Thomas Richard Paxton (born October 31, 1937) is an American folk singer-songwriter who has had a music career spanning more than sixty years. In 2009, Paxton received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. He is a music educator as well as an advocate for folk singers to combine traditional songs with new compositions.
Paxton's songs have been widely recorded, including modern standards such as "The Last Thing on My Mind", "Bottle of Wine", "Whose Garden Was This", "The Marvelous Toy", and "Ramblin' Boy". Paxton's songs have been recorded by Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, the Weavers, Judy Collins, Sandy Denny, Joan Baez, Doc Watson, Harry Belafonte, Peter, Paul and Mary, the Seekers, Marianne Faithfull, the Kingston Trio, the Chad Mitchell Trio, John Denver, Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Flatt & Scruggs, the Move, the Fireballs, and many others.
In 2005, Paxton received a Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting at BBC Radio Two's Folk Awards at London's Brewery Arts Centre.
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Links to Peel[]
During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Peel enthused about many artists who recorded for Elektra Records, but Tom Paxton, one of the label's most popular acts with UK audiences, was seldom among them. This may have been because Paxton was a few years older than most singers of the era and didn't project a contemporary image - in his early album sleeve photos he wears conventional clothes and has a receding hairline. Musically, too, he remained rooted in the style of the early 1960s Greenwich Village folk scene and showed no interest in following his contemporary Bob Dylan's example and "going electric". However, Paxton's songs were strong enough to attract cover versions from artists working in a wide range of genres, as can be seen from the list above.
They also brought the singer popularity with British folk audiences at a time when the US folk scene in which he had made his name was in decline. There were versions of his songs by artists Peel liked, including Donovan ("Ramblin' Boy") and Elektra band Clear Light ("Mr. Blue"), while one of his best-known songs, "Last Thing On My Mind" was done in Byrds style by the Move. Peel played a few tracks from Tom Paxton's late 1960s albums, which employed orchestral arrangements and a wider range of musical styles than before. The DJ's track choices suggest that he preferred the singer's protest or satirical material, like "Talking Vietnam Pot Luck Blues" whose anti-war theme and references to dope-smoking among troops in Vietnam made it a festival favourite; Peel mentioned in International Times that he couldn't play it on the radio. He did play Paxton's satire on the extravagances of the US funeral industry, "Forest Lawn", and his on-air comments showed that after living in the US, he understood what the song was about. But Paxton was better known for the love songs, children's songs and 1960s wandering folksinger anthems played on the many BBC shows on which he appeared, either as a guest or on record. One of these shows was an In Concert from 1971, introduced by Peel, but apart from that the singer never became a major Peel favourite. He did, however, influence some later singers who did Peel sessions, notably Billy Bragg.
Festive Fifty Entries[]
- None
Sessions[]
- None
Live[]
- 09 November 1971: live, recorded 1971-10-28, Paris Theatre
- Ev'ry Time
- About The Children
- Saturday Night
- Now That I've Taken My Life
- Forest Lawn
- Mister Blue
- Jennifer's Rabbit
- I Give You The Morning
- Victoria Dines Alone
- The Hostage
- All Night Long
Other Shows Played[]
- 10 December 1967: Jennifer's Rabbit (7") Elektra EKSN 45021
- 24 December 1967: Jennifer's Rabbit (7") Elektra EKSN 45021
- 07 September 1969: All Night Long (album - The Things I Notice Now) Elektra EKS 74043
- 09 May 1970: Forest Lawn (7") Elektra 2101 002
- 30 May 1970: Annie’s Going To Sing Her Song (LP - 6) Elektra EKS 74066
- 13 June 1970: Whose Garden Was This? (LP - 6) Elektra EKS 74066
See Also[]
External Links[]