Paycheck’s life certainly not exemplary, but oh that voice!

Has there ever been a better pure country singer than Johnny Paycheck? Frankly I’m not sure there has, but what’s that you say about his past? Sure I know it’s checkered, including the fact he served time in the penitentiary and has several other not too exemplary blemishes on his record, but that’s not my purpose today. The Johnny Paycheck “record(s)” I’m going to discuss this week are those kind where he lent that great twang to small circular discs that were then shipped to radio stations around the country and not usually seen again until they resurfaced at the top (or very nearly the top) of the Billboard charts.

Though Paycheck had only one No.One song, the iconic “Take This Job And Shove It”, he enjoyed a boatload of chart success, including nine Top 10s, six gold LPs, two platinum albums, and one double platinum album.

Interestingly enough from Johnny’s discography, the two songs making the biggest impact on me were “Old Violin” and “Outlaw’s Prayer”. Though neither reached upper echelon positioning on the charts, both scored very well in the court of public opinion. “Old Violin” still puts a lump in my throat every time I hear it.

Paycheck had a total of 64 singles, 30 studio albums, four live albums and one collaborative album.

Paycheck was only in his 60s when he died. He had experienced breathing problems that, coupled with his financial difficulties, saw him admitted to a nursing home for a time before he died of emphysema. Because of his financial situation, it is said that his friend George Jones covered his funeral expenses.

Sad, sad life.

But back to what prompted this article...country music’s best pure voice. Oh sure, I know there are many, many contenders including Merle Haggard, the aforementioned Jones, Moe Bandy, Mel Street, Gary Stewart, Gene Watson, Daryl Singletary, and Waylon Jennings among a long list of others, but I think even the most negative Johnny Paycheck person would surely have to agree: the guy was a classic pure country singer.