Johnny Dollar (musician)

Johnny Dollar (March 8, 1933 – April 13, 1986) was an American country and rockabilly musician.

This article is about the American singer-songwriter. For the English music producer and songwriter, see Jonny Dollar.

Johnny Dollar
Born	(1933-03-08)March 8, 1933
Origin	Kilgore, Texas, U.S.
Died	April 13, 1986(1986-04-13) (aged 53)
Genres	Country
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter
Instruments	Guitar
Years active	1966–1971
Labels	Date, Chart

Biography

Dollar relocated to Dallas in the early 1950s, where he worked in trucking and in a lumber yard. In 1952 he recorded a single for D Records, but it was not successful, and Dollar then found work as a DJ in Louisiana and New Mexico. There he began fronting a group called the Texas Sons and performed on the Louisiana Hayride in the middle of the 1950s. Following this he played with the Light Crust Doughboys, but soon returned to Dallas, where he began performing in the nascent style of rockabilly. Working with promoter Ed McLemore and songwriter Jack Rhodes, he recorded a number of songs, but they were never issued, and Dollar soon left music, taking up work as an insurance salesman in Oklahoma.

In 1964, he met Ray Price, and this encounter led to a contract with Columbia Records. Through the second half of the 1960s, he had a number of hits for Dot Records, Date Records, and Chart Records; among them were "Big Big Rollin' Man" (U.S. Country No. 48, 1968) and "Big Wheels Sing for Me" (U.S. Country No. 65, 1969).[1] His best-selling album was 1968's Johnny Dollar, which reached No. 41 on the U.S. Billboard Country Albums chart.[2] His name was often confused with that of radio's fictional detective Johnny Dollar, "the man with the action-packed expense account"; Dollar the singer was often publicized as "Mr. Action-Packed."

For much of the 1970s, Dollar did production work, for the New Coon Creek Girls, Jimmy Dickens, and Teddy Nelson, among others.

Johnny Dollar married and divorced four times, and became an alcoholic; late in his career he acquired throat cancer, and the operations destroyed his ability to sing.[3] He committed suicide on April 13, 1986.[3] He is buried in the Nashville National Cemetery.[4]

Albums

Year	Album	US Country	Label
1968	Johnny Dollar	41	Date
1969	Big Rig Rollin' Man	—	Chart

Singles

Year	Single	Chart Positions		Album
		US Country	CAN Country
1966	"Tear-Talk"	49	—	singles only
	"Stop the Start (Of Tears in My Heart)"	15	—
	"Crazy Eyes"	—	—
1967	"Your Hands"	65	—
	"The Wheels Fell Off the Wagon Again"	47	—	Johnny Dollar
1968	"Everybody's Got to Be Somebody"	42	—
	"Do-Die"	—	24
	"Big Rig Rollin' Man"	48	—	Big Rig Rollin' Man
1969	"Big Wheels Sing for Me"	65	—
	"If I Get Low Enough"	—	—
	"Rain Falls in Denver Tonight"	—	—
1970	"Truck Driver's Lament"	71	—
	"Just a Swallow Away"	—	—	singles only
1971	"Highway in the Sky"	—	—
	"If We Make the Front Door Open Woman"	—	—

References

1. Billboard Singles, Allmusic
2. Charts, Allmusic
3. Johnny Dollar at Allmusic
4. "Johnny Dollar". Musician. Find a Grave. Retrieved May 25, 2018.