On Tuesday, October 26, 1999 at 12:00:00 AM UTC-7, gjw wrote:
> Tuesday October 26 1:38 PM ET
> Hoyt Axton, Wrote Pop Hit 'Joy To The World', Dies
> VICTOR, Montana (Reuters) - Singer-songwriter Hoyt Axton, who penned
> a string of pop hits including Three Dog Night's ''Joy to the World'',
> has died at his Montana ranch at the age of 61, friends said Tuesday.
> The cause of death was not announced but Axton, a large man who also
> acted in movies and on television, had a history of ill health,
> Nashville-based associate David McCormick said.
> Axton was literally born to songwriting. His mother Mae Boren Axton
> was a co-author of Elvis Presley's ``Heartbreak Hotel.''
> Axton churned out his own list of hits beginning with ''Greenback
> Dollar,'' recorded in 1963 by the Kingston Trio. Other chart-toppers
> included Ringo Starr's ``No No Song'' of 1975 as well as songs
> performed by Elvis Presley, John Denver and Linda Ronstadt.
> But his best-known song remains the 1971 Three Dog Night smash ``Joy
> To The World,'' with its unmistakable opening line ''Jeremiah was a
> bullfrog, was a good friend of mine...'' The song topped the charts
> for six weeks.
> Axton also acted in numerous movies and television shows, stretching
> from ``Bonanza'' in 1964 to ``Diff'rent Strokes'' in 1984. He is
> survived by his wife and several adult children.
>
> *** http://www.seeing-stars.com ***

Seems like only yesterday I heard the unfortunate news