Johnny Paycheck - The Soul and The Edge: The Best Of Johnny Paycheck - Music & Performance - CD

23 songs by the man who changed how country music is sung. Johnny Paycheck the Soul & the Edge: The Best of Johnny Paycheck. Track listing include: "Take This Job And Shove It," "She's All I Got," "All That Lady."

Most listeners know Johnny Paycheck from "Take This Job and Shove It" -- a song so popular and so iconic that it overshadows everything else Paycheck did, not just for pop fans but for country listeners. Couple that with a reputation for being a roughneck hellion and you have somebody who is known as a persona, not as a musician. And that's a real shame, as Epic/Legacy's The Soul & the Edge: The Best of Johnny Paycheck proves. As the first comprehensive CD collection of Paycheck's hit-making peak years of the '70s and '80s -- his early years are documented on the stellar The Real Mr. Heartache collection -- this collection is a revelation, offering definitive proof that he was one of the very greatest hardcore country singers. He could do it all: blue-collar rage ("Take This Job and Shove It," "Me and the IRS"), barroom weepers ("Slide Off of Your Satin Sheets," "I Did the Right Thing") and barroom ravers ("Fifteen Beers"), lush country-pop (the Billy Sherrill-produced "She's All I Got") and gritty country-soul (a George Jones duet on "You Better Move On"), tough-guy laments ("I'm the Only Hell (My Mama Ever Raised)") and tough-guy bravado ("Ragged Old Truck," "The Outlaw's Prayer"). Plus, there's a wicked, bizarre sense of humor, evidenced clearly on the neo-talking blues "Colorado Cool-Aid," illustrating that he didn't tame his wildness even at his popular peak. Then there's that voice -- a resonant baritone with impeccable phrasing that some claim was an inspiration for George Jones' style (and listening to this and Mr. Heartache makes those claims quite credible). It all adds up to a collection that not only captures Paycheck at his peak, but also lays claim as one of the great country albums of its era, if not all time. It's the kind of collection an artist the stature of Johnny Paycheck deserves. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

Performer	Johnny Paycheck
Music genre	Country
Music subgenre	Pop, Country
Music release type	Compilation
Media format	CD
Edition	Standard
Is collectible	N
Number of tracks	23
Has parental advisory label	N
Number of discs	1
Series title	The Soul and The Edge: The Best Of Johnny Paycheck
Track listing	Take This Job and Shove It, 11 Months and 29 Days, I'm the Only Hell (Mama Ever Raised), Slide Off of Your Satin Sheets, She's All I Got, Ragged Old Truck, Colorado Cool Aid, Fifteen Beers, I've Seen Better Days, Someone to Give My Love to, My Part of Forever, Yesterday's News Just Hit Home Today, (Stay Away from) the Cocaine Train (Live), Me and the I.R.S. (Live), The Feminine Touch, You Better Move on (Duet with George Jones), I Did the Right Thing, When I Had a Home to Go Home to, Barstool Mountain, I Can See Me Lovin' You Again, Old Violin, All Night Lady, The Outlaw's Prayer
Record label	Sony
Songwriter	Johnny Paycheck
Track name	Take This Job And Shove It
Digital audio file format	CD
Music media format	CD
Is edited	N
Is enhanced	N