Hearing these stories about Johnny Paycheck now makes me feel like he was some sort of mythical creature.
You know, less than a god, but more than a man.
Although Paycheck passed away when I was only five-years-old, I just thank the Good Lord that Mike Judge blessed us with these Tales from the Tour Bus stories, where close friends and colleagues of famed country stars tell some of the wildest stories you could possibly imagine.
From George Jones, to Billy Joe Shaver, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Paycheck, and more, the videos will give you an utmost respect for how these guys were even able to live as long as they did, and how they truly were the definition of outlaw country.
But back to Paycheck.
In this wild story, it isn’t directly about ol’ Johnny. It’s about his old tour manager, Ernie Stepp.
In the video, Stepp recalled a time when Johnny wanted the iconic double-decker burger from McDonald’s… a Big Mac:
“One time, we was coming out of California, and John wanted a Big Mac.
That’s what he was wanting, he was coming down off of drinking a little bit. I told the bus driver John wants a double-decker hamburger. He stopped at a truck stop, and said that’s where we’re gonna eat.
I said no, John wants a different kind of sandwich, a double, triple hamburger.
He said he’s driving the f*cking bus, he’ll stop where he wants. John, he didn’t come out of the back of the bus for food, cops, nobody. I shot the bus driver in the ear. First I hit him upside the head and slammed him down on that front seat.”
WHAT? Come again? I just can’t get over how nonchalant Stepp said:
“I shot the bus driver in the ear… if you don’t get the right kind of sandwich I’ll shoot ya.”
That’s a felony, my guy. I mean ATTEMPTED MURDER.
Of course, there’s no telling if this story is 100% accurate, but the other two who were sitting beside Stepp agreed that it actually happened.
However, as the story goes, there was somehow not any hard feelings between the two, and the bus driver stuck with the job after the incident.
Wild times, man.