Biography
Born on 5 September 1896 in Navarro County, Texas, USA, and deceased on 21 November 1972 in Dallas, Texas, USA, Phil Baxter worked as a bandleader, songwriter, and pianist. He attended Daniel Baker College, and following his World War I military service he directed ensembles under his own name throughout the 1920s. Toward the end of that decade Baxter composed both lyrics and music for “I’m A Ding Dong Daddy From Dumas,” which Louis Armstrong turned into a hit and which the Benny Goodman Orchestra performed in the 1938 motion picture Hollywood Hotel, as well as for “Piccolo Pete,” a recording success for Harry Reser’s Orchestra, Ted Weems, and the Six Jumping Jacks that also appeared in the 1929 Rudy Vallee film The Vagabond Lover. Among his additional 1930s compositions were “A Faded Summer Love,” enjoying notable popularity with Paul Whiteman and Bing Crosby, together with “Let’s Have A Party,” “One Man Band,” “Have A Little Dream On Me,” and “Going! Going!! Gone!!!,” the last of which became a hit for Guy Lombardo. Once the decade’s burst of songwriting subsided, Baxter withdrew from the music industry and settled into retirement in Dallas.
Singles