But his greatest honor has been the praise of his peers.
In a career that spans more 60 albums, Paxton has received lifetime achievement recognition from ASCAP, the BBC and the Grammy Awards, as well as several Grammy Award nominations. “The Last Thing On My Mind,” which Paxton released on his major-label debut album on Elektra Records in 1964, has since been recorded by Joan Baez, Johnny Cash, Glen Campbell, Neil Diamond, Gram Parsons, and Peter, Paul and Mary, among others.
However, “by the time Bobby came on the set, with at most two or three songs he had written, Tom was already singing at least 50 percent his own material,” wrote Van Ronk.Īcross the decades, generations of musicians have drawn inspiration from Paxton’s songs of love, laughter and political outrage: “Ramblin’ Boy,” “Bottle of Wine,” “What Did You Learn In School Today,” “Whose Garden Was This,” “The Marvelous Toy” and countless more. The Greenwich Village folk singers, early on, focused on traditional repertoire, songs with words and melodies passed down through generations and whose composers-Guthrie and Seeger aside-were typically unknown. “You can draw a direct line from Woody Guthrie to Pete Seeger to this man, who is a true troubadour” said John Platt of WFUV (the adult-alternative public radio station at New York’s Fordham University) as he introduced Paxton at the Clearwater Festival. Paxton - who turns 85 today - is one of the most important figures in American songwriting and the folk music tradition. Paxton, with a grey beard matching his hair, gazed across the Hudson to the wooded hills of the Palisades as he sang his opening song, with lyrics inspired by an Old Testament prophet and Seeger’s activism. The Clearwater was conceived in 1966 by Paxton’s longtime friend and mentor, the folk music icon and social activist Pete Seeger, who once called Paxton’s songs “part of America.”
Chuck D Named Music Ambassador & Content Architect for MLB's Hip-Hop 50 Celebrationsįor decades, Paxton has performed at this festival to support the environmental work of the Hudson River sloop Clearwater.
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