PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
Johnny Dollar is the best rockabilly singer you ve never heard, as this album will confirm on first play. The original versions of "Action Packed" and "Rockin Bones" together with originals like "Green-Eyed Cat" are standouts on an outstanding release.

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Johnny Dollar sprang upon the Texas music scene in the late 1950's sporting dark-haired good looks, a wild rebel attitude and a full-bodied rock and roller's voice to match. This former used car salesman had the right mix of talent and bravado to impress Big "D" Jamboree owner/promoter Ed McLemore and become part of Ed's Artist Services talent roster. Johnny's early collaborations with legendary songwriter Jack Rhodes yielded startlingly powerful early rockabilly gems such as Rhodes' "Green-Eyed Cat", "Rockin' Bones" (first recorded by Elroy Deitzel, later made famous by Ronnie Dawson and still later covered by The Cramps), and "Action Packed", which also served as a template for Ronnie Dawson's second 45 rpm release of the same name.Rhodes was well known as a hot country/pop songwriter who had a particular talent for writing songs in the sassy new "cat music" style that was later to be called rockabilly, and eventually, rock & roll. In addition to his song writing talents, Rhodes was an adept businessman and deal maker with legitimate music business connections, making him the focal point for many up-and-coming performers looking for just the right catchy song to break into the charts. Rhodes spotted a potential winner in Johnny Dollar and provided him with many of his best rockabilly efforts to record later for McLemore's Big "D" Publishing Company at Dallas' Sellers Studios under the direction of session producer Johnny Hicks. He's supported on the record by some of Dallas' best home grown rockers of the era: innovative guitarist Howard Reed (later to become one of Gene Vincent's Blue Caps), spectacular teenage piano-pounder C.B. Oliver, and (most likely) Grady Owen on bass (also a Blue Cap-to-be). The result was classic transitional rockabilly, played electric and full blown by a tight, sympathetic ensemble and fronted by a swaggering, tough-talking lead singer who combined the good looks of a Warren Smith or Elvis Presley with a hint of Gene Vincent-style danger and aggression. An unbeatable combination that should have (and surely would have) made Johnny Dollar famous if the recordings had ever been released on record to the public. As the popularity of the first wave of rockabilly artists began to wane in the late 1950's, Johnny evidently became discouraged with music as a career and switched to selling financial investments in Oklahoma. According to brother Jimmy, it was here that he met country artist Ray Price, who happened to be a principal in the company Johnny was working for and gave Johnny his first real break in the big time. Price liked the personable singer and got him signed with Columbia Records where he became known as Johnny $ Dollar and "Mr. Personality", enjoying a string of respectable C&W hits such as "Tear-Talk" (Top 50) and "Stop the Start (of Tears in My Heart)" (Top 15). He was nominated in 1966 and 1967 respectively for Billboard and Records World's "Best New Artist" award, and later in 1967 he moved to Dot Records "(Your Hands)", and then to Date Records where he enjoyed some success with "The Wheels Fell off the Wagon Again" and "Everybody's Got to Be Somewhere". He soon changed labels again, this time to Chart Records in 1968, where he had a pair of notable truck driving hits with "Big Rig Rollin' Man and "Big Wheels Sing For Me" (1969). His final hit was for Chart in 1970 with "Truck Driver's Lament", which made the Top 75.