John LaGale Horton (April 30, 1925 – November 5, 1960) was an American country, honky tonk and rockabilly musician during the 1950s.

Horton had two successes in 1960 with both "Sink the Bismarck" and "North to Alaska", the latter used over the opening credits to the John Wayne film of the same name.

[3] Horton soon returned to California and got a job in the mail room at Selznick International Pictures, where his future wife, Donna Cook, was working in the studio as a secretary.

His first song for that label, "First Train Headin' South" b/w "(I Wished for an Angel) The Devil Sent Me You" (Mercury 6412), received good reviews.

The constant touring was hard on Horton's marriage, and Donna moved back to Los Angeles.

[3] On September 26, 1953, Horton married Billie Jean Jones,[1] widow of Hank Williams, who had died on January 1, 1953.

Horton, himself always an avid fisherman, got a job in a tackle shop and put his music career on hiatus.

But by the following year, his new manager and bassist Tillman Franks had obtained Horton a one-year contract with Columbia Records.

[1] Session musicians on the recording were Grady Martin and Harold Bradley, as well as Bill Black (at the time Presley's bassist).

[3] "Honky-Tonk Man" was reviewed by the March 10 issue of Billboard, which said, "The wine, women and song attractions exert a powerful hold on the singer, he admits.

[3] Horton returned to the studio on May 23, but the "A" side of his next single, "I'm a One Woman Man" (Columbia 21538), was one of the songs recorded back in January.

Billboard described "One Woman Man" as a "smart and polished job," and Horton as "singing with a light, airy touch.

On February 9, Billboard noted that "not only Southern markets are doing good business with this, but Northern cities report that both country and pop customers are going for this in a big way".

[3] Horton is interred at Hillcrest Memorial Park and Mausoleum in Haughton, east of Bossier City in northwestern Louisiana.

[1] When Johnny Cash, a good friend of Horton's, learned about the accident, he said, "[I] locked myself in one of the hotel's barrooms and cried.