Other artists to record his music over time included Elvis Presley, Cher, Joan Baez, Waylon Jennings, John Denver, Glen Campbell, Tanya Tucker,Arlo Guthrie, Martha Reeves and even 90's Cali punk band Ten Foot Pole.
Early Career :
The young Hoyt was an All-American athlete replete with football scholarship to Oklahoma State University, which he soon left to join the U.S Navy. During his military stint he was the heavyweight champion boxer in his task force division of 35 ships.
After serving in the armed forces, he arrived in Nashville with a guitar on a tip from his mother Mae Boren Axton (who co-wrote Heartbreak Hotel for Elvis Presley). Hoyt soon split Tennesee for California's burgeoning folk scene during the early 60's. He played the clubs in San Francisco's North Beach and made the scene in L.A as well.
Roger McGuinn remembered Hoyt Axton as a struggling singer who taught him a tune backstage in 1962 at the Troubadour in L.A. "We recorded it live at the Troubadour later that week, and when it came out, I was surprised to see the credit "Here as well is the delightful Australian folk ballad, Brisbane Ladies, on which Jimmy McQuinn of the Chad Mitchell Trio harmonizes with Hoyt." In spite of the misspelled name, I was glad to have been able to sing with Hoyt. I really loved the song too!" The song appeared on Hoyt's debut LP for the Horizon label, McGuinn later formed the Byrds with David Crosby.
Axton's songwriting prowess was eventually noticed after the Kingston Trio recorded Greenback Dollar in 1963 just hours after seeing Axton live. The song eventually appeared on 3 Billboard charting albums but Hoyt made a mere $800.00 from the song..."I was just a kid with a guitar living in a car... How could I sue when the whole point of the song was how I didn't give a damn about a greenback dollar?"
Paying Dues, Paying Bills :
In the late 60's Steppenwolf eventually recorded Axton's The Pusher and Snowblind Friend, two dramatic denouncements of the dark side of drug use. John Kay, a young aspiring singer and dishwasher also used to see Axton perform in the early 60's around L.A. He later told Axton, 'When you sang 'The Pusher,' I'd come out of the kitchen with a towel in my hand, saying that if I ever get a band, I'm gonna record that song'."
The Pusher, in particular, paid off at a good time for Hoyt: "I had two houses, three kids, two cars, $400 in the bank and bills to pay. The bank repossessed the Mercedes-Benz, and said I'd never get credit again," he remembers. "One Saturday morning, I went to the mailbox and there was a check for $14,000 for the use of the song in the film Easy Rider".
Hits like "Never Been To Spain" ("but i kinda like the music") and "The No Song" ("No, no, no, I don't smoke it no more") which went to number three on the U.S. charts for the newly solo Ringo Starr helped keep the money rolling in.
His songs seemed to showcase his optimism and singular sense of humor. A version of Joy to The World by Three Dog Night became the biggest selling record of 1971 ("Jeremiah was a bullfrog..."). Axton's own singing hits included "Boney Fingers" ("Work your fingers to the bone, what do you get? Boney fingers"). "When the Morning Comes", a duet he recorded with Linda Ronstadt from 1974's Life Machine album, which went to number one on the Canadian charts.
As the singer songwriter trend dried up in the latter 70's Axton continued to record for his own label Jeremiah, beginning in '78. 1979's " Rusty Old Halo" album produced his last two major hits, " Della and the Dealer" and the title track.
Later Career:
Axton had numerous negative music business dealings with many labels and by the early nineties his work on Horizon, A&M, Vee-Jay and MCA was mostly left out of print by short sighted label execs. Maintaining a steady concert schedule was a priority throughout the seventies and eighties that found Axton playing as many as 300 dates a year. He also got in front of the camera, first guesting on "Bonanza" in the 1960's, and then eventually on dozens of TV programs including : "Hootenanny", "Hee-Haw", "Diff'rent Strokes","The Dukes of Hazzard", "Trapper John MD","WKRP in Cincinatti" as well as popular feature films like "The Black Stallion" and "Gremlins". His voice was used in TV commercials for Busch beer, Pizza Hut, and even McDonald's where he was the singing lumberjack who introduced the then-new Big Mac. Hoyt reportedly liked doing commercials so much he didn't even consider it work. He also did voiceover narration for educational films. He bought his ranch in Montana, after playing a sheriff in the movie ''Disorganized Crime,'' filmed there in 1988.
He suffered a debilitating stroke in 1996, and a then suffered a demoralizing medical marijuana bust in 1997 for which he received a three year deferred sentence and was fined $15,000. His health was not good these last few months, including advanced complications from diabetes, spending most of his time in a wheelchair. Axton finally passed away a few days after suffering a heart attack during surgery in a Bitteroot Montana hospital.
A spokesperson for the Academy of Country Music told Associated Press after his death "There was nobody that didn't like Hoyt".
Greensleeves
Hoyt Axton Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
to cast me out so discourteously
I have loved you so long
Delighting in your company.
Greensleeves was my heart's delight
She was my everything
How was I to know she would not treat me right
There is a house in New Orleans
The rising sun
And it's been the ruin of many young girls
Sweet greensleeves was just another one.
Alas my love, oh you do me wrong
I have loved you so long
Delighting in your company.
Delighting in your company
The song Greensleeves has a melancholic feel to it as it speaks of unrequited love and betrayal. In the first verse, the singer laments about being cast out by his loved one discourteously, despite loving her for a long time and being delighted in her company. The second verse continues the story of the singer's love, where Greensleeves was his heart's delight and his everything; however, he did not know she would not treat him right, indicating that she betrayed his love. The final verse brings in a new element of a house in New Orleans and the rising sun, which has been the ruin of many young girls. The verse ends with the statement that Greensleeves was just another one, implying that she may have met the same fate as the other young girls.
The song Greensleeves has been subject to various interpretations over the years, with some theories suggesting that it was written in the 16th century about a promiscuous lady named "Green Sleeves," while others argue that it was a love song between King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. The song has been covered by several artists like Elvis Presley, Jeff Beck, and James Galway. Interestingly, there exists a version of the song by Bob Dylan, where he sings the lyrics of "The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest" to the tune of Greensleeves. The song also features in several movies and TV shows, such as Martin Scorsese's The Departed, The Godfather: Part II, and The West Wing.
Line by Line Meaning
Alas my love, oh you do me wrong
My dear love, it pains me that you have treated me unkindly by rejecting me so ungraciously
to cast me out so discourteously
To expel me from your life with such rudeness and lack of respect
I have loved you so long
For a great period of time, I have had passionate feelings towards you
Delighting in your company.
Spending time with you has been a great joy and source of pleasure
Greensleeves was my heart's delight
I held a deep affection and adoration for Greensleeves, who brought joy and happiness to my life
She was my everything
Greensleeves was my reason for living and my entire world revolved around her
How was I to know she would not treat me right
I had no prior knowledge that Greensleeves would not treat me with the love and respect that I deserved
There is a house in New Orleans
Located in New Orleans, there is a property that holds significance in my story
The rising sun
This house is known as The Rising Sun
And it's been the ruin of many young girls
For many young women, The Rising Sun has been the source of their downfall and destruction
Sweet greensleeves was just another one.
Unfortunately, Greensleeves' fate was no different than those who fell victim to The Rising Sun's harm
Delighting in your company.
Once again expressing the joy and pleasure in being in the presence of the one he loves
Contributed by Chloe P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@805melody
I love the soulfulness of his voice in this song....he was such a beautiful story teller.....
@vinylguru93
Haunting. Emotional. Incredible.
@augustineriley5582
And them some !
@nathantaylor6759
I bought this dual CD collection in roughly 2000. Loved it, especially Greensleeves. Through the years the CD was lost and now it’s impossible to find anywhere but here. Hoyt Axton’s voice was amazing. I love this haunting version of this song. Absolutely captivating.
@dansdotcom
@Ididnotwanttojoin this is the ultamate original version of House Of The Risin Sun. Hoyt does the Public Domain Version of this song, Please visit dansdotcom on youtube for many out of print Hoyts songs
@justthink5854
what a sound and better than the 2000 year old timeless classic!
@MzScarlet1
+Just think The original was written by king Henry VIII of England for Anne Boleyn