Les Baxter's Balladeers were a 1960s folk group formed by band leader

Les Baxter Leslie Thompson Baxter (March 14, 1922 – January 15, 1996) was an American composer, conductor, and musician. After working as an arranger and composer for swing bands, he developed his own style of easy listening music, known as exotica and s ...

. They released an album and a few singles during the early 1960s. Some of the musicians to pass through the group were

David Crosby David Van Cortlandt Crosby (August 14, 1941 – January 18, 2023) was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He first found fame as a member of the Byrds, with whom he helped pioneer the genres of folk rock and psychedelic music, psych ...

and his brother Ethan ''Chip'' Crosby, Bob Ingram and

Phil Campos Phil Campos was an American singer who recorded a couple of albums and singles during the 1960s. He was a member of folk groups, Les Baxter's Balladeers in the early 1960s and later the group leader of The Forum which had a hit in the late 1960s ...

Background

Les Baxter's Balladeers has the distinction of being the very first act to appear at The Golden Bear in Orange County, California. The group was made up of young folk singers. The role of the group was originally intended to make Baxter's act more "in the now". They would perform in the middle of Baxter's band's set. In 1961, their self titled album ''Les Baxter's Balladeers'' was released on the

Reprise In music, a reprise ( , ; from the verb 'to resume') is the repetition or reiteration of the opening material later in a composition as occurs in the recapitulation of sonata form, though—originally in the 18th century—was simply any re ...

label. The group at that time on the recording were Joyce James, Terrea Lea,

, Ernie Sheldon, Paul Potash,

Jerry Yester Jerome Alan Yester (born January 9, 1943) is an American former folk rock musician, record producer, and arranger. Yester has been a member of several bands including The New Christy Minstrels, Modern Folk Quartet, The Association, Rosebud and ...

, Michael Kollander and Paul Hansen. The instrumentalists backing them were Allan Reuss on guitar, Mike Storm on 12-string guitar, Jerry Yester on banjo, Tony Reyes on bass and Chico Guerrero on drums. Around 1962, Bobby Ingram and

joined the group. Crosby’s brother Ethan was also a member. They then did a national folk circuit tour. As of September 1963, the group consisted of Bob Ingram, David Crosby, Mike Clough and Ethan Chip Crosby. Later that month along with the Count Basie Sextet,

Lisa Kirk Lisa Kirk (born Elsie Kirk; February 25, 1925 – November 11, 1990) was an American actress and singer noted for her comic talents and rich contralto (her voice was called a husky alto). Career Born in Brownsville, Pennsylvania as Elsie Kir ...

Allan Sherman Allan Sherman (born Allan Copelon or Allan Gerald Copelon; November 30, 1924 – November 20, 1973) was an American musician, satirist, and television producer who became known as a song parodist in the early 1960s. His first album, '' M ...

and

Vic Damone Vic Damone (born Vito Rocco Farinola; June 12, 1928 – February 11, 2018) was an American traditional pop music, pop and big band singer and actor. He was best known for his performances of songs such as the number one hit "You're Breaking My ...

, they appeared on ''

The Lively Ones The Lively Ones were an American surf music band from USA, active in Southern California in the 1960s. They played live mostly in California and Arizona. They recorded for Del-Fi records with production from Bob Keane. They recorded mostly c ...

'', shown on NBC TV. After being in the group for a bit and feeling it was a bit too conservative for him, Crosby left and did the rounds on the LA folk circuit. In April 1963, the lineup included Peggy Taylor, Phil Campos, Jerry Yester, Paul Hansen and Ted Botkin. They were appearing at venues like the Carson Nugget. During their time they released an album and appeared on at least 3 singles.Discogs
Les Baxter's Balladeers – Les Baxter's Balladeers
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Discography

Singles

References

{{Authority control American folk musical groups Reprise Records artists