Les Baxter – Necronomicon
Les Baxter – Cult Party
Les Baxter – Devil’s Witchcraft
At some point, years ago, I was listening to the soundtrack Les Baxter put together for Hell’s Belles and musing to myself how great it would be if there was additional music from that heavy and psychedelic session. More recently, while searching for a trailer to a scary HP Lovecraft related film, I happened upon a track from this soundtrack and realized this was just about as close as I was likely to get to Hell’s Belles Part 2.
Most of the songs of this soundtrack are built around a single recurring theme, dark and foreboding, which is to be expected given that the film is about a town with some dark secrets. When hearing the drums on this record, it’s hard not to believe that Earl Palmer might have been involved here. There’s a stylistic connection to the work he had done with Axelrod, and maybe that’s why my ears think it’s Palmer, but the man lent his signature sound to so many records it’s hard to know for sure, especially without any credits or notes to speak of…however, a boy can dream can’t he?
Cheers,
Michael