Les Baxter and the Origin Of Exotica music - 3 songs

1) Lunar Rhapsody from Music Out Of The Moon
2) 3:00 - Quiet Village
3) 6:18 - Sunken City from Jewels Of The Sea

The first example I know is the 1947 album Music Out Of The Moon. This is considered Les Baxter's first exotica album of sorts, because he is leading the Capitol Records orchestra and he arranged the music. The melodies were composed by Harry Revel, and a theremin was played by Samuel Hoffman. That's the electronic instrument producing the mysterious tone, used in suspense movies from the 1940s on. Actually Baxter composed much of it because of all the arranging.
The first Exotica album is considered to be Les Baxter's Ritual Of The Savage of 1952. He composed it all, and it depicted moods of African native life. It included his original of Quiet Village. 1952 was a 10" vinyl LP with 8 songs, in 1954 came a 12" LP with 12 compositions. The title used French words "Le Sacre de Sauvage".
Many Baxter albums followed til the early 1960s, straight pop as well as exotica. It was called "mood music". His last for Capitol was Jewels Of The Sea in 1961.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Exotica
• 1950s
• theremin
• lounge

[copperleaves]

What you may not know, is that according to Apollo astronaut Neil Armstrong's biographers, Neil took a tape copy of Samuel Hoffman's the theremin album MUSIC OUT OF THE MOON into space with him for the moon landing in July, 1969 and actually played this music in space. Coincidentally, Armstrong was born in 1930, the year the RCA theremin was introduced in America.

[BrownBrown90]

Big Baxter fan going way back. Our neighbors had their basement decked out in a polynesian theme like the tiki room and we listened to the exotica of Les Baxter, Martin Denny, and so on, while smoking big fat reefers and sipping exotic libations. So cool.

[bobben72]

i got a boner

[MrMooMooFace]

@BrownBrown90 That's the greatest god damned thing I've heard in awhile.....but then again I'm a member of a tiki forum. :O

[CadillacL]

Beautiful music. Cause of the intnernet I've become familiar w/Exotica music & the like. I'd love to hear this on stereo, especially back in the day when stereo was new. :)

[LambdaBoi]

The theremin has such a spooky sound.

[BuyBenco]

Samuel Hoffman! Never knew he collaborated with Baxter he does a great verzhun of "You Were Meant for Me" 1952