I will be completely honest with you. Up until about 2 1/2 years ago, I thought Johnny Paycheck was a one hit wonder with a gimmick name. And that one hit song, “Take This Job and Shove It,” wasn’t even his own song, but a David Allan Coe cover.
Well ladies and gentlemen, since then I have turned that big ship of stupid around.
It’s rare you can pull out the term “Hard Country” and have it make sense and fit like a glove on an artist, but that is exactly what describes Johnny Paycheck. And he’s was an Outlaw too, in the truest sense of the word. Sure he wasn’t as integral to the Outlaw scene as Willie, Waylon, Coe, or Kristofferson, but Paycheck fought Nashville when necessary, never settled, did things his way, and told it like it was.
In true Outlaw fashion, Paycheck started his solo career under his own label “Little Darlin’ Records.” When that folded he moved to epic, but while the “Nashville Sound” had moved to strings and choruses, Paycheck stuck with the true honky tonk style of heavy pedal steel guitar, fiddles, harmonies, and themes involving low living and real world issues.
If you ask me, the more an artist is reviled by Nashville, the bigger skin they have on the wall. Well when Hank Williams III went to release his last album Damn Right, Rebel Proud, it wasn’t a profanity-laced tribute to the infamous GG Allin that his label Curb Records decided to veto. No, it was a cover of Paycheck’s “Only Hell Momma Ever Raised.”
But Paycheck also comes with serious country music accolades, including 11 top 10 hits (including “Only Hell Momma Ever Raised”), a #1 hit in 1977 with “Take This Job and Shove It,” an Academy of Country Music Career Achievement Award from that same year, and he also was an inducted member of the Grand Ole Opry. Early in his career, Paycheck also worked as a tenor singer for George Jones, and is given credit for helping develop Jones’ unique lyrical phrasing.
It is for all of these reasons that Johnny Paycheck fans want him considered for the Country Music Hall of Fame, and have started an online petition.
Paycheck does come with some baggage. Numerous run ins with the law landed him in jail for long stints, and drug and alcohol abuse created financial issues for him and ended his career too early. Still, his impact on country music, especially Outlaw country and Hard Country (man, I just love the sound of those two words together) cannot be denied.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN THE PETITION
Factoid: Johnny Paycheck’s real name is Donald Eugene Lytle, and he got the name Johnny Paycheck from a boxer who fought Joe Lewis in 1940.
Thanks to Gary Hayes for helping to put together the petition and alerting me to it.
Tags: Country Music Hall of Fame, Curb Records, David Allan Coe, George Jones, Hank III, Johnny Paycheck, petition, The Grand Ole Opry
June 29th, 2009 at 11:39 pm
I’d like to say one thing, DAC isn’t a member of the Grand Ole Opry…WHAT!?
June 30th, 2009 at 10:25 am
It will happen.
June 30th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
FACT: There has been a little confusion about the petition. Gary Hayes didn’t put the petition together, I did, Jonathan PayCheck (Johnny PayChecks son).
FACT: Donal Eugene Lytle was my fathers name but he did have it legally changed to Johnny PayCheck, thus the reason I have the last name PayCheck as my legal name. Believe me it was not easy growing up with the last name PayCheck and to this day I still get “Well that is an odd name, kinda like that singer. You probably don’t even know who that is…” Happens almost every day still.
FACT: Drugs and Alcohol may have ended his records deals early but my father did perform up until only a few years before he died. His music career never really ended, I mean this is how he always made his living. The drugs, bad business, and jail did however put a financial strain on the family, one which we never really recovered from while my father was alive.
My father had an amazing catalog of music which I hope will live on for many years to come. I hope that new country music fans will enjoy and appreciate his music writing ability and his outstanding voice.
Thanks for listening,
Jonathan PayCheck
President
PayCheck Entertainment, Ltd.
Please sign this petition to get my father into the Hall of Fame.
Online petition - Place Johnny PayCheck in the Country Music Hall of Fame
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/johnny-paycheck.html
To help support the induction of Johnny PayCheck into the Hall of Fame please add the below html code to your website.
June 30th, 2009 at 2:38 pm
Thanks for the info Jonathan!
July 8th, 2009 at 8:10 pm
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