Johnny Paycheck
| Johnny Paycheck | |
|---|---|
From left to right Johnny Lee, Johnny Paycheck, and Mickey Gilley at Gilley's Nightclub.
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Donald Eugene Lytle |
| Born |
May 31, 1938 Greenfield, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | February 19, 2003 (aged 64) Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Genres | Country music, outlaw country, honky tonk music |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocals, Electric guitar, Acoustic guitar, Bass guitar, Steel guitar |
| Years active | 1953-2003 |
| Labels | Sony, Little Darlin', Epic |
| Website | www.johnnypaycheckmusic.com |
Donald Eugene Lytle (May 31, 1938 – February 19, 2003), known by his stage name Johnny Paycheck, was an American country music singer, multi-instrumentalist and Grand Ole Opry member notable for recording the David Allan Coe song "Take This Job and Shove It". He achieved his greatest success in the 1970s as a force in country music's "Outlaw Movement" popularized by artists David Allan Coe, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Billy Joe Shaver, and Merle Haggard. In the 1980s, his music career slowed due to drug, alcohol and legal problems. He served a prison sentence in the early 1990s and his declining health effectively ended his career in early 2000.
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. Paycheck, 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. 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 No. 9", which served as Tammy Wynette's first chart hit in December 1966.
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