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.
Unchained Melody
Les Baxter and His Orchestra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I've hungered for your touch a long, lonely time,
Time goes by so slowly and time can do so much.
Are you still mine?
I need your love, I need your love, God speed your love to me.
Lonely rivers flow to the sea, to the sea
To the open arms of the sea
"I'll be coming home, wait for me!"
Are you still mine?
I need your love, I need your love, God speed your love to me.
The lyrics to Les Baxter and His Orchestra's song Unchained Melody speaks of a deep longing for the love of someone. The first verse begins with the singer confessing his hunger for the touch of his beloved. He has been lonely for a long time and time seems to pass slowly, but time can also do so much. The singer wonders if his love is still his and implores for God to speed his love to him.
The second verse talks about the lonely rivers that flow into the sea, into the open arms of the sea. The rivers sigh and ask to be waited for, for they will be coming home. The chorus repeats the singer's need for his beloved's love and for it to be sent to him. The song's theme is that of love and longing, of being separated from someone you deeply love and wanting to be reunited with them.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh, my love, my darling,
Addressing the loved one with a deep affectionate expression.
I've hungered for your touch a long, lonely time,
The yearning for the loved one’s touch that has been kept alive for a long time despite loneliness.
Time goes by so slowly and time can do so much.
The perception of time feeling slower due to the great longing for the loved one, and the recognition of how much can change during that time.
Are you still mine?
Questioning whether the loved one is still devoted to the artist.
I need your love, I need your love, God speed your love to me.
Expressing a desperate need for the loved one's love, and wishing they would return to the artist.
Lonely rivers flow to the sea, to the sea
Describing how rivers, like the singer, are often alone and guided by subtle forces towards the comfort and vastness of the sea.
To the open arms of the sea
The idea that the sea is welcoming and comforting, like the arms of a loved one.
Lonely rivers sigh, "Wait for me, wait for me"
The artist identifies with the lonely rivers and asks the loved one to wait for them.
"I'll be coming home, wait for me!"
Assuring the loved one that they will return to them.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, UNCHAINED MELODY PUB LLC
Written by: Alex North, Hyman Zaret
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Linda Easley
I always loved this version the best 👍 An orchestra makes everything sound beautiful
This was #1 for 4 weeks in 1955
Weatherboi
The was a video on YouTube listing the dates it was #1, can't seem to find it any more, but I believe you are right.
XMLarry
What a wonderful tribute! God Bless You!
raphael baptista
Tinha 15 anos quando ouvi, pela primeira ,vez , em São Paulo, esta linda , misteriosa e fascinante musica.
Que Deus preserve todos envolvidos no suporte deste som maravilhoso!!!
george custer
This song and version always takes me back to the summer of 1955 - I was 15 years old and my first girl friend. Later the version by the righteous Bros in reminded me of missing my wife in 1965 when I was stationed in SE Asia. I lost her in 2018 after 53 1/2 years and can hardly bear to listen to it anymore
Jacqueline Rees
I have always loved this version, first time I ever heard the song in the 1950s. Still the best and the song is my all time favourite.
Team Awesome Life
this is the original! i first heard it in 1955. was my favorite then, is my favorite now.. has been sung by almost every one of the great singers.. thank you for posting
mattbianco1
The original was by Todd Duncan released as theme tune for the 1955 film "Unchained". This version along with 4 or 5 others were also released in 1955.
This is the best by far 👌🏻
Daisy Flowers
This is my favorite cover of Unchained Melody. I love the haunting sound, when the chorus sings Unchain Me, It just gives goosebumps. What appropriate photos
in the video!.. Pictures from when my Mom and Dad were teens.
Enrique Castañeda
I was born in 1989 one year before the re-release of the most successful version, but I think this one is the best version, not as dramatic or spectacular vocal work, but much more beautiful arrangement