at 6314 Hollywood Blvd.
Discography
Album, Soundtrack & Compilation- (1947) Music Out of the Moon (composed by Harry RevelHarry RevelHarry Revel was an English composer of musical theatre.Revel was born in London. Before emigrating to the United States in 1929, he wrote musicals for productions in Paris, Copenhagen, Vienna and London....
) - (1948) Perfume Set To Music (composed by Harry Revel)
- (1949) Music for Peace of Mind
- (1950) Yma SumacYma SúmacYma Sumac was a noted Peruvian soprano. In the 1950s, she was one of the most famous proponents of exotica music. She became an international success based on her extreme vocal range, which was said to be "well over four octaves" and was sometimes claimed to span even five octaves at her peak.Yma...
: Voice Of The Xtabay - (1951) Arthur Murray Favorites: Tangos
- (1951) Ritual of the Savage (Le sacre du sauvage)
- (1953) Festival of the Gnomes (composed by Prince di Candriano)
- (1954) Thinking of You
- (1954) The Passions: Featuring Bas Sheva
- (1955) Arthur Murray Favorites: Modern Waltzes
- (1955) Kaleidoscope
- (1956) Tamboo!
- (1956) Les Baxter's La Femme
- (1956) Caribbean Moonlight
- (1957) Skins! Bongo Party with Les Baxter
- (1957) Round the World with Les Baxter
- (1957) Midnight on the Cliffs
- (1957) Ports of Pleasure
- (1958) Space Escapade
- (1958) Selections from Rodgers and Hammerstein's South PacificSouth Pacific (musical)South Pacific is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and book by Hammerstein and Joshua Logan. The story draws from James A. Michener's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1947 book Tales of the South Pacific, weaving together characters and elements from several of its...
- (1958) Confetti
- (1958) Love is a Fabulous Thing
- (1959) African Jazz
- (1959) Les Baxter's Jungle Jazz
- (1959) Les Baxter's Wild Guitars
- (1959) Barbarian (Goliath and the Barbarians) [OST]
- (1960) The Sacred Idol [OST]
- (1960) House Of Usher / The Fall Of The House Of Usher [OST]
- (1960) Les Baxter's Teen Drums
- (1960) Baxter's Best
- (1960) Young Pops
- (1961) Broadway '61
- (1961) Alakazam the Great [OST]
- (1961) Jewels of the Sea
- (1961) Master of the World [OST]
- (1961) Wild Hi-Fi Drums / Wild Stereo Drums
- (1962) Sensational!
- (1962) Exotica Suite
- (1962) Voices in Rhythm
- (1962) The Primitive and the Passionate
- (1962) The Fabulous Sounds of Les Baxter: Strings, Guitars, Voices!
- (1963) Les Baxter's Balladeers
- (1963) The Academy Award Winners
- (1963) The Soul of the Drums
- (1966) Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl BombsDr. Goldfoot and the Girl BombsDr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs is a 1966 Italian spy-spoof film directed by Mario Bava and starring Vincent Price, Fabian, Francesco Mulé, Laura Antonelli and the Italian comedy team of Franco Franchi and Ciccio Ingrassia....
(1966) [OST] - (1966) The Forum: The River is Wide
- (1966) Brazil Now
- (1967) Love is Blue
- (1967) African Blue
- (1968) Moog Rock
- (1968) Hell's Belles [OST]
- (1969) All the Loving Couples [OST]
- (1969) Bora Bora [OST]
- (1969) Bugaloo in Brazil
- (1970) Que Mango!
- (1970) Million Seller Hits
- (1970) Cry of the Banshee [OST]
- (1971) Music of the Devil God Cult: Strange Sounds from Dunwich - The Dunwich Horror [OST]
- (1973) Black SabbathBlack Sabbath (film)The motion picture Black Sabbath, whose Italian title, I Tre volti della paura, translates as The Three Faces of Fear, is a 1963 Italian horror film directed by Mario Bava. Boris Karloff, in addition to appearing in the linking passages, has a role in "The Wurdalak" segment...
(1963) [OST] - (1975) Movie Themes
- (1975) Hit Songs from Spain
- (1978) Born Again
- (1995) The Lost Episode of Les Baxter (1961) [Original Television Soundtrack]
- (1996) By Popular Request
- (1996) The Exotic Moods Of Les Baxter
Singles
- (1952) Blue TangoBlue Tango"Blue Tango" is an instrumental composition by Leroy Anderson. it was later turned into a popular song with lyrics by Mitchell Parish. It was published in 1952...
- (1953) I Love Paris
- (1953) April In PortugalApril in Portugal"April in Portugal" can refer to:*"April in Portugal," also known as "The Whisp'ring Serenade," a popular song written in 1947 but most popular in 1953*April in Portugal, a 1954 movie featuring the song...
- (1955) Unchained MelodyUnchained Melody"Unchained Melody" is a 1955 song with music by Alex North and lyrics by Hy Zaret. It has become one of the most recorded songs of the 20th century, by some counts having spawned over 500 versions in hundreds of different languages....
- (1955) Medic
- (1955) Wake The Town And Tell The PeopleWake the Town and Tell the People"Wake the Town and Tell the People" is a popular song with music by Jerry Livingston and lyrics by Sammy Gallop, published in 1955. This song is a wedding day number complete with the chorus imitating the sound of wedding bells...
- (1956) Foreign Intrigue
- (1956) The Poor People Of ParisThe Poor People of Paris"The Poor People of Paris" is a popular song, with "Paris" being pronounced as "pa-REE".It was adapted by Jack Lawrence in 1954 from the French language song "La goualante du pauvre Jean"...
- (1959) Dance, Everyone Dance
- (1960) Pepe