More Info on Johnny PayCheckSimilar Undetermined MusicSearch Artistopia
Biography
Refimprove|date=April 2009Infobox musical artist | name = Johnny Paycheck| image = Johnny_Paycheck.jpg| caption = From left to right Johnny Lee, Johnny Paycheck and Mickey Gilley at Gilley's Nightclub.| image_size = 260px| background = solo_singer| birth_name = Donald Eugene Lytle| birth_date = Birth date|1938|5|31|mf=y| death_date = Death date and age|2003|2|19|1938|5|31 Nashville, Tennessee , United States of America|USA | origin = Greenfield, Ohio , United States of America|USA | instrument = Vocalist Electric Guitar Acoustic guitar|Acoustic Guitar Bass Guitar Steel Guitar | genre = Country Music Outlaw country|Outlaw Country Honky tonk#Music|Honky tonk | occupation = Singer-songwriter | years_active = 1953 in country music|1953 & ndash; 2003 in country music|2003 | label = Sony| associated_acts =| website = http://www.johnnypaycheckmusic.com/ www.johnnypaycheckmusic.com Johnny Paycheck was the stage name of Donald Eugene Lytle (May 31, 1938 & ndash; February 19, 2003), a country music singer and Grand Ole Opry member most famous for recording the David Allan Coe song " Take This Job and Shove It ". He achieved his greatest success in the 1970s as a major force in country music's "Outlaw Movement" popularized by artists such as David Allan Coe , Waylon Jennings , Willie Nelson , Billy Joe Shaver and Merle Haggard . In the 1980s, his music career suffered from his problems with drugs, alcohol, and legal difficulties. He served a prison sentence in the early 1990s but his declining health effectively ended his career in early 2000.
Early career
Born in Greenfield, Ohio, Donald Lytle was playing in talent contests by the age of 9.
He took a job with country music legend George Jones for whom he played bass and steel guitar . He later co-wrote Jones' hit song "Once You've Had the Best." PayCheck was a tenor harmony singer with numerous hard country performers in the late 1950s and early 1960s including Ray Price (musician)|Ray Price . Lytle, along with Willie Nelson, worked in Price's band the Cherokee Cowboys. He is featured as a tenor singer on recordings by Faron Young , Roger Miller , and Skeets McDonald .Citation needed|date=March 2008 All of these recordings are recognizable by their Honky tonk music|honky tonk purism. The recordings shun vocal choruses and strings that became known as the "Countrypolitan" sound in favor of steel guitar , twin fiddles, shuffle beats, high harmony and self-consciously miserable lyrics. As George Jones' tenor singer, PayCheck has been credited with the development of Jones' unique vocal phrasing.Citation needed|date=March 2008 In 1960, he reached Top 35 status in Cashbox magazine's country charts as Donny Young with the tune "Miracle Of Love". From the early to mid-1960s, he also enjoyed some success as a songwriter for others, with his biggest songwriting hit being "Apartment #9", which served as Tammy Wynette 's first chart hit in December 1966.
Johnny PayCheck
In 1964, he changed his name legally to Johnny PayCheck, taking the name from Johnny Paychek, a top ranked boxer from Chicago who once fought Joe Louis for the heavyweight title. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/johnny-paycheck-730063.html Obituary: Johnny Paycheck: Hell-raising country singer., The Independent (UK), February 21, 2003 He first charted under his new name with "A-11" in 1965. His best-selling single from this period was " She's All I Got " which reached #2 on the U.S. country singles charts in 1971 and made it onto the Billboard Hot 100. His "Mr. Lovemaker" also reached #2 on the U.S. country singles chart in 1973. But with the popularity of Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings in the mid 70's, PayCheck changed his image to that of outlaw country|outlaw , where he was to have his largest financial success.
It was his producer Bill Sherrill who helped revive his career by significantly changing his sound and image. Sherrill was best known for carefully choreographing his records and infusing them with considerable pop feel. The PayCheck records were clearly based on Sherrill's take on the bands backing Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson on records. " Coors Brewing Company|Colorado Kool-Aid ", "Me and the IRS", "Friend, Lover, Wife", "Slide Off of Your Satin Sheets", and "I'm the Only Hell (Mama Ever Raised)" were hits for PayCheck during this period. He received a Academy of Country Music Career Achievement award in 1977 in music|1977 . cquote|To me, an outlaw is a man that did things his own way, whether you liked him or not. I did things my own way."|||Johnny PayCheckCitation needed|date=February 2007
Later life and death
In 1981 he appeared on the television show, The Dukes of Hazzard , as himself.IMDB, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0567224/ The Dukes of Hazzard , "The Fugitive" episode, 1981 The scene had him playing "Take This Job and Shove It" and arguing with Boss Hogg when the sheriff tried to give him a citation over the content of the song.
In December 1985, PayCheck was convicted and sentenced to 7 years in jail for shooting a man at the North High Lounge in Hillsboro, Ohio after he fired a .22 pistol, grazing the man's head with a bullet. PayCheck claimed the act was self-defense. After several years spent fighting the sentence, in 1989 he began his sentence, spending 22 months in prison before he was pardoned by the Governor of Ohio, Richard Celeste .Paul W. Dennis, http://www.the9513.com/forgotten-artists-donald-lytle-aka-donny-young/ "Forgotten Artists: Donald Lytle, aka Donny Young", the9513.com, March 4, 2010
cquote|I heard from fans constantly throughout the entire two years. The letters never stopped, from throughout the world. I looked forward to mail call every day.||Johnny PayCheck after his release from prison.|||Johnny PayCheckCitation needed|date=March 2008 The most successful of his later singles, released during his appeal, was "Old Violin" which reached # 21 on the country chart in 1986. His last album to chart was "Modern Times" in 1987. He continued to release albums, the last of which, Remembering appeared in 2002.
In 1990, he filed for bankruptcy after tax problems with the Internal Revenue Service|IRS .Citation needed|date=March 2008 Although PayCheck suffered from drug and alcohol addiction during his career, he later was said to have "put his life in order" http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/Music/02/19/obit.paycheck.ap/ after his prison stay. He continued to perform and tour until the late 1990's. After the year 2000 his health would only allow for short appearances. Suffering from emphysema and asthma after a lengthy illness, Johnny PayCheck died at Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville's Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 2003. His funeral was paid for by good friend and music legend George Jones.Citation needed|date=May 2011 He was buried in Woodlawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Nashville and survived by his wife Sharon and son Jonathan.
His brother Bud Lytle died from cancer in the mid 1990s in Ohio. His brother Jeffrey L. Lytle was killed in a car crash on Ohio State Route 73 near Hillsboro, Ohio on April 1, 2009.Times Gazette Hillsboro Ohio, April 3, 2009.
Little Darlin' Records
With his producer, Aubrey Mayhew , PayCheck co-owned his record company, Little Darlin' Records. PayCheck's Little Darlin' recordings featured the pedal steel guitar work of Lloyd Green . By the end of the 1960s, Little Darlin' Records folded. In the late 1990s, after taking them for granted for years, country music historians began to recognize the distinctive and sharp-edged sound of the Little Darlin' recordings as unique in their time, PayCheck's in particular.Citation needed|date=March 2008
Legacy
A tribute album, Touch My Heart: a Tribute to Johnny PayCheck , was released in 2004 on the Sugar Hill Label. Produced by Robbie Fulks , the album features George Jones, Marshall Crenshaw , HankWilliams III , Al Anderson , Dallas Wayne , Neko Case , Gail Davies and Fulks himself covering some of PayCheck's best-known songs.
In his song "Grand Ole Opry (Ain't So Grand Anymore)", HankWilliams III praises PayCheck (along with the HankWilliams Jr.|singer's father and Waylon Jennings ) as a "real rebel" the Grand Ole Opry only reluctantly inducted.
cquote|I'm a man who believes that right is right and wrong is wrong. Treat me right, and I will give you my all. Treat me wrong, and I will give you nothing. They don't like me for that, but that's the way I am."|||Johnny PayCheckCitation needed|date=March 2008
A"She's All I Got" also peaked at #91 on the Billboard Hot 100 .
B"The Outlaw's Prayer" also peaked at #27 on New Zealand Singles Chart
References
Reflist
Cooper, Daniel. (1998). "Johnny PayCheck". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music . Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. p.& nbsp;408.
External links
http://www.johnnypaycheckmusic.com/ Official website
http://www.johnny-paycheck.com/ Johnny PayCheck Tribute Site
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0668181/ Johnny PayCheck at The Internet Movie Database
Find a Grave|7197159
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/02/20/entertainment/main541269.shtml CBS News - Country singer Johnny PayCheck dead at 64
http://www.furious.com/perfect/johnnypaycheck.html Johnny PayCheck, Kurt Hernon, 2002
Persondata | NAME = PayCheck, Johnny | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH = May 31, 1938 | PLACE OF BIRTH = | DATE OF DEATH = February 19, 2003 | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:PayCheck, Johnny Category:1938 births Category:2003 deaths Category:American country singers Category:Deaths from asthma Category:Deaths from emphysema Category:Epic Records artists Category:Grand Ole Opry members Category:Musicians from Ohio Category:People from Highland County, Ohio Category:American people convicted of assault Category:Forgers Category:Recipients of American gubernatorial pardons Category:United States Navy sailors
