He was born Donald Eugene Lytle in Greenfield, Ohio, about 70 miles northeast of Cincinnati. The son of a barge worker, he was performing in talent contests by the age of nine. At 15 he left Greenfield to make his living on the road, performing in bars and clubs as the "Ohio Kid". He joined the Navy, a move which ill-suited his contempt for authority. During an argument, he beat a senior officer so severely that he was sentenced to 18 years' detention.

Released after just two years, he made his way to Nashville, where he played with Porter Wagoner, George Jones, Faron Young and Ray Price. Buddy Killen helped him to cut his first discs for Decca and Mercury under the name Donny Young, but these failed to sell. In 1962 he joined George Jones's band, The Jones Boys, as bassist and harmony vocalist, miraculously staying there for four years despite frequent fights and fallings-out as both frontmen nursed addictions to liquor and stimulants.

In 1965 he changed his name to Paycheck, after John Austin Paycheck, a Chicago prizefighter who was knocked out by Joe Louis in 1940. The name reflected his music, which thereafter paid tribute to the battling underdog who fights the system and for love and respect without any real chance of success.

Johnny Paycheck
May 31, 1938- February 18, 2003
{Take This Job And Shove It}