John Scott's Top 40 Songs from Jacksonville (Part II)

8. “Joy to the World” – Three Dog Night (1971) – Hoyt Axton cannot even claim to have the biggest song of his family on this list (his mom trumped him at number 4), but the songwriter made his mark as a writer and later performer, especially here on his song that Three Dog Night made into the number one song of 1971.

7. “Feel So Good” – Mase (1997) Mason Betha (Mase) was born in Jacksonville, moved to Harlem, then back to Jacksonville for a short time, attending Robert E. Lee High. Upon his return to New York City, he connected with Sean Combs’ Bad Boy Productions and this, his debut single went platinum. His later collaborations with Diddy and Notorious B.I.G. landed him as one of the superstars of hip hop in the late 90s.
 
6.   “Second Chance” – Shinedown (2008) Shinedown formed here in 2001 and began their recording career in 2003 to instant success that built by their third album to include this song which shattered every chart record they had achieved. It was number one on various charts and top 10 on the pop charts, attaining double platinum status. Lead singer Brent Smith said the song was about “the moment you wake up and decide you want to go for every single dream you ever wanted.”

5. “What’d I Say” – Ray Charles (1959) Charles lived in the LaVilla area of town for a little over a year(1946-7), after spending 8 years at Florida School for the Blind in St Augustine. He married gospel and R&B and invented “soul music”. This song was originally improvised after Charles’ shows and received such reaction from the audience that he recorded it. It was his first crossover in to the pop charts and is widely considered one of the most influential songs in American popular music history.

4. “Heartbreak Hotel” – Elvis Presley (1956) Mae Boren Axton was a teacher at Paxon; she was also a songwriter. She co-wrote this with Tommy Durden after seeing an article about a man whose suicide note read “I walk a lonely street.” Axton knew Elvis’ manager, the song got to him, and “Heartbreak Hotel” became Elvis Presley’s first number one pop hit, selling millions.