"Old Violin" is a song by American country music singer Johnny Paycheck. It is a single from his 1986 album Modern Times.

"Old Violin"
Single by Johnny Paycheck
from the album Modern Times
B-side"Come to Me"[1]
Released1986
GenreCountry
Length3:42
LabelMercury
Songwriter(s)Johnny Paycheck
Producer(s)Stan Cornelius
Johnny Paycheck singles chronology
"Sexy Southern Lady"
(1986)
"Old Violin"
(1986)
"Don't Bury Me 'til I'm Ready"
(1986)

Content

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"Old Violin" was recorded in the mid-1980s during Paycheck's tenure with Mercury Records. The song was among his first recordings after Paycheck had been imprisoned for aggravated assault at a bar in Hillsboro, Ohio.[2][1][3]

Kurt Wolff, in Country Music: The Rough Guide, describes "Old Violin" as a song in which Paycheck "faces old age with genuine trepidation".[4] The lyric features the narrator comparing himself to an "old violin, soon to be put away and never played again".[5]

Other versions

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In 2002, Daryle Singletary covered "Old Violin" for his covers album That's Why I Sing This Way. Singletary wanted to include Paycheck on his recording, and had a then-ill Paycheck deliver the song's closing recitation from his hospital bed. This recording was Paycheck's last before his death in early 2003.[5][6] George Strait covered the song on his 2019 album Honky Tonk Time Machine.[7]

Charts

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Weekly chart performance for "Old Violin"
Chart (1986) Peak
position
Canada RPM Country Tracks[8] 36
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[9] 21

References

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  1. ^ a b Whitburn, Joel (2017). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2017. Record Research, Inc. pp. 293–294. ISBN 978-0-89820-229-8.
  2. ^ Dan Cooper. "Johnny Paycheck biography". AllMusic. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
  3. ^ Rick Schluep (May 23, 1986). "Singer Johnny Paycheck is free on bond". Greenfield Daily Times. p. 1. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
  4. ^ Kurt Wolff (2000). Country Music: The Rough Guide. Rough Guides. p. 319.
  5. ^ a b Robert K. Oermann (2008). "Johnny Paycheck". Behind the Grand Ole Opry Curtain: Tales of Romance and Tragedy. Center Street.
  6. ^ Phyllis Stark (March 1, 2003). "Johnny Paycheck dead at 64". Billboard. p. 6.
  7. ^ "Everything We Know About George Strait's New Album, 'Honky Tonk Time Machine'". The Boot. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
  8. ^ "RPM Country Tracks" (PDF). RPM: 12. August 16, 1986.
  9. ^ "Johnny Paycheck Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.