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.
Thinking of You
Les Baxter and His Orchestra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And I still feel your lips kissing me too
Although our love affair wasn't to be
I wonder if you care care about me
I still remember that night under the moon
I recall that it all ended too soon
I can't believe you're gone memories linger on
I still remember that night under the moon
I recall that it all ended too soon
I can't believe you're gone memories linger on
Cause I still get a thrill thinking of you
The lyrics of Les Baxter and His Orchestra's song Thinking of You express the lingering memories and emotions of a past love affair. Despite the fact that the affair ended, the singer still gets a thrill from thinking about their former partner and the physical connection they shared. The lyrics evoke a bittersweet nostalgia for the past while also wondering if the former partner feels the same way.
The lyrics are structured in a way that reflects the cyclical nature of memories; the singer repeats the same phrases twice in a row, reflecting the way that memories can replay in our heads over and over again. The use of the moon as a romantic backdrop also adds to the dreamlike quality of the song.
Overall, Thinking of You is a poignant and wistful song that captures the weight of past love and the way it can continue to impact us long after it's gone.
Line by Line Meaning
Because I still get a thrill thinking of you
Even though you are no longer around, the thought of you still excites me and fills me with joy.
And I still feel your lips kissing me too
The memory of your affectionate kiss is still fresh in my mind and makes me feel like you are still here with me.
Although our love affair wasn't to be
Even though our relationship didn't work out as we had hoped, the memories we shared still hold a special place in my heart.
I wonder if you care care about me
I often think about whether or not you still have feelings for me, as I still have feelings for you.
I still remember that night under the moon
The memory of that romantic night spent together under the moon is still crystal clear in my mind, and I hold it dear.
I recall that it all ended too soon
It feels like our relationship ended abruptly, leaving me with lingering feelings of nostalgia and longing for what could have been.
I can't believe you're gone memories linger on
It's difficult for me to accept that you're no longer in my life, but the memories we created together continue to stay with me and provide comfort.
Cause I still get a thrill thinking of you
The mere thought of you fills me with excitement and happiness, despite the fact that we are no longer together.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Fred J Coots, Benny Davis
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@yoyisalkazar9595
Soy mexicana y mis padres me enseñaron desde bebé a escuchar esta maravillosa música!!! La adoro me llena de mucha nostalgia.
@jmrodas9
I was eight years old when this one was released, and I wonder what happened to us, that made us change beautiful music like this, for the crap we hear on the radios today. Real music not noise and screams! Music to relax to, instead of making one tenser.
@richard4677
With this music I feel that my beloved departed are next to me and I feel blessed, thank you very much.
@richard4677
When I was a kid of 10 years old this melody was in fashion in all the radio stations, unforgettable.
@angeldearte
I did not know that thank you for your information and receive greetings
@jameskeenom3440
My grandmother would always play this for me. Rip to a beautiful soul il be playing this for the next 60 years for that special one!
@yodagaming2559
This makes me nostalgic for an era that I never even knew.
@angeldearte
+Pierre Pierre thanks for the comment, my channel is all well, for people who want to discover the old music
@MrTraderon
That's called "saudade" :)
@joseanibalmunozvargas6154
Very, Very Wonderful