Tom Paxton

Singer-songwriter

Tom Paxton is a tried-and-true protest singer, comparable to folks like Phil Ochs, Bob Dylan, and Cat Stevens. Fans of Tom Paxton may enjoy the work of artists like Dan Bern and Steve Earle.

The Very Best of Tom Paxton (Flying Fish, 1988)

Live For the Record (Sugar Hill, 1996)

Best of the Vanguard Years (Vanguard, 2000)

Tom Paxton majored in drama at the University of Oklahoma, before joining the Army reserves and moving to New York City to pursue a career as a folksinger.

"If I Pass This Way Again"
"The Last Hobo"
"Did You Hear John Hurt?"
"Lyndon Johnson Told the Nation"

Tom Paxton was born in October, 1937, in Chicago. His parents moved the family to Bristow, Oklahoma, when Tom was 11, and he eventually majored in drama at the University of Oklahoma.

After college, Paxton spent a brief time in the service before moving to New York to pursue a career as a musician. There, he performed regularly at all the Greenwich Village venues, including the Gaslight, who released his debut album in 1962. Following the release of his debut, Paxton wrote a song for the Chad Mitchell Trio and made his first performance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1963. After a brief stint with Vanguard, in 1964, he was picked up by Elektra records, and began recording under that label.

He married his wife in 1963, and has since released a total of more than 50 records. He has enjoyed considerable success in writing music and books for children, though he is best loved in the folk music world as a protest singer. Most recently, he was named as one of the recipients of a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award for the 2009 Grammy Awards.