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.
Wake the Town and Tell the People
Les Baxter Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Sing it to the moon above
Wake the town and tell the people
Tell them that we're so in love (tell them that we're so in love)
Let's begin the celebration
Let's declare a holiday
Send the wedding invitation
When you are close to me
And my heart is dancing with delight
I want the world to see
Heaven in my arms tonight
Shout it from the highest steeple
Ring the bells the whole night through
Wake the town and tell the people
Tell them I'm in love with you
instrumental first two lines of BRIDGE
I want the world to see
Heaven in my arms tonight
Shout it from the highest steeple
Ring the bells the whole night through
Wake the town and tell the people
Tell them I'm in love with you
I want the world to see
Heaven in my arms tonight
Shout it from the highest steeple
Ring the bells the whole night through
Wake the town and tell the people
Tell them I'm in love with you
(Wake the town and tell the people)
The song "Wake the Town and Tell the People" by Les Baxter is a joyful and celebratory ode to the power of love. The lyrics encourage the couple to share their love with the world, shouting it from the highest steeple and ringing the bells to declare their happiness. The song encourages everyone to join in the celebration, declaring a holiday and sending wedding invitations to the neighbors.
The first verse sets the tone for the rest of the song with an upbeat melody and lyrics that urge the couple to share their joy with the world. The second verse speaks directly to the emotions of the couple, as the singer declares "When you are close to me / And my heart is dancing with delight / I want the world to see / Heaven in my arms tonight." This is a beautiful reminder that love is a universal feeling that can be shared and enjoyed by all.
The bridge features an instrumental section followed by a repetition of the verse in which the singer declares their love for their partner and encourages everyone to join in the celebration. The song ends with a final repetition of the chorus, urging everyone to wake the town and tell the people about the love that they share.
Overall, "Wake the Town and Tell the People" is a joyful love song that encourages everyone to share in the happiness and excitement of a loving relationship.
Line by Line Meaning
Wake the town and tell the people
Let everyone know about our love
Sing it to the moon above
Even the moon should hear our song of love
Tell them that we're so in love
Make sure people know the depth of our love
Let's begin the celebration
The time for celebration has come
Let's declare a holiday
Let's make this moment special by declaring a holiday
Send the wedding invitation
Invite everyone to witness our union
To the neighbors right away
Let our neighbors be the first to know
When you are close to me
My heart dances with joy when I'm near you
And my heart is dancing with delight
I'm overjoyed to have you in my arms
I want the world to see
I want everyone to witness our love
Heaven in my arms tonight
I feel like heaven is with me when I'm holding you
Shout it from the highest steeple
Let everyone hear about our love from the highest point
Ring the bells the whole night through
Let the bells ring all night in celebration of our love
Tell them I'm in love with you
Make sure everyone knows that I'm deeply in love with you
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: JERRY LIVINGSTON, SAMMY GALLOP
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@michaellazzeri2069
Dad & Mom, This is for you. I know what hard years '54 & '55 were, but I do remember uou both loved this song when it came on the radio. Your oldest son misses you both, terribly. --------------------MJL, 76 y/o
@clydep9870
Starts out like Wanda Jacksons "Right or Wrong" which was popular almost six years later.
@shirleydupreez7430
The night I fell in love with my hubby xx
@McMilesE
Really?!
@user-vm4gv3xv6e
조회수 1,684회... 잘 들었습니다.
@johnnyjackson3923
Would you mind translating in English? I would love to hear your comment 😊
@EnlightenedPatriot1
@Johnny Jackson "1,684 views... Well heard." Thanks to Google translation :-)