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Album Cover Gallery:
#165. Johnny Paycheck!
"Motel Time" by Johnny Paycheck


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This gallery is brought to you courtesy of my good friend Brian Dunleavy, a Paycheck completest! All the Paycheck LPs & 45s, with the exception of the Epic and Little Darlin' 45s, are shown here.

Here's a brief bio by Brian:

Johnny Paycheck's career can be generally summed up in three phases. Born Donald Eugene Lytle in Greenfield, Ohio (1938), Paycheck started as a sideman for George Jones, Ray Price, and other established stars. His early solo efforts had him billed as Donny Young for a series of rockabilly-influenced singles. Partnering with record producer and promoter Aubrey Mayhew, he changed his name to Johnny Paycheck, and ultimately released a series of singles and albums on the tiny Little Darlin' label. Though they didn't make much of an impact on the charts at the time, these early sides, most of which feature the steel guitar wizardry of Lloyd Green, are today revered as some of the most powerful, authentic, and darkly twisted honky tonk music ever recorded.

Paycheck's middle period found him signing with Epic Records. Within this period alone, his career went through three fairly distinct stages, tracking somewhat closely with the changing colors of the Epic record labels. His early Epic sides on yellow labels featured Billy Sherrill's slick Nashville production attempting to position a clean-cut Paycheck as a countrypolitan crooner. The mid-period Epic sides on orange labels feature a bearded Paycheck in cowboy hat, riding his breakout hit "Take This Job and Shove It" to the top of the popular outlaw era being ushered in by Waylon & Willie. Paycheck's audience exploded at this time, and he seemed more than happy to play up to (or down to, depending on one's perspective) their rowdy expectations. Finally, the later blue label Epic sides show Paycheck as a reckless, cocaine-fueled, out-of-control disaster waiting to happen. His duet album with his old boss, George Jones, during this time is widely considered the nadir of the careers for both of these stars.

Paycheck's final phase was marked by further recklessness, a stint in prison for shooting a man, and sincere efforts to turn his life around and find redemption. After blowing his run on Epic, he was given one more shot with the majors, resulting in a one-and-done deal with Mercury Records. His sole Mercury album contained his surprisingly self-aware and touchingly remorseful autobiographical song, "Old Violin." This was followed by a series of singles released on a variety of obscure independent labels. Paycheck's struggle to stay on the right path and resist the pull of his addictive temptations is on display in many of these later sides. In 1988 alone, he released "Out of Beer," an ode to drinking on the Desperado label, followed by "Scars," a come-to-Jesus plea on the Damascus label. Paycheck's career ended on an up-note, however, when he was finally and gratefully inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 1997. Johnny Paycheck died in 2003, at the age of 64.



1966-LittleDarlinLD4001
1966 - Little Darlin LD 4001
1966-LittleDarlinLD400-altcov
1966 - Little Darlin LD 4001 - alt cover
1966-LittleDarlinLD4003
1966 - Little Darlin LD 4003
1967-LittleDarlinLD4004
1967 - Little Darlin LD 4004
1967-LittleDarlinLD4006
1967 - Little Darlin LD 4006
1968-LittleDarlinLD4010
1968 - Little Darlin LD 4010
1968-LittleDarlinSLD8012
1968 - Little Darlin SLD 8012
1969-LittleDarlinSLD8023
1969 - Little Darlin SLD 8023
1970-CertronCS7002
1970 - Certron CS 7002
1971-EpicE31141
1971 - Epic E 31141
1972-EpicKE31449
1972 - Epic KE 31449
1972-EpicKE31707
1972 - Epic KE 31707
1972-HilltopJS6124
1972 - Hilltop JS 6124
1973-EpicKE32387
1973 - Epic KE 32387
1973-EpicKE32570
1973 - Epic KE 32570
1974-EpicKE33091
1974 - Epic KE 33091
1975-EpicKE33354
1975 - Epic KE 33354
1975-PowerPakPO284
1975 - Power Pak PO 284
1976-EpicKE33943
1976 - Epic KE 33943
1977-EpicKE34045
1977 - Epic KE 34045
1977-EpicKE34693
1977 - Epic KE 34693
1978-EpicKE35444
1978 - Epic KE 35444
1978-EpicKE35623
1978 - Epic KE 35623
1979-ABCRadioCGC101
1979 - ABC Radio CGC 101
1979-EpicJE32600
1979 - Epic JE 32600
1979-EpicPE36177
1979 - Epic PE 36177
1979-KoalaAW14138
1979 - Koala AW 14138
1979-KoalaKO14220
1979 - Koala KO 14220
1979-LittleDarlinLDA0791
1979 - Little Darlin LDA 0791
1979-LittleDarlinLDA0792
1979 - Little Darlin LDA 0792
1979-LittleDarlinSP10579
1979 - Little Darlin SP 10579
1979-LittleDarlinSP10979
1979 - Little Darlin SP 10979
1980-CSPP15468
1980 - CSPP 15468
1980-CSPP15468altcov
1980 - CSPP 1546 alt cover
1980-EpicJE35783
1980 - Epic JE 35783
1980-EpicJE36496
1980 - Epic JE 36496
1980-ExcelsiorXMP6007
1980 - Excelsior XMP 6007
1980-LakeshoreLSM571
1980 - Lakeshore LSM 571
1980-PresidentPRC100
1980 - President PRC 100
1980-PresidentPRCV109
1980 - President PRCV 109
1981-EpicFE36761
1981 - Epic FE 36761
1981-EpicFE37345
1981 - Epic FE 37345
1981-EpicSE37177
1981 - Epic SE 37177
1982-AccordSN7173
1982 - Accord SN 7173
1982-CSPP16744
1982 - CSPP 16744
1982-EpicFE37933
1982 - Epic FE 37933
1982-EpicFE38322
1982 - Epic FE 38322
1983-AllegianceAV435
1983 - Allegiance AV 435
1983-GustoGT0098
1983 - Gusto GT 0098
1987-Mercury8304041
1987 - Mercury 8304041
1988-DamascusJP1001
1988 - Damascus JP 1001
2021-GoldenlaneCL02374
2021 - Goldenlane CL 02374
2021-LightningRod1RR7020
2021 - Lightning Rod 1RR7020
A.M.I.1322-A
A.M.I. 1322-A
A.M.I.1322-B
A.M.I. 1322-B
A.M.I.1323-A
A.M.I. 1323-A
A.M.I.1323-B
A.M.I. 1323-B
A.M.I.1327-A
A.M.I. 1327-A
A.M.I.1327-B
A.M.I. 1327-B
AirPR-108-A
Air PR-108-A
AirPR-108-B
Air PR-108-B
Allegiance3911-ANB
Allegiance 3911-A&B
BigAA-100-A
Big A A-100-A
BigAA-100-B
Big A A-100-B
CertronC10003-A
Certron C10003-A
CertronC10003-B
Certron C10003-B
CutlassCUT8138-A
Cutlass CUT 8138-A
CutlassCUT8138-B
Cutlass CUT 8138-B
DamascusJP2001-ANB
Damascus JP2001-A&B
Decca9-30763-A
Decca 9-30763-A
Decca9-30763-B
Decca 9-30763-B
Decca9-30881-A
Decca 9-30881-A
Decca9-30881-B
Decca 9-30881-B
Decca9-31077-A
Decca 9-31077-A
Decca9-31077-B
Decca 9-31077-B
Decca31283DJ-A
Decca 31283DJ-A
Decca31283DJ-B
Decca 31283DJ-B
DesperadoDBM1001-ANB
Desperado DBM 1001-A&B
GBS731-ANB
GBS 731-A&B
Hilltop3002-A
Hilltop 3002-A
Hilltop3002-B
Hilltop 3002-B
Hilltop3006-A
Hilltop 3006-A
Hilltop3006-B
Hilltop 3006-B
Hilltop3007-B
Hilltop 3007-B
Hilltop3007A
Hilltop 3007A
Hilltop3009-A
Hilltop 3009-A
Hilltop3009-B
Hilltop 3009-B
HilltopH-3015-A
Hilltop H-3015-A
HilltopH-3015-B
Hilltop H-3015-B
Mercury71900-A
Mercury 71900-A
Mercury71900-B
Mercury 71900-B
Mercury71981-A
Mercury 71981-A
Mercury71981-B
Mercury 71981-B
MeritM45-2515-A
Merit M45-2515-A
MeritM45-2515-B
Merit M45-2515-B
PrettyWorldPW008-ANB
Pretty World PW008-A&B
RKR100-1A
RKR 100-1A
RKR1001B
RKR 1001B
Todd45-1098A
Todd 45-1098-A
Todd45-1098-B
Todd 45-1098-B



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