Customer Reviews

The Soul & The Edge: The Best of Johnny Paycheck

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

It's a shame that Paycheck is mostly remembered for his temper, jail-stints, and the hell-raising 1977 hit, "Take This Job and Shove It." A shame, because there's a lot more to Paycheck, including two separate halves of a successful recording career that yielded a wealth of hard-lived honky-tonk and comeback mainstream country hits.

Paycheck found his earliest success as a hard-core honky-tonker on the Little Darlin' label (anthologized on the Country Music Foundation's "The Real Mr. Heartbreak" CD). After splitting with the label's co-founder, and drinking away two years in California, Paycheck mounted a stunning comeback on Epic, spurred throughout the '70s by producer Billy Sherrill. It's these later sides, including hits like "She's All I Got" and "Someone to Give My Love To" that are anthologized here.

Paycheck's career with Epic had two distinct phases. His comeback sides smoothed out the sharp edges of his honky-tonk sound, with studio players providing the backing, and Sherrill's string arrangements layered on top. By mid-decade, however, Paycheck had latched on to the burgeoning outlaw movement, releasing albums such as "11 Months and 29 Days" (the title referring to the length of one of his suspended jail sentences), and charting with grittier hits like "I'm the Only Hell (My Mama Ever Raised)" and "Slide Off of Your Satin Sheets." By the decade's close, Paycheck's personal problems began to interfere with his career, and in '81 he was dropped by Epic. He last charted on Mercury with 1986's "Old Violin," included here.

For such a regular hit-maker, Paycheck's Epic work has only been thinly anthologized on CD. This collection's twenty-three tracks (clocking in at over 75 minutes) are generous and well picked. They provide a good picture of Paycheck's career with Epic, balancing his best-known hits with album tracks and a pair of live takes. But the track list is far from complete, missing hits like "Something About You I Love," "Mr. Lovemaker," "For a Minute There," "Friend, Lover, Wife," and "Maybellene." The non-chronological track ordering and lack of chart info are also disappointing.

Still, despite the omissions, these crisply remastered tapes, coupled with newly penned liner notes from Jonny Whiteside (in addition to words from George Jones and Marty Martel) round out a fine introduction to Paycheck's Epic years, and certainly the best that's currently available on CD.

This is country music at its finest. This isn't what is coming out of Nashville today. On this disc every man's emotion is laid bare from happiness, despair, humor to pathos. And, best of all, is the "Old Violin". You can't call yourself a collector of country music until this cd is in your collection. How proud you will be to display this gem!

Johnny Paycheck rarely gets mentioned with George Jones, Merle Haggard or Lefty Frizzell in Country History as one of the great, influential singers of all time. But he is, and Epic has finally given him a Compilation worth cheering. If it's just the charted hits you want buy, 16 Biggest Hits, which does a nice job. But this digs deeper. Albums cuts mixed with classics make for a better understanding of Paycheck's legacy. This also includes his last Country Top 40 hit, the self-penned "Old Violin" which was released on Mercury records in 1986. Up-to-date liner notes and good sound make this an essential purchase. If this whets your appetite, go for Paycheck's 60's sides which are perfectly captured on CMF's "The Real Mr. Heartache-The Little Darlin' Years". Someday, there'll be a compilation covering Paycheck's entire career. Until then, this CD and the CMF one are all you'll need to remember an unjustly ignored Country legend.

This is the biggest and probably the best of Johnny's long career. It features 23 tracks covering singles, LP tracks, duets, and live material. The Epic CD was digitally remastered at Sony Music and sounds super. It's great to listen to hits ranging from Take This Job and Shove It, I Can See Me Lovin' You Again, and Colorado Cool-Aid- to All Night Lady, and You Better Move On (a duet with George Jones). A real toe tapping pleasure in listening. The 16 page illustrated liner notes provides a nice history of Johnny and his music. Paycheck lovers will really enjoy this CD, just as I do.

Awesome music! Old Violin still brings tears to my eyes each time I hear it. All the songs on this one are winners!!!

It is hard to find a Good CD of Johnny Paycheck. This one has his best as well as others. You will not be sorry purchasing this CD>

If you like REAL country music, then this is the album for you. Forget "Take This Job and Shove It", it might well be the worst song on the cd, even though it's probably the most famous one. The raw blues of "11 Months and 29 Days" will dang near take you to the Mississippi Delta, Billy Joe Shaver's "Ragged Ol' Truck" is a foot stompin' good time and "15 Beers" takes it up a notch to table thumpin' status. Other raucus classics like "I'm the Only Hell My Mama Ever Raised", "Me and the IRS", "Colorado Kool-Aid", "The Cocaine Train", among others are sure to keep the crowd ready to go for hours. Then there's the tradtional tear jerkers like "I Did the Right Thing", "(Slide Off Your) Satin Sheets", and "Barstool Mountain" to the wonderfully melancholy introspective "Old Violin" and "The Outlaw's Prayer". Any fan of TRUE country music should not be able to live with themselves without this album in their collection......a definate 12 out of 10.

I have already left feedback, but will again that this CD was like new and the music that I was looking for is on this CD. Thanx

Johnny Paycheck is one of my all time favorite singers and I was thrilled to find this cd on Amazon. I have searched for years for this cd and it was on Amazon for a great price. I have enjoyed this cd so much.

Johnny Paycheck is truly one of the greatest artists in country music history and one of its' most original. This collection captures the essense of his artistry as no other. He should be remembered, not for his troubles and misfortunes, but for the soulful and heartfelt emotion he brought to his songs and the edgyness in which they were delivered. If genuineness and originality are important to you, then Johnny Paycheck delivers.