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mahatmakanejeeves

(57,513 posts)
Tue Apr 9, 2024, 07:03 AM Apr 9

On this day, April 9, 1997, Mae Boren Axton died.

Hat tip, This Day in Music

1997 - Mae Boren Axton
Songwriter Mae Boren Axton died aged 82 after drowning in her bath at her home in Hendersonville, Tennessee after an apparent heart attack. Known as the 'Queen Mother of Nashville' she wrote over 200 songs including a co-writing credit on the Elvis Presley hit 'Heartbreak Hotel'. She was the mother of country singer, songwriter Hoyt Axton.

Mae Boren Axton


Mae Boren Axton

Born: Mae Boren; September 14, 1914; Bardwell, Texas, U.S.
Died: April 9, 1997 (aged 82); Hendersonville, Tennessee, U.S.
Known for: Co-writing "Heartbreak Hotel"

Mae Boren Axton (September 14, 1914 – April 9, 1997) was known in the music industry as the "Queen Mother of Nashville." She co-wrote the Elvis Presley hit single "Heartbreak Hotel" with Tommy Durden. She worked with Mel Tillis, Reba McEntire, Willie Nelson, Eddy Arnold, Tanya Tucker, Johnny Tillotson, and Blake Shelton.

Personal life

Boren was born in Texas to Mark L. and Nannie Boren. The only daughter out of nine children, she was the sister of United States Congressman Lyle Boren. When Boren was two years old the family moved to Oklahoma. She attended East Central State College and the University of Oklahoma, where she earned a bachelor's degree in journalism. She obtained a public teaching certificate and taught English and journalism at schools throughout Oklahoma.

Boren married John T. Axton, an officer in the US Navy, and they had two sons: folk music singer-songwriter, guitarist, film and television actor Hoyt Axton and John, who became an attorney. The family lived in Comanche, Oklahoma during the children's pre-teen years. In 1949, Axton was stationed in Jacksonville, Florida and the family moved there. Boren taught English at Dupont High School, Paxon High School and Ribault High School in Jacksonville, Florida.

{snip}

Heartbreak Hotel


A-side label of US single

Single by Elvis Presley
B-side: "I Was the One"
Released: January 27, 1956
Recorded: January 10, 1956
Studio: RCA Victor (Nashville)
Genre: Blues, rock and roll, rockabilly
Length: 2:08
Label: RCA Victor
Songwriter(s): Mae Boren Axton, Tommy Durden, Elvis Presley

"Heartbreak Hotel" is a song recorded by American singer Elvis Presley. It was released as a single on January 27, 1956, Presley's first on his new record label RCA Victor. It was written by Mae Boren Axton and Tommy Durden, with credit being given also to Presley.

A newspaper article about the suicide of a lonely man who jumped from a hotel window inspired the song. Axton presented the song to Presley in November 1955 at a country music convention in Nashville. Presley recorded it on January 10, 1956, in a session with his band, the Blue Moon Boys, the guitarist Chet Atkins and the pianist Floyd Cramer. "Heartbreak Hotel" comprises an eight-bar blues progression, with heavy reverberation throughout the track, to imitate the character of Presley's Sun recordings.

The single topped the Billboard Top 100 for seven weeks, Cashbox's Pop singles chart for six weeks, and the Country and Western chart for seventeen weeks as well as reaching No. 3 on the R&B chart, becoming Presley's first million-seller, and one of the best-selling singles of 1956. "Heartbreak Hotel" achieved unheard of feats as it reached the top 5 of Country and Western, Pop, and Rhythm 'n' Blues charts simultaneously. It was eventually certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Presley had first performed "Heartbreak Hotel" during a live show in December 1955 during a tour of the Louisiana Hayride; it gained popularity after his appearance on Stage Show in March 1956. It became a staple of Presley's repertoire in live appearances, last performed by him on May 29, 1977, at the Civic Center in Baltimore.

{snip}

Background and writing


Presley stripped to his waist after escaping from a fan riot, during the concerts performed in Jacksonville, Florida between May 12–13

The song was written in 1955, by Mae Boren Axton, a high school teacher with a background in musical promotion, and Jacksonville based singer–songwriter Tommy Durden. The lyrics were based on a report supposedly in The Miami Herald about a man who had destroyed all his identity papers and jumped to his death from a hotel window, leaving a suicide note with the single line, "I walk a lonely street". Songfacts.com says they were unable to locate the Miami Herald story. They labeled it an urban legend. In 2016, an article in Rolling Stone magazine suggested that the story in reality originated from a report about a painter and criminal, Alvin Krolik, whose marriage had failed and who wrote a unpublished autobiography including the line "This is the story of a person who walked a lonely street." Krolik's story was published in news media, and received further publicity after he was shot and killed in an attempted robbery in El Paso, Texas. On August 25, 1955, the El Paso Times reported Krolik's death under the headline "Story Of Person Who Walked Lonely Street".

{snip}

This cover was included on the first record album I ever bought. It's total greatness.


STAN FREBERG - Heartbreak Hotel 💔 (1956)

BenBop1965

24.8K subscribers

43,366 views Oct 22, 2010 #Presley #Elvis #Parody
50s Rock And Roll (Elvis Presley Parody ) Capitol Records CL14608 flip side is "Rock Island Line"
Stan Freberg (born Stanley Friberg; August 7, 1926 - April 7, 2015) was an American author, recording artist, voice actor, comedian, radio personality, puppeteer and advertising creative director, whose career began in 1944.
He remained active in the industry into his late 80s, more than 70 years after entering it.

#Elvis #Presley #Parody

Okay, if you insist:


Elvis Presley - Heartbreak Hotel (Official Audio)

Elvis Presley

3.26M subscribers

23,315,066 views Jun 4, 2013 #ElvisPresley #HeartbreakHotel #OfficialAudio
"Heartbreak Hotel" by Elvis Presley
Listen to Elvis Presley: https://Elvis.lnk.to/_listenYD
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Lyrics:
Where I'll be, I'll be so lonely, baby
Well, I'm so lonely
I'll be so lonely, I could die

#ElvisPresley #HeartbreakHotel #OfficialAudio


Elvis Presley Heatrbreak Hotel Live (1956`)

John56517

5.26K subscribers

1,611,465 views Dec 26, 2012
Elvis Presley singing Heartbreak Hotel in 1956`

Same clip, but with an introduction:


heartbreak hotel- Elvis Presley -the milton berle show,3 abril 1956

Anisio Sioux

752 subscribers

349,386 views Nov 19, 2008

{snip}

Now there was a musical family.

Hoyt Axton


Hoyt Axton on July 4, 1976

Background information
Birth name: Hoyt Wayne Axton
Born: March 25, 1938; Duncan, Oklahoma, U.S.
Origin: Comanche, Oklahoma
Died: October 26, 1999 (aged 61); Victor, Montana, U.S.
Genres: Country, folk, blues, rock
Occupation(s): Vocals, guitar
Years active: 1960–1999
Website: https://web.archive.org/web/20050826150814/http://sixcats.com/axton/hoyt.htm

Hoyt Wayne Axton (March 25, 1938 – October 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor. He became prominent in the early 1960s, establishing himself on the West Coast as a folk singer with an earthy style and powerful voice. Among his best-known songs are "Joy to the World", "The Pusher", "No No Song", "Greenback Dollar", "Della and the Dealer", and "Never Been to Spain".

{snip}

On November 1, 2007, Axton and his mother Mae were both inducted posthumously into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in Muskogee, Oklahoma.

{snip}

Mon Mar 25, 2024: On this day, March 25, 1938, Hoyt Axton was born.

Thu Oct 26, 2023: On this day, October 26, 1999, Hoyt Axton died.

Sun Apr 9, 2023: On this day, April 9, 1997, Mae Boren Axton died.

Sat Jan 28, 2023: On January 27, 1956 RCA Victor released "Heartbreak Hotel."

Wed Oct 26, 2022: On this day, October 26, 1999, Hoyt Axton died.

Wed Oct 28, 2020: On October 26, 1999, Hoyt Axton died.

Thu Oct 26, 2017: Eighteen years ago today, Hoyt Axton died.
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