Axton spent a significant amount of time struggling with alcohol and cocaine addiction and several of his songs, including "The Pusher," "Snowblind Friend," and "No-No Song," chronicled his drug problems.
He served in the US Navy aboard the USS Princeton (LPH-5), before pursuing a music career. After his discharge, he began singing folk songs in San Francisco nightclubs.
In the early 1960s he released his first folk album titled "The Balladeer," which was recorded at the legendary Troubadour. The album included his song "Greenback Dollar", a 1963 hit for The Kingston Trio.
Best known country hits included "When the Morning Comes" and "Boney
Fingers" (1974) and "Della and the Dealer" (1979).
In November of 2007, the Oklahoma born-and-raised singer/songwriter was inducted posthumously, along with his mother, to the Oklahoma Country Music Hall of Fame in Muskogee, Oklahoma.
Formed his own record label, Jeremiah Records, in 1978.