Sometimes you just have to tell The Man what he can do with his 9 to 5.

Every major music genre has its own little subgenres that pop up for a few years, and in the early to mid-70’s country world that popper was known as “outlaw country,” so named because its two primary figureheads, Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings, operated outside of the Nashville tradition, playing by their own rules and making music the only way they knew how. Other musicians adopted an outlaw pose in the wake of their success — sheep in wolves’ clothing — but some didn’t need to pretend.

Say hello to my little friend! Mr. Johnny Paycheck.

Like his one-time bandmate Willie Nelson, Paycheck (who actually was quite short and therefore may have had a bit of a Napoleon complex) spent the 50’s and 60’s deep in the Nashville machine, clean-cut, buzz-cut, playing guitar and bass for such country luminaries as Ray Price, Porter Wagoner and George Jones. At the same time, he ran afoul of the law a number of times, which had been somewhat of a hobby since back in his teen years when he would occasionally boost hubcaps (often taking the whole car along with them) and he didn’t fare so well as a young man in the Navy, either. He’d already been in prison a few times (including with the Navy) and would be back again. Johnny wasn’t into authority.

Paycheck scored a couple of big hits on the country chart in the early 70’s, but couldn’t maintain the success. Not until he leaned hard into the outlaw country scene did he finally achieve worldwide popularity. It wasn’t too difficult for him — Paycheck just had to be himself: hard drinking, hard living, hanging with Hell’s Angels, and generally disturbing the peace. But now he also sang songs about this lifestyle. And it paid off big.

In 1977, he became a working class hero and a country music superstar when he released “Take This Job And Shove It,” a song penned by David Allan Coe, which proceeded to top the country chart. Coe spent the rest of his life annoyed that people thought Paycheck had written the song. Paycheck spent the rest of his life in and out of courtrooms (and the charts). But he’ll always be remembered for saying what everyone wishes they could say, and for being the outlaw in all of us.

So walk right out the door … with Johnny Paycheck.