On This Day in 1981, Johnny Paycheck’s Loss Was George Strait’s Gain as the “King of Country” Released His First Major Hit

April 23, 2026 7:31 am

Facing rejection from every major record label in Nashville, George Strait decided to swap his musical dreams for a steady income designing cattle pens. However, following the advice of his wife, Norma, the native Texan decided to stick it out a bit longer. Not long after that decision, Strait signed with MCA Records in February 1981. There was a catch, though—the deal was for just one song, with the label promising to merely consider recording a whole album if the single did well. Two months later, on this day (April 23) in 1981, George Strait released a song called “Unwound”, penned by songwriters Dean Dillon and Frank Dycus.

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This Songwriter Got “Good and Drunk” Writing George Strait’s Breakout Hit

Depressed from what he deemed a “s—ty” writing session with poet Shel Silverstein, Dillon pitched a song idea to Dycus.

“I said, ‘She’s got me wrapped around her finger, but tonight I’m gonna unwind,’” recalled Dillon in a 2014 interview with Texas Monthly. “And he looked at me and thought for a minute, and he said, ‘What about this: that woman that I had wrapped around my finger just came unwound?’ And I said, ‘Well, hell, I like that better.’”

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@George Strait singing Unwound in Los Angeles CA Saturday night 7/19/25 #georgestrait #livemusic #sofistadium #inglewoodcalifornia #unwound #losangeles
♬ original sound – Heather White

With that, the two sat down at a table on the patio of a Nashville bar. Within 45 minutes, they’d written “Unwound”.

“And got good and drunk doing it,” remembered Dillon.

They Wrote the Song for Johnny Paycheck

The pair were hoping to pitch the song to Johnny Paycheck, but unfortunately, the “Take This Job and Shove It” crooner was behind bars at the time.

In 1980, record producer Blake Mevis showed up at Dillon’s Nashville home in search of songs for “this new kid from Texas”—George Strait. They pitched him several songs, including “Unwound”. Mevis took their pitches to Strait’s manager, Erv Woolsey, who ended up loving “Unwound”.

At the time, Dillon said, pitching a song to an artist with zero name recognition was a risky career move. Still, he saw something in that “new kid from Texas.”

“Nobody that was a songwriter in their right mind would give some twenty-something-year-old kid from Texas, completely unknown, their top-drawer stuff,” Dillon told Texas Monthly. “But I told Dycus, ‘You know what? This kid sings pretty good. We ought to pitch him everything and the kitchen sink, just to see. He might be a damn good act.’”

Famous last words. George Strait cut six of the duo’s songs for his debut album, Strait Country. Released as the lead single, “Unwound” reached No. 6 on the country songs chart.

It was the first of 86 Top 10 entries for Strait on that chart. Sixty of those have risen to the top spot—including 11 written by Dillon, such as “The Chair” and “Ocean Front Property”.

Featured image by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images