Hoyt Axton

Early life

Hoyt Wayne Axton came into the world on March 25, 1938, in Duncan, Oklahoma, and spent his early years in Comanche, Oklahoma, alongside his brother John. His mother, Mae Boren Axton, co-wrote Elvis Presley's smash hit "Heartbreak Hotel," and Elvis would later record some of Hoyt's own songs. His father, John Thomas Axton, served as a naval officer, and the family relocated to Jacksonville, Florida, in 1949. After graduating high school in 1956, Axton left town following a prank that went wrong—the burning of a hardware store.

He attended Oklahoma State University on a football scholarship but left to join the U.S. Navy, reaching the rank of petty officer second class and serving on the USS Princeton and USS Ranger. Axton was a distant relative of folk singer Arlo Guthrie and a first cousin of David Boren, who became Oklahoma's governor, a U.S. senator, and 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 (recorded at the Troubadour), 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 (which later deepened to near-bass) and use of characterization. Axton first appeared on television in a David L. Wolper ABC production of The Story of a Folksinger (1963).

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 (1979), Liar's Moon (1982), Heart Like a Wheel (1983), and Gremlins (1984).

His television appearances included McCloud (1976), The Bionic Woman (1976), WKRP in Cincinnati (1979), and Diff'rent Strokes (1984, 1985). 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 were songs made famous by others: "Joy to the World" (Three Dog Night) 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 500 g 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.

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 (1966) – Fred Denton; The Black Stallion (1979) – Alec's father; Skinflint: A Country Christmas Carol (1979, TV Movie) – Cyrus Flint; Cloud Dancer (1980) – Brad's mechanic; Liar's Moon (1982) – Cecil Duncan; The Junkman (1982) – Himself / Cap. Gibbs / Rev. Jim Beam (voice); Endangered Species (1982) – Ben Morgan; The Black Stallion Returns (1983) – Narrator (voice); Heart Like a Wheel (1983) – Tex Roque; Deadline Auto Theft (1983) – Captain Gibbs; Fred C. Dobbs Goes to Hollywood (1983); Gremlins (1984) – Randall Peltzer; Woody Guthrie: Hard Travelin' (1984, Documentary) - Himself; Act of Vengeance (1986, TV Movie) – Silous Huddleston; Dallas: The Early Years (1986, TV Movie) – Aaron Southworth; Retribution (1987) – Lt. Ashley; Christmas Comes to Willow Creek (1987, TV Movie) – Al Bensinger; Guilty of Innocence: The Lenell Geter Story (1987, TV Movie) - Charlie Hartford; Dixie Lanes (1988) – Clarence Laidlaw; Desperado: Avalanche at Devil's Ridge (1988, TV Movie) - Sheriff Ben Tree; Disorganized Crime (1989) – Sheriff Henault; We're No Angels (1989) – Father Levesque; Buried Alive (1990, TV Movie) – Sheriff Sam Eberly; Gypsy Angels (1990) - bit part; Harmony Cats (1992) – Bill Stratton; Space Case (1992) - Charlie; Season of Change (1994) – Big Upton; Kingfish: A Story of Huey P. Long (1995, TV Movie) – Huey P. Long, Sr.; Number One Fan (1995) – Lt. Joe Halsey; King Cobra (1999) – 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 (1972), Buster and Billie (1974), Mitchell (1975), and The Junkman (1982). Television: The Story of a Folksinger (TV special, 1963) - himself; Hootenanny (1964) – musical guest; Bonanza (1965, Season 6, Episode 27: "Dead and Gone") – Howard Mead; Iron Horse (1966, Season 1, Episode 4: "Right of Way Through Paradise") – Slash Birney; I Dream of Jeannie (1966, season 2, episode 7: "Fastest Gun in the East") – Bull; The Midnight Special (1973) - musical guest; The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (1975) - musical guest; The Hoyt Axton Country Western Boogie Woogie Gospel Rock and Roll Show (1975) – himself - NBC TV special featuring Linda Ronstadt, Arlo Guthrie, Ringo Starr and others; The Bionic Woman (1976, season 2, episode 18: "The Road to Nashville") – Buck Buckley; Dinah! (1976) - musical guest; McCloud (1977, season 7, episode 44: "The Moscow Connection") – Johnny Starbuck; Hee Haw (1977) - musical guest; Dick Clark's Live Wednesday (1978) - musical guest; Flying High (1978, season 1, episode 14: "Great Expectations") - himself; Hee Haw Honeys (1979) - musical guest; The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1979) - musical guest; WKRP in Cincinnati (1979, season 1, episode 19: "I Do, I Do...For Now") – T.J. Watson; Austin City Limits (1979, season 4, episode 411) - musical guest; The Dukes of Hazzard (1981, season 3, episode 47: "Good Neighbors Duke") - himself, musical guest; Flo (1981, season 2, episode 26: "You Gotta Have Hoyt") - himself; Barbara Mandrell & the Mandrell Sisters (1981, season 2) - musical guest; Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1982, season 1).