Awhile back I mentioned Oklahoma singers, songwriters and musicians who are so well known they are identifiable to many music fans simply by their first name.
I’m talking about you again, Woody, Garth, Vince and Reba.
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Another Oklahoma musician may not be so widely known by his first name alone, but if you asked some music fans about an Oklahoma songwriter named Hoyt, they would immediately — or almost immediately — respond with the name Hoyt Axton.
For those who might profess to be unfamiliar with Hoyt Axton, it’s a pretty safe bet they are familiar with his music even if most of his biggest successes were in the form of recordings of his songs by other artists — but what artists they were!
The list includes artists such as Elvis Presley, Waylon Jennings, Ringo Starr, Glen Campbell, Steppenwolf, Linda Ronstadt, John Denver, Joan Baez, The Kingston Trio and of course, Three Dog Night.
Axton always seemed proud of his Oklahoma roots. He was born on March 25, 1938, in Duncan, Oklahoma — also the birthplace of famed actor and director Ron Howard, who became known for his role of Opie Taylor on “The Andy Griffith Show” before growing into the role of Richie Cunningham in “Happy Days” and then becoming one of Hollywood’s most acclaimed directors.
Axton, the son of John Thomas Axton and Mae Boren Axton, must have come by his musical skills naturally. His mother, along with co-writer Thomas Durden, is credited with writing “Heartbreak Hotel” — Elvis Presley’s first #1 single for RCA Records, after the company bought his recording contract from the smaller, independent Sun Records label in Memphis, Tennessee.
Hoyt Axton’s mom not only co-wrote Presely’s first #1 hit for RCA, the song stayed at the #1 spot for an amazing eight-week run in 1956.
After Hoyt Axton graduated from high school, he attended Oklahoma State University in Stillwater — the future home of Red Dirt Music — for a couple of years, followed by a stint in the U.S. Navy.
Completing his military service, Axton ended up on the West Coast for awhile and found his first major chart success when The Kingston Trio released their version of his song, “Greenback Dollar” in 1963. That proved to be a very big deal, because The Kingston Trio, along with Peter, Paul and Mary, were one of the most popular groups to arise during the folk music boom of the early 1960s.
It’s hard to realize now, but the lyrics to the song’s chorus proved controversial at the time, when the Trio sang “I don’t give a damn about a greenback dollar, spend it fast as I can.” The version released in some countries, such as Australia, used a loud guitar chord to cover up the offending word, but it didn’t stop the song from becoming a hit.
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Axton soon went beyond the folk genre, penning both rock and country music hits for others — although he would eventually score some hits of his own.
In 1968, the rock band Steppenwolf recorded Axton’s song, “The Pusher” — a song against those who pushed hard drugs to make a profit. Having come off their hit “Born to Be Wild,” Axton’s song marked another entry into the band’s repertoire. Steppenwolf included Axton’s song on their debut eponymous album, “Steppenwolf,” along with the band’s breakout hit,” Born to Be Wild.”
Steppenwolf’s lead singer John Kay has told how in 1964, before Steppenwolf was formed, he learned the song by watching Axton perform it at the famed Hollywood venue The Troubadour, where the venue’s owner, Doug Weston, had hired Kay to work in the box office. Kay later brought the song to the band known as The Sparrows, then brought it to Steppenwolf’s repertoire when that group formed.
The band wasn’t finshed with Axton yet, though. Steppenwolf included another Axton song in a later album. Axton’s song is titled “Snowblind Friend,” and it’s not about skiing. He received another boost when “The Pusher” became the leadoff track to the soundtrack of the counterculture movie “Easy Rider,” starring Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper.
Axton continued to record solo albums of his own, and by this time other artists and A&R record executives learned to pore over his albums in search of another hit — and he soon hit the songwriting lottery.
Three Dog Night recorded Axton’s song, “Joy to the World,” taken from his solo album by the same name. Soon, the song’s opening lines “Jeremiah was a bullfrog, was a good friend of mine” blasted out from radio speakers, record players and juke boxes across America, and then much of the rest of the music world.
“Joy to the World” not only shot to #1 on the charts, it earned the title of Record of the Year in 1971, bringing even more popularity to the already-popular Three Dog Night in the process.
Like Steppenwolf before them, Three Dog Night decided to record another Axton song and scored another big hit with “Never Been to Spain,” which shot to #5 on the charts.
Axton’s song opens with the lines “Well, I’ve never been to Spain, but I kind of like the music.”
I’ve always liked how Axton gave a nod to his home state in the song’s chorus: “Well, I’ve never been to heaven, but I’ve been to Oklahoma.” The next line’s a little more quizzical” “Oh, they tell me I was born there, but I really don’t remember.”
Three Dog Night weren’t the only artists who liked “Never Been to Spain.” Elvis Presley recorded it for inclusion in the musical documentary “Elvis on Tour” and his version is included on the live album “Elvis As Recorded at Madison Square Garden.”
Waylon Jennings recorded “Never Been to Spain” too, putting his own unique twist on the song.
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Axton also wrote a hit for Ringo Starr, called “The No No Song,” included on Starr’s album “Goodnight Vienna.”
While Axton enjoyed burgeoning success as a songwriter for others, he continued to record albums and singles and started to score with them as well, including “Boney Fingers.” Axton’s recording always cracked me up, with its refrain “Work your fingers to the bone, what do you get? Boney fingers, boney fingers.”
He also had a solo hit with his song “Della and the Dealer,” which opened with the line “It was Della and the Dealer and a dog named Jake and a cat named Kalamazoo.”
Axton scored too with a couple of duets with Linda Ronstadt: “When the Morning Comes” and “Lion in the Winter.”
I’ve seen Axton is concert a few times, at music festivals in the Oklahoma and Texas area. He once performed close to McAlester during the famed “48 Hours in Atoka” music festival, along with Jennings, Willie Nelson and Family, Jerry Jeff Walker, Jerry Lee Lewis, Freddie Fender, Don Williams and others.
He usually performed with a large band ( I didn’t want to say big band, lest it be considered a 1940s style ensemble) with keyboards, multiple guitarists and female vocalists. He seemed to have a great time and so did his audience.
In addition to his music, Axton also acted in a number of movies, most notably in “The Black Stallion” and “Gremlins.”
While filming a movie in Montana, Axton liked the state so much he decided to stay. He lived in the Bitterroot Valley, close to Victor, Montana. Axton died following a heart attack in 1999.
I recently had an opportunity to give a nod to Hoyt Axton when I ran into Weldon Smith and his attorney son, Matt Smith, at a McAlester restaurant. During the ensuing conversation Matt spoke about the beauties of Spain and of a particular olive grove.
Matt then asked “Have you ever been to Spain?”
“Nope,” I replied, “but I’ve been to Oklahoma.”
Contact James Beaty at [email protected].
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