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Biography
Refimprove|date=September 2009Infobox musical artist | name = Hoyt Axton| image = Hoyt as a folksinger.jpg| caption = Hoyt Axton in his early years as a folksinger| image_size = 220 px| background = solo_singer| birth_name = Hoyt Wayne Axton| alias =| birth_date = Birth date|1938|03|25 Duncan, Oklahoma , United States|USA | death_date = death date and age|1999|10|26|1938|03|25 Victor, Montana , United States|USA | origin = Comanche, Oklahoma , United States|USA | instrument = Human voice|Vocals , guitar | genre = Country music|Country , Folk music|folk | occupation = Singing|Singer , songwriter , actor | years_active = 1960& ndash;99| label =| associated_acts = Three Dog Night , The Kingston Trio | website = http://www.omhof.com/Inductees/BYYEAR/tabid/86/ItemID/12/Default.aspx Hoyt Axton's Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame Page Hoyt Wayne Axton (March 25, 1938 October 26, 1999)cite book | first= David | last= Roberts | year= 2006 | title= British Hit Singles & Albums | edition= 19th | publisher= Guinness World Records Limited | location= London | isbn= 1-904994-10-5 | page= 34 was an American country music singer-songwriter , and a film and television actor . He became prominent in the early 1960s, establishing himself on the West Coast as a folk singer with an earthy style and powerful voice. As he matured, some of his songwriting efforts became well known throughout the world. Among them were " Joy to the World (Hoyt Axton song)|Joy to the World ", " The Pusher " and "Greenback Dollar".
Biography
He was born in Duncan, Oklahoma and spent his pre-teen years in Comanche, Oklahoma with his brother, John.cite web|url=Allmusic|class=artist|id=p1512|pure_url=yes|title=Biography: Hoyt Axton|last=Ankeny|first=Jason|publisher=Allmusic|accessdate=September 6, 2011 His mother, Mae Boren Axton , co-wrote the classic rock 'n' roll song " Heartbreak Hotel ", which became the first major hit for Elvis Presley . Some of Hoyt Axton's own songs were also later recorded by Elvis. Hoyt Axton's father, John T. Axton, was a Navy officer stationed in Jacksonville, Florida ; the family joined him there in 1949. Axton graduated from Robert E. Lee High School (Jacksonville, Florida)|Robert E. Lee High School in 1956 and left town after Knauer's Hardware burned down on graduation night, a prank gone wrong. http://larrycohenproductions.com/N_Fla_Music.htm Larry Cohen Productions: North Florida Music Hall of Fame-Axton, Hoyt Axton attended Oklahoma State UniversityStillwater|Oklahoma State for a short length of time before following his father and enlisting in the Navy. Axton served aboard the USS Ranger|USS Ranger before pursuing a music career.cite journal|title=Like His Pal Fearless, No One Messes with Hoyt Axton, the Mountain Man of Country Music|journal=People|last=Buchalter|first=Judith|url= http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20074438,00.html|volume=12|issue=9|date=August 27, 1979|accessdate=August 9, 2011
After his discharge from the Navy on the West Coast, he began singing folk songs in San Francisco nightclubs. In the early 1960s he released his first folk album titled The Balladeer (recorded at the The Troubadour (Los Angeles)|Troubadour ), which included his song "Greenback Dollar", a 1963 hit for The Kingston Trio . Axton released numerous albums well into the 1980s.
Axton had many minor singing hits of his own, such as "Boney Fingers", "When the Morning Comes", and 1979's "Della and the Dealer", as well as "Jealous Man" (the latter two he sang in a guest appearance on WKRP in Cincinnati ). His vocal style featured his distinctive bass-baritone (which later deepened to near-bass) and use of characterization.
But his most lasting contributions were songs made famous by others: "Joy to the World" and " Never Been to Spain " ( Three Dog Night ), the previously mentioned "Greenback Dollar" (Kingston Trio), " The Pusher " and "Snowblind Friend" ( Steppenwolf (band)|Steppenwolf ), "No-No Song" ( Ringo Starr ), and an array of others, covered by singers such as Joan Baez , Guthrie Thomas, John Denver , Waylon Jennings , and Anne Murray . Axton also sang a couple of Duet (music)|duets with Linda Ronstadt , including "Lion in Winter" and " When the Morning Comes (song)|When the Morning Comes " (a top 40 country hit). His most popular and signature song, "Joy to the World", as performed by Three Dog Night , was number 1 on the charts for six straight weeks in 1971, making it the top hit of the year.
Axton first appeared on television in a David L. Wolper ABC production of The Story of a Folksinger (1963). He frequently appeared on Hootenanny (US TV series) , hosted by Jack Linkletter during this period. In 1965, he appeared in an episode of Bonanza , then followed with other TV roles over the years. As he matured, Axton as an actor specialized in playing good ol' boy s on television and in films. His face became well known in the 1970s and 1980s through many TV and film appearances, such as in the movies Gremlins and The Black Stallion (film)|The Black Stallion . He sang the jingle "Head For the Mountains" in the Busch beer commercials in the 1980s (and also "The Ballad of Big Mac", touting McDonald's Big Mac on screen in a 1969 commercial he filmed for the hamburger franchise).
Axton spent some time struggling with cocaine addiction and several of his songs, including "The Pusher", "Snowblind Friend", and "No-No Song", partly reflect his negative drug experiences. He had been known as an opponent of drug use for many years when, in February 1997, he and his wife were arrested at their Montana home for possession of approximately 500& nbsp;grams of cannabis (drug)|marijuana , a little over a pound. His wife explained later that she offered Axton marijuana to relieve pain and stress following a 1995 stroke; both were fined and given deferred sentences.
Axton never fully recovered from his stroke, and still had to use a wheelchair much of the time. His mother, Mae, drowned in a hot tub at her Tennessee home in 1997. Hoyt Axton died of a myocardial infarction|heart attack in Victor, Montana|Victor , Montana , on October 26, 1999, at the age of 61,cite news|title=Songwriter Hoyt Axton Dead At 61 In Montana|publisher=New York Daily News|last=Hinckley|first=David|url= http://articles.nydailynews.com/1999-10-27/news/18115330_1_greenback-dollar-hoyt-axton-boney-fingers|date=October 27, 1999|accessdate=September 3, 2011 after suffering a severe heart attack two weeks earlier.cite web|title=Axton, Hoyt Wayne (1938-1999)|work=Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History & Culture|publisher=Oklahoma Historical Society|last=Burke|first=Brad|url= http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/A/AX001.html|date=October 27, 1999|accessdate=September 3, 2011
On November 1, 2007 he and his mother were inducted posthumously to the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in Muskogee, Oklahoma|Muskogee , Oklahoma . http://www.tulsatoday.com/index.php? option=com_content& view=article& id=980:oklahoma-music-hall-of-fame-induction-2007& catid=55:out-a-about& Itemid=111 Tulsa Today - Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame Induction 2007 http://www.muskogeephoenix.com/local/local_story_306001635.html MuskogeePhoenix.com, Muskogee, OK - "Thank God I'm from Oklahoma," inductee says
" The Pusher ", covered by Steppenwolf (band)|Steppenwolf on their debut album in 1968. This version was also used in the soundtrack of the classic 1969 motion picture " Easy Rider "
"No-No Song", which became a #3 hit for Ringo Starr in March 1975
"Never Been To Spain", covered by Three Dog Night , Waylon Jennings , and Elvis Presley
" Joy to the World (Hoyt Axton song)|Joy to the World ", the Three Dog Night hit from April 1971 which held US #1 for six weeks
"Snowblind Friend" (1971), covered by Steppenwolf (band)|Steppenwolf
"Lightning Bar Blues" (1973), covered by Brownsville Station (band)|Brownsville Station and Arlo Guthrie (also a big hit for the Finnish band Hanoi Rocks in the '80s)
"Sweet Misery" (1974), cover version|covered by John Denver
"The Morning Is Here" (1974)
"Boney Fingers" (1974)
"Della and the Dealer" (1979) (Reached the top 20 of the Billboard (magazine)|Billboard Country charts in the USA and the top 50 of the United Kingdom|British pop charts)
"Hotel Ritz" (1979)
"Rusty Ol' Halo" (1979)
"Hangnail In My Life" Snowblind Album (1977)
"Della and the Dealer" and "Hotel Ritz" both became minor hit singles in the UK after extensive playing by the British D.J. Terry Wogan on his BBC Radio 2 breakfast programme of the time.
Faerie Tale Theatre - " Goldilocks and the Three Bears (Faerie Tale Theatre episode)|Goldilocks and the Three Bears "
The Bionic Woman - "Road to Nashville"
The Rousters
Dallas, The Early Years
Axton also composed and sang the theme song to the short-lived television sitcom Flo . Several songs for the 1977 film Outlaw Blues was composed by Axton and sung by Peter Fonda . http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp? stid=85996& category=Full%20Credits Turner Classic Movies: Outlaw Blues (1977)
The Rousters was a short-lived television sitcom (1983) with Axton as 'Cactus' Jack Slade. The show starred Chad Everett as Wyatt Earp III, the grandson of the legendary Wyatt Earp , and Jim Varney as his dim-witted brother, Evan.
In the mid '90s, Axton was chosen to host and narrate the profile series Life and Times (TV series)|The Life and Times on The Nashville Network , in which a different country music figure was spotlighted each hour. His voice was heard throughout and he was seen on-camera doing the introduction and closing of each show in which he participated.
Axton also showed up as the narrator for two documentaries of the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Race in 1982 and 1983 called Desperate Dreams.
References
ReflistRefbegin
Allen, Bob. (1998). "Hoyt Axton". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music . Paul Kingsbury, Ed. New York: Oxford University Press. p.& nbsp;23.
Refend
External links
IMDb name | id = 0001924|name = Hoyt Axton
Amg name|3003
Find a Grave|11855|accessdate=2008-03-27
http://web.archive.org/web/20050826150814/sixcats.com/axton/hoyt.htm The Official Hoyt Axton Web site (Archive)
http://www.omhof.com/Inductees/BYYEAR/tabid/86/ItemID/12/Default.aspx Hoyt Axton's Oklahoma Country Music Hall of Fame Page
http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/A/AX001.html Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Axton, Hoyt
Persondata| NAME = Axton, Hoyt | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = American country singer | DATE OF BIRTH = March 25, 1938 | PLACE OF BIRTH = | DATE OF DEATH = October 26, 1999 | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Axton, Hoyt Category:American country singers Category:American country singer-songwriters Category:American film actors Category:American male singers Category:American television actors Category:Actors from Oklahoma Category:Musicians from Oklahoma Category:Deaths from myocardial infarction Category:United States Navy sailors Category:Musicians from Montana Category:People from Jacksonville, Florida Category:People from Oklahoma Category:People from Stephens County, Oklahoma Category:People from Ravalli County, Montana Category:Vee-Jay Records artists Category:1938 births Category:1999 deaths Category:Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame inductees
