Les Baxter
Leslie " Les " Baxter ( born March 14, 1922 in Mexia, Texas, † January 15, 1996 in Newport Beach, California ) was an American orchestra leader and arranger, known primarily for his million-seller Unchained Melody in 1955 to a broad public been. Less well known were his compositions for over 120 film and more than 130 TV and radio programs.
Career
Member of bands
After piano studies at the Conservatory of Detroit he found a job as a tenor saxophonist and arranger with Freddy Slack & His Orchestra. Here he appears in the cast list for the first time on 24 November 1943, the title Small Batch O'Nod, Furlough Fling and Is not That Just Like a Man on, the last time he is listed as a band member on the recording date May 20, 1944. From 5 October 1944 to November 1949 he sang sporadically at a recording session with the Mel -Tones, the support group by jazz singer Mel Tormé, for which he served as a radio director since 1945.
Own recordings
First own admission was 1947, the experimental pop LP Music Out of the Moon for Capitol Records, for which he used in addition to a choir or cello, French horn and the Theremin. The Notes According to this liner LP derived the basic idea and theme of Harry Revel, while Les Baxter has given each track, the appropriate unique tone by advocating harmonies of voices and unusual instrumental effects, sometimes without rhythm and some with a dominant beat.
It was followed by a comprehensive 3 EPs album titled Perfume Set to Music (RCA, 1948 ). He received a recording contract with Capitol Records, where he arranged for Nat King Cole and this musically accompanied, especially when often gecoverten million seller Mona Lisa (recorded on March 11, 1950) and Too Young (2 February 1951) in early 1950.
The first cataloged under his name single with his own orchestra at the label is Tambarina ( October 27, 1950, published in November 1950). In the same orchestral instrumental style accompanied by a choir from then on he published over 40 singles, including eight Top 10 hits on the U.S. pop charts. The final breakthrough came with the recorded on January 17, 1955 million seller Unchained Melody, which traded for three weeks to rank one of the U.S. top ten and over 1 million copies followed it. The notice published in the January 1956 Evergreen The Poor People of Paris was his second million-seller, who led the U.S. charts for 4 weeks. More singles followed orchestral with choir accompaniment, but could - after the advent of rock and roll - no longer build on the success. His composition Quiet Village from the 1952 released album Ritual of the Savage ( which is regarded as the birth of the musical style Exotica ), was later covered by Martin Denny and accompanied with jungle noises. This version came in March 1959 and ranked 4th in the U.S. charts. In 1962, he left Capitol Records to sign with Frank Sinatra's record label, Reprise Records.
Film scores
For since the September 12, 1954 on U.S. TV (CBS ) broadcast in 591 episodes TV series with the collie Lassie ( in Germany until February 8, 1960 ) Les Baxter wrote the well-known theme music of 57 -second duration, which between 1958 and 1964 was heard in the episodes.
In the sixties and seventies, he has specialized in the composition of film music. Among the movies House of Usher ( German Title: The Cursed; U.S. premiere on June 22, 1960), The Raven ( The Raven - Duel of the Wizards, January 25, 1963 ), The Comedy of Terrors (resting soft GmbH, 25. December 1963 ), the Dunwich Horror ( Voodoo Child, January 14, 1970 ) cry of the Banshee ( the Shout of the witches; July 22, 1970 ), Frogs ( Frogs - Killer from the bottom; March 10, 1972 ) or I Escaped from Devil's Iceland ( mutiny on Devil's Island, September 1973 ). Overall, he is responsible for 120 film music compositions. The ASCAP has 656 copyrighted songs for him. Baxter is among the most prolific American composers. On the Hollywood Walk of Fame, he is " immortalized " with a star.
Discography Singles ( selection)
Capitol Records:
- Tambarina / Somewhere, Somehow, Someday ( # 1299 ), November 1950
- Because of You / Unless ( # 1493 ), June 1951 ( a # 4 in the U.S. charts )
- Blue Tango / Please, Mr. Sun (# 1966), February 1952 ( a # 10 in the U.S. charts )
- On Wiederseh'n Sweetheart / Padam Padam (# 2143 ), July 1952 ( a # 20 in the U.S. charts )
- April In Portugal / Suddenly (# 2374 ), April 1953 ( a # 2 in the U.S. charts )
- Ruby / A Little Love (# 2457 ) May 1953 ( a # 7 in the U.S. charts )
- I Love Paris / Gigi (# 2479 ), June 1953 ( a # 13 in the U.S. charts )
- The High And The Mighty / More Love Than Your Love (# 2845 ), July 1954 ( a # 4 in the U.S. charts )
- Unchained Melody / The Medic (# 3055 ), March 1955 ( a # 1 in the U.S. charts )
- Wake The Town And Tell The People / I'll Never Stop Loving You (# 3120 ), August 1955 ( a # 5 in the U.S. charts )
- The Poor People Of Paris / April in Portugal (# 3336 ), January 1956 ( a # 1 in the U.S. charts )
- Tango Of The Drums / Sinner Man ( # 3404 ), April 1956
- Giant / There's Never Been Anyone Else But You (# 3526 ), October 1956
- (What Happens in ) Buenos Aires / The Left Arm Of Buddha (# 3573 ), December 1956