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 was credited with the early Nat King Cole hits, "Mona Lisa" and "Too Young", but both were actually orchestrated by Nelson Riddle.[1] (In later releases of the recordings the credit was corrected to Riddle.[citation needed]) Not a uncommon practice these 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 film, 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). The latter recording sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc.[2]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 besuited and conservative folk group that at one time featured a young David Crosby.[citation needed] He operated in radio as musical director of The Halls of Ivy and the Bob Hope and Abbott and Costello shows.
Like his counterparts Henry Mancini, Lalo Schifrin and James Horner, Baxter later worked for the film industries from 1960s to 70s. He worked on movie soundtracks for 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, Panic in Year Zero!, Beach Party, The Comedy of Terrors,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.[3]
With less soundtrack work in the 1980s, he scored music for theme parks and SeaWorlds. In the 1990s, Baxter was widely celebrated, alongside Martin Denny and the Arthur Lyman Group, 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".
Baxter has a motion picture star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6314 Hollywood Blvd.
Blue Tango
Les Baxter and His Orchestra 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
hermosa bercion de lex baxter,
CJ carp
I think one cover would have sufficed...
atreuh100
versión