You can make jokes about the monetary names of
Johnny Cash,
Johnny Paycheck,
Johnny Money, and all the rest, but
Dollar is this Johnny's real name.
Dollar made rock & roll before turning to a variety of country music styles, but his history as a rocker isn't in evidence on his 1968 album
Johnny Dollar. Even the fuzz tone guitar on "Forever Is Over" and "Do-Die" has ample precedent in country music.
Johnny Dollar was made before
Dollar began concentrating on truck driving music, so none of that is here, either. Instead, listeners are treated to a set of Bakersfield-influenced country performances ("Everybody's Got to Be Somewhere," one of two chart hits on the album, sounds quite a bit like a
Buck Owens song). "Numbers Lil" is a song of tragedy with a twist ending, like
Porter Wagoner's "The Carroll County Accident" from later the same year, and "The Wheels Fell of the Wagon Again" was another minor hit for
Dollar, who never quite broke through commercially. Anyone with an interest in
Dollar will be predisposed to liking
Johnny Dollar, and the strong performances and material will not disappoint.