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Philip Kerley Baxter

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Philip Kerley Baxter

Birth
Rural Shade, Navarro County, Texas, USA
Death
21 Nov 1972 (aged 76)
Dallas, Dallas County, Texas, USA
Burial
Dallas, Dallas County, Texas, USA Add to Map
Memorial ID
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Phil Baxter was an American songwriter, singer and band leader. He graduated from Daniel Baker College. He is perhaps best known for his novelty song, "Piccolo Pete", a notable hit for Ted Weems and His Orchestra. Another song, "I'm a Ding Dong Daddy from Dumas" was successfully recorded by many artists, including Sidney Bechet, Bennie Moten, Arthur Godfrey and Louis Armstrong.

Baxter led his own orchestra in the 1920s through the mid-1930s, leading two recording sessions, the first in October 1925 in St. Louis, Missouri, and the second in October 1929, in Dallas, Texas. In June 1927, "Phil Baxter and His Texas Tommies" performed at the just-opened El Torreon Ballroom in Kansas City, Missouri, becoming, as "Phil Baxter and His El Torreon Orchestra", the ballroom's houseband from 1927 to 1933. Baxter would open and close each night with the band's theme song, "El Torreon", and their nightly performances were frequently broadcast by KMBC. He ultimately suspended much of his musical activities due to difficulties stemming from arthritis.

He was the son of Thomas Hyde Baxter and Lila (Dunton) Baxter. He married Ouida Holmes and they had two sons. He served in World War I.
Phil Baxter was an American songwriter, singer and band leader. He graduated from Daniel Baker College. He is perhaps best known for his novelty song, "Piccolo Pete", a notable hit for Ted Weems and His Orchestra. Another song, "I'm a Ding Dong Daddy from Dumas" was successfully recorded by many artists, including Sidney Bechet, Bennie Moten, Arthur Godfrey and Louis Armstrong.

Baxter led his own orchestra in the 1920s through the mid-1930s, leading two recording sessions, the first in October 1925 in St. Louis, Missouri, and the second in October 1929, in Dallas, Texas. In June 1927, "Phil Baxter and His Texas Tommies" performed at the just-opened El Torreon Ballroom in Kansas City, Missouri, becoming, as "Phil Baxter and His El Torreon Orchestra", the ballroom's houseband from 1927 to 1933. Baxter would open and close each night with the band's theme song, "El Torreon", and their nightly performances were frequently broadcast by KMBC. He ultimately suspended much of his musical activities due to difficulties stemming from arthritis.

He was the son of Thomas Hyde Baxter and Lila (Dunton) Baxter. He married Ouida Holmes and they had two sons. He served in World War I.


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