Hoyt Axton


Hoyt Wayne Axton was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and 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. Among his best-known songs are "Joy to the World", "The Pusher", "No No Song", "Greenback Dollar", "Della and the Dealer", "Never Been to Spain", and "Boney Fingers".
He was also a prolific character actor with many film and television roles to his credit, playing a father figure in a number of films, including The Black Stallion, Heart Like a Wheel, and Gremlins.

Early life

Born in Duncan, Oklahoma, Axton spent his preteen years in Comanche, Oklahoma, with his brother John. His mother Mae Boren Axton, a songwriter, cowrote the song "Heartbreak Hotel", which became a major hit for Elvis Presley. Some of Hoyt's own songs were later recorded by Presley. Axton's father John Thomas Axton was a naval officer stationed in Jacksonville, Florida, where the family joined him in 1949.
Axton graduated from Robert E. [Lee High School (Jacksonville, Florida)|Robert E. Lee High School] in 1956 and left town after a hardware store was destroyed by fire on graduation night following a misguided prank.
He attended Oklahoma State University on a scholarship, where he played football, but he left to enlist in the U.S. Navy. Axton held the rank of petty officer second class and served on two ships, the USS Princeton (CV-37) and the USS Ranger (CVA-61).
Axton was a cousin of musician Arlo Guthrie. He was also the first cousin of David Boren, who served as governor of Oklahoma and three terms in the United States Senate and was also president of the University of Oklahoma.

Career

After his discharge from the Navy, Axton began singing folk songs in coffee houses and nightclubs in Southern California. In the early 1960s, he released his first folk album, The Balladeer, which included his song "Greenback Dollar". It became a 1963 hit for the Kingston Trio.
Axton released numerous albums throughout the 1960s and 1970s through Vee-Jay, Capitol, A&M, MCA, and other labels, and on his own Jeremiah Records, which he founded in 1978. In the mid-1970s, he produced studio covers of his own music for John Davidson and also produced Tales from the Ozone, a 1975 album by Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen. He released many minor hits of his own, such as "Boney Fingers", "When the Morning Comes", and 1979's "Della and the Dealer". His vocal style featured his distinctive bass-baritone and use of characterization.
Axton first appeared on television in a David L. Wolper ABC production of The Story of a Folksinger. He appeared on Hootenanny, hosted by Jack Linkletter, during this period. In 1965, he appeared in an episode of Bonanza in which he sang duets with Pernell Roberts. In 1966, he made his film debut in Smoky, playing the role of Fred Denton, the evil brother of the character played by Fess Parker. He gained fame in the 1970s and 1980s through his film roles, including those in The Black Stallion, Liar's Moon, Heart Like a Wheel, and Gremlins. His television appearances included McCloud, The Bionic Woman, WKRP in Cincinnati, and Diff'rent Strokes. In 1980, he sang the theme song for the short-lived series Flo, and guest-starred as himself in the episode titled "You Gotta Have Hoyt". Axton sang the jingle "The Ballad of Big Mac" for a 1969 McDonald's Big Mac television commercial, as well as "Head for the Mountains" in voiceovers for Busch beer in the 1980s. He appeared in a Pizza Hut commercial in 1985 and in a TV spot for FTD with Merlin Olsen in 1989. In 1991, Axton was awarded an induction to the Walk of Western Stars in Newhall, California.
Axton's most lasting contributions, however, were songs made famous by others: "Joy to the World" and "Never Been to Spain" for both Three Dog Night and Elvis Presley, "Greenback Dollar" for the Kingston Trio, "The Pusher" and "Snowblind Friend" for Steppenwolf, "No No Song" for Ringo Starr, and songs covered by singers such as Joan Baez, Arlo Guthrie, John Denver, Nina Simone, Waylon Jennings, Martha Reeves, Jonathan Edwards, Glen Campbell, Anne Murray, Harry Belafonte, David Clayton-Thomas, and Colter Wall. Axton sang duets with Linda Ronstadt on the songs "Lion in the Winter" and "When the Morning Comes", with Renee Armand on "Boney Fingers", and with Tanya Tucker on "You Taught Me How to Cry." His composition "Joy to the World", performed by Three Dog Night, reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for six straight weeks in 1971, making it the top hit of the year. He named his record label Jeremiah after the bullfrog mentioned in the song.

Personal life

Axton was married four times; his first three marriages ended in divorce. He had five children. One of his children, Matt Axton, is a musician.
Axton struggled with cocaine addiction and several of his songs, including "The Pusher", "Snowblind Friend", and "No No Song", partly reflect his experiences with the drug. He was a proponent of medical marijuana use and his wife Deborah and he were arrested in February 1997 at their Montana home for possession of about of marijuana. His wife later explained that she offered Axton marijuana to relieve his pain and stress following his 1995 stroke. They were fined and received deferred sentences. Axton never fully recovered from his stroke, and he used a wheelchair for the remainder of his life.

Death

Axton died at age 61 at his home in Victor, Montana, on October 26, 1999, after suffering two heart attacks in two weeks.
On November 1, 2007, Axton and his mother Mae Boren Axton were inducted posthumously into the Oklahoma [Music Hall of Fame] in Muskogee, Oklahoma.

Filmography

Film

Smoky – Fred DentonThe Black Stallion – Alec's fatherSkinflint: A Country Christmas Carol – Cyrus FlintCloud Dancer – Brad's mechanicLiar's Moon – Cecil DuncanThe Junkman – Himself / Cap. Gibbs / Rev. Jim Beam Endangered Species – Ben MorganThe Black Stallion Returns – Narrator Heart Like a Wheel – Tex RoqueDeadline Auto Theft – Captain GibbsFred C. Dobbs Goes to Hollywood Gremlins – Randall PeltzerWoody Guthrie: Hard Travelin' - HimselfAct of Vengeance – Silous HuddlestonDallas: The Early Years – Aaron SouthworthRetribution – Lt. AshleyChristmas Comes to Willow Creek – Al BensingerGuilty of Innocence: The Lenell Geter Story - Charlie HartfordDixie Lanes – Clarence LaidlawDisorganized Crime – Sheriff HenaultWe're No Angels – Father LevesqueBuried Alive – Sheriff Sam EberlyGypsy Angels - bit partHarmony Cats – Bill StrattonSpace Case - CharlieSeason of Change – Big UptonKingfish: A Story of Huey P. Long – Huey P. Long, Sr.Number One Fan – Lt. Joe HalseyKing Cobra – Mayor Ed Biddle
Several songs for the 1977 film Outlaw Blues were composed by Axton and sung by Peter Fonda.
Axton also contributed songs for the films The Legend of Hillbilly John, Buster and Billie, Mitchell, and The Junkman.

Television

In the 1980s and '90s, Axton also lent his distinctive voice to a number of documentary features. He served as the narrator for two documentaries about the Western States Endurance Race in 1982 and 1983, titled Desperate Dreams. In 1991, he narrated the VHS documentary Railfair '91 and the following year, he narrated The Alaska Highway: 1942-1992, about the history of the Alaska Highway that was produced by public television station KAKM of Anchorage and shown nationally on PBS. In the mid-1990s, Axton was chosen to host and narrate the profile series 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.

Discography

Music videos

YearVideo
1990"Mountain Right"

Selected list of songs

Among Axton's best-known compositions are: