Les Baxter
| Les Baxter | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Leslie Thompson Baxter |
| Born |
March 14, 1922 Mexia, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | January 15, 1996 (aged 73) Newport Beach, California, U.S. |
| Genres | Lounge music, exotica |
| Occupation(s) | Music arranger, composer |
| Instruments | Piano |
Leslie Thompson "Les" Baxter (March 14, 1922 – January 15, 1996) was an American musician and composer. After becoming well known as an arranger and composer for swing bands in the 1940s, he developed his own style of world music-influenced easy listening music, known as exotica, during the 1950s and 1960s.
Baxter studied piano at the Detroit Conservatory before moving to Los Angeles for further studies at Pepperdine College. From 1943 on he was playing tenor and baritone saxophone for the Freddie Slack big band. 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), "The Poor People of Paris" (1956) and is remembered for a version of "Sinner Man" (1956), definitively setting the sound with varying tempos, orchestral flourishes, and wailing background vocals. "Unchained Melody" was the first million seller for Baxter, and was awarded a gold disc. "The Poor People of Paris" also sold over one million copies. 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.
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