George Jones and Johnny Paycheck Almost Got in a Drunken Fight on a Maryland Backroad, but There Was a Plot Twist

When two musicians with larger-than-life personalities go out on the road today, antics, hijinks, and at times, conflict are likely to follow. Add liquor to the mix, and those contentious moments are practically a guarantee. Some conflicts only last a few seconds. Others turn into decades-long feuds. 

A spat between Johnny Paycheck and George Jones in the mid-1960s fell somewhere in the middle, in between cow pastures in rural Maryland.

Johnny Paycheck Used to Play Bass for George Jones

Back when George Jones was still rocking his flattop hairdo as an up-and-coming country star, an equally unrecognizable Johnny Paycheck played in his backing band, the Jones Boys, as the bassist and high harmony singer. Jones, Paycheck, and the rest of the band toured the United States throughout the 1960s, appearing on television programs and performing at venues, parks, and other music spots. And as anyone who has been on the road with a touring band can attest, this lifestyle can also come with a lot of drinking. A lot of drinking.

Navigating band dynamics while also taking into account people’s level of substance abuse and addiction can feel impossible. It often leads to fights between members, and sometimes, it can result in musicians leaving the band or the group breaking up altogether. For Jones and Paycheck, things didn’t get quite that severe. But that’s not to say they always kept cool heads with one another.

The Bandleader Left His Bassist on the Side of the Road

Although Johnny Paycheck broke away from The Jones Boys when his own solo star began to rise, he and George Jones maintained a strong working relationship in the years that followed. During a 1998 appearance on The George Jones Show, Paycheck shared a story from the men’s “good ol’ days” in the 1960s. “Remember up in Maryland?” Paycheck said. Jones replied with a big smile and an emphatic, “Yeah,” as if he knew exactly the story Paycheck was setting up.

Paycheck continued that he, Jones, and the rest of the band had been playing in a park in Maryland over several sets. “We got done at the end of the night, we was in a car and trailer at that time. George wanted to drive. Well, me or him, either one, didn’t need to be driving, right? So, the guys all said, ‘Boy, don’t let him drive.’ And I said, ‘Well, I can’t. It’s his car! I’ll talk to him.’”

“He would not have it,” Paycheck continued. So, the band piled into the car with Jones behind the wheel. The two men continued to argue about whether Jones should be driving, especially as the country singer began to pick up speed. The pair had already been in a heated argument over the car, so Paycheck told Jones to pull over so that the two could duke it out on the shoulder of the country road.

“He said, ‘You got it.’ And he pulled over on the side of the road, slid the dirt in, and I jumped out, and he hit the gas and left me standing in the dark in the middle of Maryland with cows all around me.”

That’s certainly one way to get rid of a backseat driver.

Photo by LMPC via Getty Images