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”. 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.[citation needed] 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 1960s and 1970s. 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.
According to Milt Bernhart, Nelson Riddle was a ghost writer for Baxter when Baxter was working for Nat King Cole. Bernhart states the Riddle told him that Baxter did not write the material on his exotica albums. Bernhart states that, while working for Baxter on recording a score for a Roger Corman film, it was apparent that Baxter could not conduct competently and “couldn't read the scores”. According to Bernhart, “Someone else had written the music.”
Gene Lees states that the exotica albums were written by Albert Harris and the material recorded with Yma Sumac was written by Pete Rugolo. According to Rugolo, he was paid $50 per arrangement to ghost for Les Baxter and that he “did a whole album with Yma Sumac”. A comparison of the Baxter album “Space Escapade” and Albert Harris' suite “Bachannal!” recorded by Frank De Vol shows a distinct similarity in both composition and arrangement, leading to the probability that Harris ghost wrote even more for Les Baxter.
Nelson Riddle held a grudge against Baxter for taking credit for Riddle's arrangements on two Nat King Cole hit recordings. According to André Previn, when collaborating once with Baxter, in the time Previn and Riddle had finished their parts, Baxter had written just one bar for woodwinds and included a note for the oboe that does not exist on the instrument.
Baxter, alongside Martin Denny and Arthur Lyman, is celebrated as one of the progenitors of exotica music. In his 1996 appreciation for Wired magazine, writer David Toop wrote that 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.
Blue Tango
Les Baxter Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And we're dancing to the tango we loved when first we met
While the music plays, we recall the days
When our love was a tune that we couldn't soon forget
As I kiss your cheek, we don't have to speak
The violins, like a choir, express the desire
We used to know not long ago
So just hold me tight in your arms tonight
"Blue Tango" is a love song that describes a moment shared between two people, who are lost in a world of blue. The "blue" in this context could refer to sadness or melancholy, but it's more likely a metaphor for the distinctive rhythm and melody of the dance style that they're enjoying together. The imagery used here is quite evocative, with the violins and other instruments blending together to create a symphony of desire.
The lyrics reflect on the passionate love affair that the two people shared when they first met, and how the music they're hearing now takes them back to that time. Even though they don't need to talk much, their bodies say everything that needs to be said as they hold each other tightly. It's a sweet and nostalgic moment that's captured in a beautifully arranged piece of music.
Line by Line Meaning
Here am I with you in a world of blue
I am here with you feeling melancholic and sad
And we're dancing to the tango we loved when first we met
We are dancing to the music that reminds us of the time when we first fell in love
While the music plays, we recall the days
As we dance, we remember the good old days of our relationship
When our love was a tune that we couldn't soon forget
Those days when we couldn't forget the love between us
As I kiss your cheek, we don't have to speak
We don't need to communicate anything as a simple kiss conveys our love
The violins, like a choir, express the desire
The music from the violins expresses the intense passion and longing we have for each other
We used to know not long ago
We were well acquainted with our love not long ago
So just hold me tight in your arms tonight
Hold me tightly tonight with love and affection
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: COLE PORTER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
efren ruiz
preciosa interpretación del clásico tango azul gratos recuerdos de cuando lo escuche por primera ves en la estación de radio mexicana, radio 6 20 la música que llego para quedarse.
richard4677
Brings sweet memories from my very early years with my grand mother (9-10 years old)
sauquoit13456
On this day in 1952 {May 17th} "Blue Tango" by Leroy Anderson peaked at #1 {for 5 weeks} on Billboard's Best Sellers chart and spent 38 weeks on the Top 100 Three other versions also charted in 1952; Hugo Winterhalter {#8}, Guy Lombardo {#16}, & Lex Baxter {#22}... And in 1960 the Bill Black's Combo covered it, their version reached #16 on the Top 100 RIP Mr. Anderson {1908-1975}, Mr. Winterhalter {1909-1973, Mr. Lombardo {1902-1977}, Mr. Baxter {1922-1996}, & Mr. Black {1926-1965}
Will Law
Great music with the bonus of a crackling fire!
Louis Dorny
This was popular in Los Angeles in the summer of 1952... I was headed to the 7th grade that summer and this version played everywhere and I recall it clearly.
Anne Williams
In 1959 I requested the orchestra playing at the Taj mahal hotl Bombay to play this and they did. I never tire of this beautiful melody. They dont make them like this anymore. Mores the Pity So many young folk missing out
Kersi Mistry
You are so right! I am from good old Bombay and we grew up with this glory.
dpetrano
Mine too!!!! This record was in mom/dad's collection.
Darrell Cole
Spent a lot of time listening to this while doing my school home work
KindCreature1
Yes, this song reminds me of my dearly departed Mother-6/14/2004