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first time I saw the words Hoyt Axton in print I thought it might
be a misprint, or an eye chart, or maybe the name of a very expensive
European sports car that can go from zero to 60 in 15 seconds. But
I soon learned that Hoyt Axton was an endlessly talented entertainer
with a unique singing voice and a larger-than-life exuberance for
living. And he was as unusual as his name. |
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Hoyt
Axton
Photo
courtesy Jeremiah Records |
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Born
in Oklahoma in 1938, Hoyt was 61, as time is ordinarily counted,
when he died at his Montana home in 1999. But nothing about Hoyt
was ever ordinary, and if we measured life by experience rather
than years, he would have been many years older.
Hoyt earned millions of dollars as a songwriter, singer, artist
and actor but the, everybody-knows-your-name, type of fame forever
eluded him. But maybe that did not matter to him as long as his
music could be heard. It was, and still is, in rock, folk, pop and
country history. He could never be pinned down to one genre; he
made his mark wherever he happened to land. Record companies were
unsure how to categorize his music. One catalogue listed his music
as "Unclassified." Hoyt's friends thought it was a totally appropriate
label for the music and the man.
"Hoyt had his own way of writing," said Michael Curtis, longtime
band member and a songwriter in his own right whose hits include
the Crosby Stills Nash and Young hit, Southern Cross. "He
didn't exactly break the rules of songwriting, but he would often
ignore them. He taught me a lot," Curtis added.
Hoyt's
career spanned more than 30 years and produced about the same number
of albums; from which, a half dozen singles enjoyed widespread airplay
in the US and Canada. They included When The Morning Comes,
Boney Fingers, Della And The Dealer, Nashville,
Wild Bull Rider, and Lion In Winter (a duet with Linda
Ronstadt.) A video of Hoyt and Linda singing Lion can be viewed
on www.youtube.com.
Other songs from the mind and pen of Hoyt included: Greenback
Dollar--Kingston Trio; The Pusher and Snowblind Friend--Steppenwolf;
The No No Song--Ringo Starr; Joy To The World and
Never Been To Spain--Three dog Night.
Three Dog Night's version of Joy To The World topped pop
charts for weeks in '71 and won "Song of the Year." More recently
it was heard on the soundtrack of The Big Chill and Forrest
Gump. The Pusher was on the Easy Rider soundtrack.
Hoyt added acting to his resume' around 1960. One of his earliest
roles, in fact it may have been his first role, was an unforgettable
murderer and sociopath on Bonanza. It was a chilling performance
but he really didn't like to play "bad guy" roles although he would
play a few more through the years. Later television credits would
include Different Strokes, Dukes of Hazard, WKRP
in Cincinnati, Dallas: The Early Years, and Skinflint:
A Country Christmas Carol.
His movie credits included The Black Stallion, Disorganized
Crime, Smokey, We're No Angels, Endangered
Species, and the father in Gremlins. He was also in demand
for voice-overs for commercials.
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Hoyt
was always the center of attention in any room he entered. Tall and
broad, he'd extend a hand the size of a picnic ham for you to shake,
look you in the eye and beam a smile as wide as his home state of
Oklahoma at you.
He seemed equally at home: chatting with Johnny Carson on the Tonight
Show, performing on a concert stage, regaling cast and crew with his
stories on a movie set, picking and singing in someone's living room,
or traveling around the country on his much-loved double decker tour
bus, the Honeysuckle Rose which he bought from Commander Cody and
the Lost Planet Airmen.
Hoyt's father, John T. Axton, was a high school athletics coach and
Hoyt excelled in sports. He made All State and earned a football scholarship
to Oklahoma State University. His mother, Mae Boren Axton, a school
teacher, tended to his scholarly training including classical piano
lessons.
Mae also wrote songs, the best known of which was something she co-wrote
with Tommy Durden titled Heartbreak Hotel. Mae was a publicist
in later years and would become a beloved and respected mentor to
dozens of struggling artists in Nashville including Garth Brooks who
honored her memory by making a $1 million donation in her name to
the Nashville Zoo.
Hoyt's deeply felt love of music was handed down from both parents,
along with football and the piano, (which was replaced by acoustic
guitar somewhere along the way.) After college, came a stint in the
Navy where he was the heavyweight boxing champion over 35 ships.
Wrap all this, the music, the athletics, the education, into the charismatic
persona of a handsome singer/writer blessed with a baritone voice
so rich it could make ripples on water, and you may, just may, begin
to get a picture of the "intense" young folksinger who made an impression
on the coffee house scene in San Francisco in the early 60s.
Hoyt suffered a stroke in '95 that put him in a wheel chair. This
was followed by other personal problems including the death of his
mother, Mae, in '97. Still he continued to live each day with the
optimistic outlook that was his nature. In the fall of '97 he appeared
on the Crook and Chase Show on TNN and longtime friend and concert
promoter, Van Barker, said Hoyt continued to talk to him about performing
as soon as he felt up to touring again.
Hoyt did not get to go on tour again but he left a legacy of music
that will be with us for a long time. The Three Dog Night hit, Joy
To The World, was much more than just a song to Hoyt--it was his
philosophy. He brought it with him everywhere he went. People who
knew have said he was just plain fun to be around. |
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