ROOTS of Country Music

The Professional Work of Johnny Paycheck

(May 31, 1937 ~ Feb. 19, 2003)

Career Highlights

Grand Ole Opry -1993

Film, Night Club, Radio & TV

• Austin City Limits, 4
• Billy Bob's Texas, 2
• Ed Sullivan Show, 4
• Ernest Tubbs Midnight Jamboree, 3
• Gilleys Club, 2
• Hee Haw, 4
• Nashville Now, 4
• Pop Goes the Country, 4

1-Film, 2-Night Club, 3-Radio, 4-TV

Billboard Chart Data

• No. 1 Singles: 1
• Top-10 Singles: 11
• Crossover Singles: 0
• Charted Singles: 60
• Chart Years Active: (1965-1990)

Career Labels:

• Hilltop Records (1965-1966)
• Little Darlin' (1966-1968)
• Epic Records (1971-1982)

Billboard Top-10 Singles

1. The Lovin' Machine -1966
2. She's All I Got -1971
3. Someone to Give My Love To
4. Something About You I Love -1973
5. Mr. Love Maker
6. Song and Dance Man
7. Slide Off of Your Satin Sheets -1977
8. "I'm the Only Hell (Mama Ever Raised)
9. Take This Job and Shove It*#
10. Friend, Lover, Wife -1978
11. Maybelline, 1

*-No. 1 Chart Single

#-Biggest Chart Singlw

1-With George Jones

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Donnie Young (aka, Johnny Paycheck: The Early Years

Little has been published about the early years of the artist known as Johnny Paycheck. In recent times several excellent compilations of his Little Darlin' label recordings have been made available, which has been a blessing for collectors and new fans alike.

However, everything that has been written about the man born Donald Eugene Lytle seems to suggest that one day in 1964, he emerged perfectly skilled as country superstar named Johnny Paycheck from Ohio.

Only a few historians mention in passing that he had made a few records early on under the guise of Donny Young and even then only in the shortest words possible, as if this was an embarassing fact to be swept under the rug and forgotten.

What these historians seem to forget is that Paycheck had spent years making a slew of brilliant honky-tonk, near-rockabilly and stone country records, some of the best records he would ever make, under that forgotten name of Donny Young.

The fact that these records did not sell, truthfully, that they could not even be given away; fails to diminish the excitement that they offer when heard the first time some decades down the road. They are great records, great songs and great productions.

Nashville, then as now, only recognizes financial success and these records didn't fly, therefore they must have been terrible records, according to the Nashville standard. Nobody bought Cadillacs from these discs and the name Donny Young draws a blank stare from all but the most astute music historians.

However, their failure was more likely due to the uncontrollable, ornery, drugging and drinking nature of the young man who sang them and to the lack of promotion on the part of the record labels, than to any lack of musical greatness. The greatness was there, fully intact; it would just take a name change, a smart manager and the advent of outlaw country before the Cadillacs would come and the respect of the country music establishment with them.

The Decca Records Connection

Johnny Paycheck caught a break when the producer Owen Bradley, who acted as anArtists and repertoire (A&R) man for Decca Records, heard one of his demos and signed him to a recording contract, which must have seemed like a huge break for the struggling young singer. It was, but simply having releases on the label was no guarantee of success.

Owen Bradley must have believed in the young singer, though, as four singles were released over the next three years, all excellent examples of hard-core honky-tonk and country.

The first release was It's Been a Long, Long Time for Me b/w On This Mountain Top, released as Decca 9-30763 in November of 1958. The topside was written by Paycheck, a great bouncy number reminiscent of the hits Faron Young was having at the time. The flip featured Paycheck's roaring buddy Roger Miller on harmony vocals.

Paycheck and Roger Miller were both destined for stardom, but in the studio at that moment in the fall of 1958 they were unknown, two very small fish in a very big pond. It would be years before either one would taste the glory of a hit record. By any standard it was an auspicious debut, but for all intents and purposes, the careers of both men began that night; the start of a long, hard journey for both of them.

The second record, The Old Man and the River b/w Pictures Can't Talk, released as Decca 9-30881 in April of 1959, was yet another two-side artistic success that garnered no sales. Roger Miller's tune on the topside (he was also writing song demos for Tree Music at the same time) was a great Cajun-flavored song with a memorable chorus and Paycheck's flip was a first-rate weeper that suited his wounded enunciation perfectly.

By the time of the third release, Shakin' the Blues b/w Miracle of Love, Paycheck really hit his stride. This record can only be considered a masterpiece in every respect: songwriting (it was written by none other than Paycheck's boss at this point, George Jones), arrangement, performance and production. It was a record that had HIT written all over it, and yet again it failed to chart.

One more 45 was released in July of 1961, I Guess I Had It Coming b/w Go Ring the Bells (Decca 9-31283), which was made up of two leftovers from the earlier sessions.

Although both were again great songs with a lot going for them, this release seems to have been an afterthought, with no promotion put behind it whatsoever. Decca dropped Paycheck soon thereafter and he moved back to his home state of Ohio.

The Mercury Records Connection

It was George Jones who got Paycheck his next recording contract, with his own label, Mercury Records. Another two excellent singles were issued under the Donny Young name, presumably backed by the Jones boys (who would also back up Paycheck a few years later on his first hit record,A-11).

On Second Thought b/w One Day a Week (Mercury 71900) was released in September 1961, only a few months after the last Decca record escaped. It was another great single that yet again failed to chart. Despite Jones's efforts, the name Donny Young seemed doomed to obscurity.

The second Mercury release, I'd Come Back to Me b/w Not Much I Don't (Mercury 71981, released in June 1962) was a strong foreshadowing of the style that Paycheck would soon be recording for Little Darlin'. Again it made no waves and sank without a trace.

Paycheck had now had two major-label contracts without a lick of success and the frustration must have been maddening.

The Todd Records Connection

The Todd Record label was the brainchild of the Decca RecordsArtists and repertoire (A&R) man Paul Cohen, who had run it as a sideline business since 1957, releasing everything from rockabilly (Jericho Jones) to surf (Bobby Fuller) and all styles in between. Presumably Paycheck still had some contact with Paul Cohen from the Decca days.

Don't You Get Lonesome b/w I'm Glad to Have Her Back Again was released as Todd 1098 in early 1964. If it were possible, it made even less of a splash than the Decca and Mercury singles, vanishing without a trace, and today it remains the rarest of all the Donny Young releases.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------(Pardon Me) I've Got Someone to Kill

The Little Darlin Years

Producer Aubrey Mayhew was the driving force behind Little Darlin' Records, the renegade Nashville, Tennessee (TN)independent that issued a series of cult-classic country hits including Johnny Paycheck's (Pardon Me) I've Got Someone to Kill and Stonewall Jackson's The Pint of No Return.

Mayhew joined the staff of New York City-based budget label Pickwick Records. Mayhew was in Houston on November 22, 1963, the day President Kennedy was killed less than 250 miles away and the tragedy's impact on his life and his career proved enormous. Mayhew was there trying to purchase some George Jones tapes from Starday Records co-founder, Pappy Daily when the assassination happened.

Mayhew later recalled. "I immediately called a friend, who brought over two tape recorders and all the tape he could carry. We recorded everything off the television for about 12 hours. I rushed the material back to New York and we put out the first Kennedy Speeches album. At that time, we had 300 Woolworth stores in our pocket. We got prime display. We sold about three million albums in four months."

Mayhew leveraged the massive success of Pickwick's Kennedy memorial series to steer Pickwick into the country music market and upon learning of a down-on-his-luck honky-tonk singer named Donald Lytle, he traveled to Nashville, TN and found Lytle sleeping under the Shelby Street Bridge. Mayhew renamed him Johnny Paycheck and in 1965 Pickwick released the single, The Girl They Talk About.

The record generated sufficient airplay to support a second effort and Mayhew recruited George Jones' backing band to support Paycheck on the Buck Owens cover A-11. The single broke into the country top-40, as did its follow-up, Heartbreak Tennessee. Paycheck's success prompted Mayhew to quit Pickwick in favor of relocating to Nashville, TN, where he and Paycheck co-founded Little Darlin' in 1966.

Renowned steel guitarist Lloyd Green, who backed Paycheck on many of his most memorable Little Darlin' sessions, later recalled that on Mayhew's arrival in Music City, he carried a velvet-lined attach case stuffed with gold coins. "I drove him to a house and he got out of the car and went in," Green said. "When he came out, he didn't have the case but he had a leather pouch with $25,000 in $100 bills. He said "This is what starts Little Darlin' Records, right here."

Mayhew stridently rejected the lush, string-sweetened Nashville sound dominant across country radio in the mid- to late '60s, instead instilling Little Darlin' with a gritty, aggressive sound distinguished by hard-edged vocals, percolating rhythms and Green's shrieking steel solos.

Paycheck enjoyed a series of top-40 hits in the months to follow, including Motel Time Again, Jukebox Charlie, The Cave and Don't Monkey with Another Monkey's Monkey, while efforts like (Pardon Me) I've Got Someone to Kill, guaranteed Little Darlin' immortality among critics and Nashville historians. "I didn't want to do what anybody else was doing, so we came up with the most extreme things we could," Mayhew later explained.

In addition to the Paycheck catalog, Little Darlin' issued releases headlined by artists including Jeannie C. Riley and Bobby Helms. However, as the decade drew to a close, Paycheck's long battle with drugs and alcohol grew untenable and he left the label.

Mayhew soon folded Little Darlin' and launched a new imprint, Certron.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Take This Job and Shove It: The Real Mr. Paycheck

A one-time hell-raising renegade from Greenfield, Ohio, Johnny Paycheck took to playing music and raising hell at young age. Born Donald Eugene Lytle in Greenfield, Ohio,Johnny was playing guitar at the age of six and singing professionally at the age of fifteen.

After dropping out of high school, Johnny began having minor run-ins with the law. However, none were serious enough to keep him from pursuing a career in music. While playing local gigs, he continued developing his skills as a songwriter and as a backup singer.

Although he'd been writing since the mid-50s, it wasn't until two of his singles broke the charts in 1966 that he gained recognition as a songwriter. That year Ray Price charted with Touch My Heart and Tammy Wynette scored with Apartment #9.

A prelude to his solo career began as a bass player for Ray Price. From there Johnny took a job with George Jones. He stayed with George for six years, playing bass and later steel guitar. Paycheck also worked with Faron Young and Porter Wagoner.

Meanwhile, Johnny began working on a solo career by recording his own singles. Paycheck first appeared on the charts in 1965 with A-11. By 1966, Johnny had co-founded Little Darlin Records and for three years, he cut several sides for the label. Only one single The Lovin' Machine broke the top-10.

Paychecks big break came when he signed a contract with Epic Records in 1971. After his first recording session with Epic, he began turning out singles at a steady pace. In 1977, Johnny was on top of the charts with Take This Job and Shove It. The blockbuster single turned out to be his only No. 1 song.

Written by David Allan Coe, what was intended to be a song about a bad relationship, Take This Job was adopted as a battle cry for dissatisfaction in the workplace. Hollywood seized the opportunity to produce a film by the same title in 1981 starring Robert Hays of Airplane fame.

The follow-up single, Georgia in a Jug (backed with Me and the IRS) didn't fare as well on the charts, but in late 1978 Paycheck bounced back with the top-10 single, Friend, Lover, Wife.

Into the early 1980s a string of singles, many of them dealing with the theme of drinking such as Drinkin' and Drivin,' Fifteen Beers and D.O.A. (Drunk on Arrival), did little to keep the momentum of Paycheck's late '70s success moving forward.

A tour and a duet with Merle Haggard (I Can't Hold Myself in Line) failed to jump-start Paycheck's career. A quartet of singles with Jones performed a little better with covers of Chuck Berry's Mabellene and Roy Hamilton's You Can Have Her both cracking the top-20.

Johnny drifted in and out of the top-40 before being dropped from the Epic roster in 1984. In 1986, he joined Mercury Records, but after two years on the label, the Old Violin was his only top-40 song.

Paycheck's personal life wason a downward spiral. Chronic financial woes and problems with the IRS forced Paycheck into bankruptcy a few years earlier. In 1986, on a trip back to Ohio to visit family for the holidays, Paycheck had his final and most serious run-in with the law. When a barroom-disagreement turned ugly, Paycheck shot and wounded his antagonist and was sentenced to 9 and 1/2 years in prison.

While incarcerated Paycheck turned to religion and recorded an all gospel album. Paycheck served two years in prison and upon his 1991 release, emerged clean and sober.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Researched, written and compiled by Richard Bell. Roots of Country Music. Oct. 15, 2009.