Creativity Quote by Les Baxter

There’s a throwaway bluntness here that feels less like a manifesto than a musician muttering between takes: the system is asleep, and somebody has to jab it. Baxter’s “I don’t know what the problem with Capitol is” is strategically casual. It’s not a legal brief or a tantrum; it’s the voice of a working artist who’s watched an institution drift into complacency and can’t even dignify it with a diagnosis. That shrug is the point. It frames Capitol’s dysfunction as so obvious, so self-inflicted, that explaining it would be a waste of breath.

The second sentence sharpens into intent: “wake ’em up” and “prod ’em” are physical verbs, the language of poking a big animal that’s gotten comfortable. Baxter isn’t asking for inspiration; he’s asking for urgency. In the mid-century record business - especially at a major like Capitol - the machinery could be both glamorous and numbingly bureaucratic. A composer-arranger could deliver innovation while the label prioritized safety, schedules, and predictable product. Baxter’s subtext is that creative risk doesn’t survive in a culture of autopilot.

The quote also hints at a power mismatch. Baxter talks like someone outside the executive suite but close enough to see the gears: an insider’s irritation, not an outsider’s fantasy. “Some one’s got to” quietly recruits the listener into complicity. If the label won’t move itself, the artists will have to make noise, push back, force attention - not for rebellion’s sake, but to keep the music from being managed into mediocrity.