Hoyt Wayne Axton (March 25, 1938 - October 26, 1999) is an American music-writer-songwriter, guitarist and 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 strong voice. As he grew up, some of his songwriting became famous all over the world. Among them are "Joy to the World", "The Pusher", "No No Song", "Greenback Dollar", "Della and Dealer" and "Never Been to Spain".
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Born in Duncan, Oklahoma, Axton spent his pre-teen years in Comanche, Oklahoma, with his brother John. His mother, Mae Boren Axton, a songwriter, co-wrote the classic 'n' roll rock song "Heartbreak Hotel", which became the first big hit for Elvis Presley. Some of Hoyt's own songs were also recorded by Presley. Axton's father, John Thomas Axton, was a naval officer stationed in Jacksonville, Florida; the family joined him there in 1949.
Axton graduated from Robert E. Lee High School in 1956 and left town after the Knauer Hardware Shop got burned on graduation night, a wrong joke.
He attended Oklahoma State University on a scholarship, and he played football for school, but he went to enroll in the US Navy.
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Careers
After he got out of the navy, he started singing folk songs at the San Francisco nightclub. In the early 1960s he released his first folk album, The Balladeer (recorded on Troubadour), which included his song "Greenback Dollar". It became a 1963 hit for The Kingston Trio.
In 1966, Axton made his film debut in the movie Smoky playing the role of Fred Denton, the evil brother of actor Fess Parker. In 1979, Axton appeared on the PBS music program Austin City Limits during Season 4.
Axton released many albums until the 1980s. He has many of his own little hits, such as "Boney Fingers", "When the Morning Comes", and "Della and the Dealer" 1979, and "Jealous Man" (the last two he sang in guest appearances on the TV sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati ). His vocal style featured his distinctive bass-baritone (later deepened to the bass) and use of characterization.
However, his most enduring contributions are songs made famous by others: "Joy to the World" and "Never Been to Spain", "The Greenback Dollar" (Kingston Trio), "The Pusher", and " Snowblind Friend "(Steppenwolf)," No-No Song "(Ringo Starr), and a row of others, covered by singers like Joan Baez, Arlo Guthrie, BJ Thomas, John Denver, Waylon Jennings, Jonathan Edwards and Anne Murray. Axton also sang several duets with Linda Ronstadt, including "Lion in Winter" and "When the Morning Comes" (hit the top 40 countries). His composition of "Joy to the World", as performed by Three Dog Night, was number one on the charts for six consecutive weeks in 1971, making him the top hit this year. He named his record label Jeremiah after the frog mentioned in the song.
She sang the "Head For the Mountains" jingle in a Busch Beer ad in the 1980s (as well as "The Ballad of Big Mac", touting the McDonald's Big Mac screen in a 1969 commercial he'd recorded for a hamburger franchise). Axton also appeared in the Pizza Hut commercial in 1985.
Axton first appeared on television in the production of ABC David L. Wolper from The Story of a Folksinger (1963). He often appeared on Hootenanny , hosted by Jack Linkletter during this period. In 1965, he appeared on an episode of Bonanza , followed later by other TV roles over the years. As he grew up, Axton specializes in playing children both on television and in movies. His face became famous in the 1970s and 1980s through many TV appearances and movies, as in the films of Wild Moon (1982) playing the poor but happy Cecil Duncan farmer who was destroyed to death when the pile the metal pipe fell on him, The Black Stallion (1979) as the father of the main character, and Gremlins (1984) as the protagonist's father.
Personal life
Axton married four times; the first three ended in divorce. He has five children.
Axton is struggling with cocaine addiction and some of his songs, including "The Pusher", "Snowblind Friend", and "No-No Song", in part reflecting his drug's negative experience. However, he was a supporter of marijuana use for many years until when, in February 1997, he and his wife were arrested in their Montana home because it had about 500 g (1.1 gb) of marijuana. His wife later explained that he offered Axton marijuana to relieve pain and stress after a stroke in 1995. Both were fined and given a suspended sentence.
Mae's mother drowned in a hot tub at her home in Tennessee in 1997, after suffering a heart attack.
Axton never fully recovered from his attacks, and had to use a wheelchair most of the time. He died after suffering two heart attacks in two weeks at his home in Victor, Montana, on October 26, 1999, at the age of 61, after suffering a major heart attack two weeks earlier.
On November 1, 2007, she and her mother were inaugurated posthumously into the Oklahoma Music Fame Hall in Muskogee, Oklahoma.
Discography
Albums
Singles
List of selected songs
Among his most famous compositions (or joint write credits) are:
- "Greenback Dollar" covered by The Kingston Trio
- "The Pusher", covered by Steppenwolf on their debut album in 1968. This version is also used in the soundtrack of 1969's classic "Easy Rider" movie
- "No-No Song", which became No. hit. 3 for Ringo Starr in March 1975
- "Never Been To Spain", covered by Three Dog Night, Waylon Jennings, and Elvis Presley
- "Joy to the World", Three Dog Night hit from April 1971 held US No. 1 for six weeks
- "Snowblind Friend" (1971), protected by Steppenwolf
- "Lightning Bar Blues" (1973), covered by Brownsville Station, Arlo Guthrie, and Hanoi Rocks
- "Sweet Misery" (1974), covered by John Denver
- "When the Morning Comes" (1974)
- "Boney Fingers" (1974)
- "Della and the Dealer" (1979) (performed at WKRP in Cincinnati; top 20 Billboard charts in the United States and 50 of the UK pop charts)
- "Hotel Ritz" (1979)
- "Rusty Ol 'Hello" (1979)
- "Hangnail In My Life" Album Snowblind (1977)
"Della and Dealers" and "Hotel Ritz" both became small hit singles in the UK after extensive play by British D.J. Terry Wogan on his BBC Radio 2 breakfast program at that time.
Movie and TV appearances
Movie appearance
- Smoky (1946) - Fred Barkley
- Smoky (1966) - Fred Denton
- The Black Stallion (1979) - Alec's father
- Cloud Dancer (1980) - Brad's Mechanic
- Wild Moon (1982) - Cecil Duncan
- The Junkman (1982) - Himself/Cap. Gibbs/Rev. Jim Beam (sound)
- Endangered Species (1982) - Ben Morgan
- The Black Stallion Returns (1983) - Narrator (sound)
- Heart Like a Wheel (1983) - Tex Roque
- Deadline Auto Theft (1983) - Captain Gibbs
- Fred C. Dobbs Goes to Hollywood (1983)
- Gremlins (1984) - Randall Peltzer
- Act of Vengeance (1986, Film TV) - Silous Huddleston
- Retaliation (1987) - Lt. Ashley
- Christmas Coming to Willow Creek (1987, TV Movie) - Al
- Dixie Lanes (1988) - Clarence Laidlaw
- Disorganized Crime (1989) - Sheriff Henault
- Our No Angels (1989) - Father Levesque
- Buried Alive (1990, TV Movie) - Sheriff Sam Eberly
- Harmony Cats (1992) - Bill Stratton
- Season of Change (1994) - Charlie
- Kingfish: A Story of Huey P. Long (1995, TV Movie) - Huey P. Long, Sr.
- Fan Number One (1995) - Lt. Joe Halsey
- King Cobra (1999) - Mayor Ed Biddle (last film role)
Axton also performed the theme song playing on the 1975 Mitchell movie cover credits.
Television appearance
- Hootenanny (1964) - Himself/Himself - Actor
- Bonanza (1965, Series 06 Episode 27 "Dead And Gone") - Howard Mead
- Iron Horse (1966) - Birney Slash
- I Dream of Jeannie (1966) - Bull
- Bionic Women (1976) - Buck Buckley
- McCloud (1977) - Johnny Starbuck
- The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1979) - Hismelf - Musical Guest
- WKRP in Cincinnati (1979, featuring "Della and the Dealer" and "Jealous Man") - T.J. Watson
- Skinflint: A Country Christmas Carol (1979, TV Movie) - Cyrus Flint
- Austin City Limit (1979) - Himself
- Duke Hazzard (1981, TV Series) - Himself
- Flo (1981, TV Series) - Himself Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1982, Season 1 (the only season), Episode 8, "Rodeo," where she sang "I Dream of Highways") - Cooper Johnson
- The Rousters (1983-1984) - Cactus Jack Slade
- Diff'rent Strokes (1984) - Wes McKinney
- Home Life (1984) - Rip Steele
- Faerie Tale Theater (1984, "Goldilocks and the Three Bears") - Forest Ranger
- Dallas: The Early Years (1986, TV Movie) - Aaron Southworth
- Murder, She Wrote (1988) - Sheriff Tate
- Growing Pains (1990) - Claver Jackson
Axton also composed and sang the theme song for the short TV sitcom Flo . Some of the songs for the 1977 Outlaw Blues film were composed by Axton and sung by Peter Fonda.
The Rousters is a short-lived television comedy (1983) with Axton as 'Cactus' Jack Slade. The show starred in Chad Everett as Wyatt Earp III, the grandson of the legendary Wyatt Earp, and Jim Varney as his ignorant brother, Evan.
In the mid-1990s, Axton was chosen to host and narrate The Life and Times series of profiles on The Nashville Network, where a different country music figure is highlighted every hour. His voice was heard throughout and he was seen in the camera doing the introduction and closing of every event in which he participated.
Axton also appeared as a narrator for two documentaries from the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Race in 1982 and 1983 titled "Desperate Dreams".
References
External links
- Official website at Wayback Machine (archived August 26, 2005)
- Hoyt Axton on IMDb
- Hoyt Axton in the TCM Movie Database
- Hoyt Axton at AllMovie
- "Hoyt Axton". Find Grave . Retrieved 2008-03-27 .
- Hoyt Axton at Oklahoma Country Music Hall of Fame
- "Axton, Hoyt Wayne (1938-1999)". The History and Culture Encyclopedia of Oklahoma . Oklahoma Historical Society . Retrieved January 5, 2018 .
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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