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.
Miss You
Les Baxter and His Orchestra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I felt it happened
I was awake
I wasn't blind
I didn't think
I felt it happened
Now I believe in matter over mind.
The nearest moment that we marry is too late!
Have you met Miss Jones
Someone said as we shook hands
She was just Miss Jones to me
Then I said Miss Jones
You're a girl who understand
I'm a boy who must be free.
And all at once I lost my breath
And all at once was scared to death
And all at once I hold the earth and sky!
Now I met Miss Jones
And well keep on meeting till we die
Miss Jones and I
The opening lines of Les Baxter and His Orchestra's "Miss You" evoke a sense of longing for the vibrant city of New Orleans. The singer asks the listener if they know what it's like to miss a place, painting a picture of how much the city means to them. The imagery of the "moist covered vines" and "tall sugar pines" creates a sense of nostalgia for the lush landscape that is unique to New Orleans. The mention of the "mocking birds" and "lazy Mississippi" add to the sense of longing for what is missed, as their vivid descriptions suggest a familiarity and affection for the city.
As the song progresses, the musical memory of the city is evoked with lines like "mardy grass memories/ Of creol tunes that fill the air." These lyrics capture the essence of New Orleans’ culture through its rich music scene, making it easy for the listener to feel the singer’s sense of nostalgia. The chorus repeats a question from the beginning of the song to drive home the feeling of yearning for the city, and the final lines reveal that the missing place is not the only thing on the singer's mind; they also miss someone special who they care for deeply, adding another layer of desire and complexity to the song.
Overall, "Miss You" is a love letter to the city of New Orleans and all that it represents to the singer. The vivid imagery and rich musical descriptions combine to create a song that captures the heart of the city and the listener.
Line by Line Meaning
Do you know what is means to miss New Orleans
Have you ever experienced the deep longing for the vibrant, lively city of New Orleans?
I miss it, each night and day
I feel the absence of the beautiful city every moment, both day and night.
The longer I stay away
The more time I spend away from the city, the stronger my yearning becomes.
Miss the moist covered vines
I long for the sight of the wet vines that drape over the city's buildings.
The tall sugar pines
The majestic towering pines remind me of the beauty and grandeur of New Orleans.
Where mocking birds use to sing
The sound of the singing mocking birds, which used to fill the air, is something I deeply miss.
And I like to see the lazy Mississippi
I enjoy watching the slow-moving Mississippi River as it flows past New Orleans.
Are hurrying to spring
I eagerly anticipate the arrival of spring in New Orleans and the burst of new life it brings.
The mardy grass memories
The memories of the lush, green grassy fields of New Orleans stay with me.
Of creol tunes that fill the air
The rich, vibrant Creole music that used to fill the air is something I dearly miss.
I dream of Orleanders in June
I often dream of seeing the beautiful Orleanders blooming in June in New Orleans.
And soon I'm wishing that I was there
When I think of New Orleans, my longing becomes so intense that I wish to be there right away.
And there is something more
My longing for New Orleans is not just for the city itself.
I miss the one I care for
I miss the person I love more than I miss New Orleans itself.
Lyrics © Kanjian Music, CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: LORENZ HART, RICHARD RODGERS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind