Johnny Paycheck / Donny Young

Greenfield, ealry 1950s - 2003

Johnny Paycheck was born Donald Lytle and started peforming locally as a kid. When he grew up, he started travelling and drifted for a few years until he landed in Nashville.

In the early 1960s he made a few records as Donny Young, which were more in the rock and roll style. He was more successful as a songwriter and had a few hits with polished Nashville style productions, changing his name to Johnny Paycheck.

In the early 1970s he changed his sound and image to the so-called "Outlaw Country". In 1976 he had his biggest hit, and signature song, with the David Allan Coe written "Take This Job and Shove It".

A return home to Ohio in 1985 turned sour when he shot a man at a bat in Hillsboro and ended up spending nearly two years at a state prison near Chillicothe. He was granted a pardon by the Ohio governor in 1991 and returned to performing, but drugs and alcohol abuse stalled his career even more and he never really returned to the spotlight.

During the late 1960s he helped start and co-owned the Little Darlin' label from Nashville. The label folded after a couple years, but the same people restarted with Certron, which had a larger and more diverse roster. Certron plugged along for a few years, never producing a big hit.

 Much more details can be found elsewhere on the internet....