''Jewels of the Sea'' is a 1961 orchestral

exotica Exotica is a musical genre, named after the 1957 Martin Denny album of the same name that was popular during the 1950s to mid-1960s with Americans who came of age during World War II. The term was coined by Simon "Si" Waronker, Liberty Records ...

album by American composer

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

. The album was inspired by fantasy ideas of the

ocean The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also refer to any of the large bodies of water into which the wo ...

from

pop culture Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * Pop (Gas al ...

, such as

mermaid In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are sometimes asso ...

s and sea nymphs, sunken ships, and legendary underwater cities such as

Atlantis Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas (mythology), Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works ''Timaeus (dialogue), Timaeus'' and ''Critias (dialogue), Critias'' ...

. There was an overall erotic element to the album, whose

tagline In entertainment, a tagline (alternatively spelled tag line) is a short text which serves to clarify a thought for, or is designed with a form of, dramatic effect. Many tagline slogans are reiterated phrases associated with an individual, so ...

was "Titillating Orchestrations for Listening and Loving", and whose original cover featured actress and model

Diane Webber Marguerite Diane Webber Marguerite Empey (July 27, 1932 – August 19, 2008) was an American model, dancer and actress. Early life Born in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S., the daughter of Marguerite (née Andrus), a Hollywood actress a ...

smiling glamorously underwater, apparently naked. Although not explicitly shown wearing a mermaid tail, her makeup and jewellery are styled to be reminiscent of the performing mermaids at

Weeki Wachee Springs Weeki Wachee Springs is a natural tourist attraction located in Weeki Wachee, Florida, where underwater performances by "mermaids," women wearing fish tails as well as other fanciful outfits, can be viewed in an aquarium-like setting in the spring ...

. Musically, ''Jewels of the Sea'' is characteristic of Baxter's work, with its use of a traditional European

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

, primarily

percussion instrument A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

s and

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

, combined with more exotic instruments such as

electronic keyboard An electronic keyboard, portable keyboard, or digital keyboard is an electronic musical instrument, an electronic derivative of keyboard instruments. Electronic keyboards include synthesizers, digital pianos, stage pianos, electronic organs an ...

and

electric organ An electric organ, also known as electronic organ, is an electronic keyboard instrument which was derived from the harmonium, pipe organ and theatre organ. Originally designed to imitate their sound, or orchestral sounds, it has since developed ...

. All tracks are original compositions with the exception of "The Enchanted Sea", an arrangement of Claude Debussy's '' La mer''. The mood of the album ranges from upbeat to melancholy, with an overall relaxing effect. The album was generally well-received by critics. ''

Electronics World ''Electronics World'' (''Wireless World'', founded in 1913, and in September 1984 renamed ''Electronics & Wireless World'') is a technical magazine in electronics and RF engineering aimed at professional design engineers. It is produced monthly in ...

'' called the oceanic theme "pure corn", but the music "first rate." Frank Arganbright of the ''

Journal & Courier The Lafayette ''Journal & Courier'' is a daily newspaper owned by Gannett, serving Lafayette, Indiana, and the surrounding communities. It was established in 1920 through the merger of two local papers, the ''Journal and Free Press'' (establish ...

'' called it "sparkling to say the least." Merrill McCord of ''

The Courier-Journal ''The Courier-Journal'', also known as the ''Louisville Courier Journal'' (and informally ''The C-J'' or ''The Courier''), is the highest circulation newspaper in Kentucky. It is owned by Gannett and billed as "Part of the ''USA Today'' Ne ...

'' called it a "concert-like spectacular." The ''Virgin Encyclopedia of Fifties Music'' rated it three stars out of four.

Track list

Adapted from the liner notes of the CD reissue of ''Jewels of the Sea'', track lengths from

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. All tracks composed, arranged, and conducted by Les Baxter unless noted. The original

vinyl recording A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts near ...

consisted of twelve tracks. When the album was reissued on

audio CD Compact Disc Digital Audio (CDDA or CD-DA), also known as Digital Audio Compact Disc or simply as Audio CD, is the standard format for audio compact discs. The standard is defined in the ''Red Book'', one of a series of Rainbow Books (named fo ...

in 2012 by él, fifteen bonus tracks drawn from three other Baxter albums were added as bonus material.

References

{{Authority control 1961 albums Les Baxter albums Exotica albums Capitol Records albums Mermaids in popular culture