Johnny Dollar (March 8, 1933 – April 13, 1986) was an American

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whi ...

and

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western musical styles such as country with that of rhythm and b ...

musician.

Biography

Dollar relocated to

Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

in the early 1950s, where he worked in trucking and in a lumber yard. In 1952 he recorded a single for

D Records D Records was an American record label located in Houston, Texas, United States. It was founded by Pappy Daily. The label closed in 1965, though George Strait recorded his first songs under the label's name from 1978-1980 until he signed to MCA R ...

, but it was not successful, and Dollar then found work as a DJ in

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is bord ...

and

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...

. There he began fronting a group called the Texas Sons and performed on the ''

Louisiana Hayride ''Louisiana Hayride'' was a radio and later television country music show broadcast from the Shreveport Municipal Memorial Auditorium in Shreveport, Louisiana, that during its heyday from 1948 to 1960 helped to launch the careers of some of the ...

'' in the middle of the 1950s. Following this he played with the

Light Crust Doughboys The Light Crust Doughboys is an American Western swing band from Texas, United States, organized in 1931 by the Burrus Mill and Elevator Company in Saginaw, Texas. The band achieved its peak popularity in the few years leading up to World War II. ...

, but soon returned to Dallas, where he began performing in the nascent style of rockabilly. Working with promoter Ed McLemore and songwriter

Jack Rhodes Andrew Jackson "Jack" Rhodes (January 12, 1907 – October 9, 1968) was an American country music producer and songwriter, with songwriting credits on over 625 released songs. Several of his songs became hit records, including "A Satisfied Mind ...

, 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 Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

. In 1964, he met Ray Price, and this encounter led to a contract with

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded on January 15, 1889, evolving from the A ...

. Through the second half of the 1960s, he had a number of hits for

Dot Records Dot Records was an American record label founded by Randy Wood (record producer), Randy Wood and Gene Nobles that was active between 1950 and 1978. The original headquarters of Dot Records were in Gallatin, Tennessee. In 1956, the company moved ...

Date Records Date Records was a sub-label of Columbia Records which had two different incarnations. The first incarnation was a short-lived rockabilly label in 1958 which included a release by Billy "Crash" Craddock. The more significant incarnation was relau ...

, and

Chart Records Chart Records was a country music record label of the 1960s, best known for turning Lynn Anderson into a major country star. It was owned by Slim Williamson. The label was founded in 1964. Among the artists who recorded at one time for the la ...

; 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). His best-selling album was 1968's ''Johnny Dollar'', which reached No. 41 on the U.S. Billboard Country Albums chart.

Charts A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tab ...

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

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 James Cecil Dickens (December 19, 1920 – January 2, 2015), better known by his stage name Little Jimmy Dickens, was an American country music singer and songwriter famous for his humorous novelty songs, his small size (4'11" 50 cm, and h ...

, and Teddy Nelson, among others. Johnny Dollar married and divorced four times, and became an alcoholic; late in his career he acquired

throat cancer Head and neck cancer develops from tissues in the lip and oral cavity (mouth), larynx (throat), salivary glands, nose, sinuses or the skin of the face. The most common types of head and neck cancers occur in the lip, mouth, and larynx. Symptoms ...

, and the operations destroyed his ability to sing. Johnny Dollarat

He committed suicide on April 13, 1986. He is buried in the

Nashville National Cemetery Nashville National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located in Madison, a suburb of Nashville, in Davidson County, Tennessee. Administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, it encompasses , and as of the end of ...

Albums

Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dollar, Johnny American country singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from Texas 1933 births 1986 deaths People from Kilgore, Texas Columbia Records artists 20th-century American singers Country musicians from Texas 1986 suicides Suicides in Tennessee