Hoyt Axton Discography: Joe Sixpack's Guide To Hick Music

The late Hoyt Axton (1938-1999) was a uniquely appealing and intelligent performer, as well as the son of songwriter Mae Axton, who hit the bigtime with her rock standard "Heartbreak Hotel," the schmaltzy old Elvis hit. Hoyt followed in her footsteps, recording folk-tinged material in the early '60s, then had a big hit of his own when Three Dog Night recorded "Joy To The World," a windfall which kept him in grocery money for many a year. As his recording career unfolded, Axton eventually settled into a vaguely good-old-boy-ish, humor-filled persona that suited his warmly rounded, grandfatherly voice. Oh, yeah...! I forgot to mention Axton's acting career: among other roles, he was the sweet-tempered, seen-it-all-before grandfather in the 1984 horror comedy, Gremlins. Who knew? Here's a quick look at a great artist...

Discography -- Best-Ofs

Hoyt Axton "Road Songs" (A&M Records, 1977)
This old LP was the gold-standard for Hoyt Axton best-ofs for many, many years... and it is a truly killer collection. There are only, like, two songs on here that I don't care for... And the ones that I do like? Awesome! "Boney Fingers," "Flash Of Fire," "When The Morning Comes," and the ever-popular drug-related "No No Song"... this album rocks! And with friends like Linda Ronstadt, Nicolette Larson and James Burton pitching in -- what's not to love? They let it lapse out of print, but it's definitely worth tracking down.

Hoyt Axton "The A&M Years" (Polygram Records, 1998)
A 2-CD set reissuing four of Axton's albums cut for the A&M label in his '70s heyday: 1973's Less Than The Song, Life Machine, from 1974, Southbound from 1975, and 1976's Fearless. Pretty groovy!

Hoyt Axton "Gotta Keep Rollin': The Jeremiah Years" (Raven Records, 1999)
These are later recordings that Axton made on his own Jeremiah label (named, of course, after the famous bullfrog, who was a good friend of Hoyt's...) Plenty of good stuff here, too, ranging from Axton originals such as "Della And The Dealer" and "Boney Fingers," to oldies like "The Battle Of New Orleans." This Aussie import is currently the closest thing to the old Road Songs LP, and is definitely worth tracking down.

Hoyt Axton "Flashes Of Fire -- Hoyt's Very Best: 1962-1990" (Raven Records, 2004)

Hoyt Axton "Southbound/Fearless" (Raven Records, 2008)
A twofer set, reissuing a pair of Axton's two classic albums...

Hoyt Axton "Less Than The Song/Life Machine"

Hoyt Axton "Rusty Old Halo/Where Did the Money Go?"

Hoyt Axton "Pistol Packin' Mama/Spin Of The Wheel"

Discography -- Albums

Hoyt Axton "The Balladeer" (Horizon Records, 1962) (LP)

Hoyt Axton "Greenback Dollar" (Horizon Records, 1963)
This album contains basically the same material as The Balladeer, but with the crowd noise and Hoyt's stage banter edited out...

Hoyt Axton "Thunder 'N Lightnin' " (Horizon Records, 1963)

Hoyt Axton "Saturday's Child" (Horizon Records, 1963)

Hoyt Axton "Hoyt Axton Explodes!" (Vee Jay Records, 1964) (LP)

Hoyt Axton "Mr. Greenback Dollar Man" (Surrey Records, 1965) (LP)

Hoyt Axton "Hoyt Axton Sings Bessie Smith" (Exodus Records, 1965) (LP)

Hoyt Axton "My Griffin Is Gone" (Columbia Records, 1969)

Hoyt Axton "Joy To The World" (Capitol Records, 1971)

Hoyt Axton "Country Anthem" (Capitol Records, 1971)

Hoyt Axton "Less Than The Song" (A&M Records, 1973)

Hoyt Axton "Life Machine" (A&M Records, 1974)

Hoyt Axton "Southbound" (A&M Records, 1975)

Hoyt Axton "Fearless" (A&M Records, 1976)