Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar - The Fathom Five Matter (Bob Bailey)

Five Part Johnny Dollar episode that originally ran in 15 minute segments each weeknight back in February, 1956. Bob Bailey is excellent as, "The man with the action packed expense account," independent insurance investigator, Johnny Dollar. Join us, won't you?

[@jorgeortiz6000]

Nothing like Bob Bailey.still listening in 2020. I also like the six shooter

[@lynne1335]

Please more Jonny Dollar with Bob Bailey, he's the best

[@asazeal021]

These old radio shows are how my dad and i make those long drives to and from college.

[@Wynstorm3]

Man, I love that music!

[@wilde4445]

lal W/ LOL< thanks, that was such a cute comment you made me laugh.Mare

[@aardvark1956]

I love old radio - even the look of the sets! We bought a combo radio, record player, cassette & CD player that looks like an old radio set. LOL

[@craffte]

That is awesome.

[@JosedeCura1]

Love this radio show. Better days.

[@tninajackson4614]

I was introduced to this series, due to my XM radio subscription. I LOVE it! Bob Bailey was the best J.D. by far. Thank you for this video, I've been known to sit in my car to listen to an episode

[@TowGunner]

TNina Jackson Ditto!

[@johnwedrall1907]

Excellent mystery story 👍👍❗

[@richardwood733]

Bob Bailey, the best Johnny Dollar ever

[@RebelRob34]

Yes, not even close!

[@xxxYouTunesxxx]

The James Bond of radio. So far this show and Gunsmoke are my two favorite OTR shows.

[@kratzundsteuben3719]

I totally agree. unfortunately, YTJD bit off more than it could chew during their year of five-part shows. two thirds through, they were all clearly exhausted, Bailey especially. when they reverted to one episode per week, it lost its adrenaline. but that two thirds of a year was the apotheosis of episodic radio. this is as good as it got. radio at its absolute best. I wish Bailey had been able to transition to TV. the fall of radio ruined him. it breaks my heart. I wish he had had some idea that seventy years later, tens of thousands of people are thrilled

[@vincentsartain3061]

@@kratzundsteuben3719 I haven't read or heard about the possible "downsides" of having to perform in five 15 minute episodes per week, but I understand that Bob Bailey came in just one day a week to do the recording. Jack Johnstone who directed and wrote most of the episodes was surely under a creative strain himself. I am in the middle of playing the next 178 half hour episodes which came immediately after the "5-parter" period, and I can perceive some of the "flaggjng" you mentioned about the later 5-parters and the 30 minute episodes; however, quite a few of the 1957-8 half hour shows I've heard to date are some really good efforts by Bailey and Johnstone, and still much superior to the bulk of the episodes led by the five other actors who starred as the title figure. At least, from my own vantage point; later on I might catch some of the "mediocre quality" examples among Bob's last batch of half hour episodes from 1959 and 1960.

[@kratzundsteuben3719]

@@vincentsartain3061 I look forward to your feedback on the later episodes. one serious problem in the half hour Bailey episodes was pacing. exposition went on much longer than it should have. like most of you, I think Bailey was the best Dollar. but his half-hour episodes were, by and large, inferior to Edmund O'Brien's and a lot of John Lund's. O'Brien's Dollar was edgy and believable.

[@vincentsartain3061]

@@kratzundsteuben3719 I haven't given Lund and O'Brien much of a chance, just yet, but I look forward to eventually giving them a try. Same for Mandel Kramer who I've heard came closest to Bob Bailey in the characterization of Johnny Dollar.

[@curtisneilson5829]

my Sirius docking station broke this saves the day thank you

[@ShawnaGraham50]

I drive a truck and I love love this show

[@doreybain]

Bob Bailey was the best actor at a time of many great radio voices.

[@jimestabrook1561]

THANK YOU so much. I am a truck driver and have only a limited time to be online. That said, "radio Classics" host Greg Bell appears to like documentaries and his goofy comedies more than great programming such as this. Now when I go online, I can come here to get my "Dollar fix"!

[@fredannett3590]

I agree. I drive too. I change when the comedies and singing shows come on. Love this show.

[@scoobydoo2495]

I love these shows roo. You have to keep in mind that that there are many listeners for the radio channel. They have to appeal to as broad an audience as possible. Many people, perhaps even the majority of listeners like the comedy show. personally these are my favorites but I like comedy too.

[@fredannett3590]

Yes. I am sure there are people who love the soap operas, variety shows etc. I prefer the crime/mystery shows. Glad the channel is on Sirius

[@vanessiesmith3230]

+Jim Estabrook I'm on the road a great deal of the time, so when I am hope, I tape these shows while I sleep or going about my daily home chores. Then play back on the road. The time passes more quickly then just listening to music. Try it. switch between music and OTR.

[@jimestabrook1561]

Hey guys. You can also hear Boston Blackie, Bogart, Rick Diamond or any of the other dramas. There is only so much of Greg Bell and his idea of comedy I can stand. I think that if you donate to OTR, then they will probably not mind if you copy these programs. I'm glad I could be of assistance. I o heavy haul, so most of the time I have to shut down at dusk, so I get a chance to hear what I wish, and not what I can get. Stay safe out there.

[@AlwaysASouthernBelle]

My daughter loves these shows.

[@texbrashear4831]

Really? You don't look old enough to have a daughter old enough to appreciate these great old shows. How old is your daughter?

[@AlwaysASouthernBelle]

12! We listen to them on Sirius XM!

[@texbrashear4831]

Victoria Gray Pryor It heartens me to think that folks as young as you guys are can enjoy these great classics. Kids nowadays think too highly of violence and special effects, and such things. You're obviously doing something right as a mom if you encourage her to use her imagination to appreciate such shows. Good Job!

[@wilde4445]

Tex Brashear I agree! Good for you, God Bless.

[@Tsnore]

Victoria Gray I think Bailey was the best of the guys who took on the role. In any form, Dollar was highly entertaining as was Box 13 with Alan Ladd and Gunsmoke and the classics: Suspense and Escape. Long live radio , theatre of the mind!

[@armandorodriguez734]

One episode JD commented after a suspect had died by saying “he died so fast he didn’t even get a chance to say hallelujah”.

[@walterwheeler5465]

Bob Bailey was "George Valentine" on "Let George Do It" almost a decade prior to his obtaining the role of "Johnny Dollar." The five evening a week series (15 minutes each day to complete the episode) did increase the excellent plots on Johnny Dollar. However, by 1956 most network radio programs no longer aired. By the late 1950's only CBS still had programs on Sunday evenings with the last aired in 1962.

[@thack57]

Thank you for the history lesson. It's sincerely appreciated

[@paktype]

Great radio will endure forever.

[@howardoller443]

I love old-time radio, but this world, and everything in it, will eventually end. Our eternal souls will endure forever. The only question is where will our souls reside in eternity? If we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior we will reside in Heaven with our great and loving Creator. If we don't accept that priceless Gift, we will reside eternally separated from Him in Hell.

[@Tread60]

The best!!! Thanks for these!

[@riskybzns]

Please post more of these in full length version.

[@bernardmarsh4133]

Great editing. One of the best YTJD stories

[@VistaRecordsRadio]

There will be more Johnny Dollar episodes coming - they may be posted under Vista Records (VistaRecordsBoard).

[@Glinkaism1]

Great audio quality.

[@genefogarty5395]

Audio quality is awesome, thanks!

[@Billthebaker420]

I lived in Pompano Beach! 👍

[@rickcampbell4934]

excellent

[@frederickwise5238]

I liked the other picture of the older Tombstone style radio from the 30s. LOL

[@mikecappadocia5959]

Every episode is on Spotify

[@SamuraiX6288]

The man with the action packed expense account... Best catch phrase ever.

[@richardwood733]

Gunsmoke and Fort Laramie

[@tninajackson4614]

Along with this one, I like Gunsmoke,Ft Laramie,Dragnet and Suspense.

[@jermainejackson9769]

cool name after money. like 50 cents. dollar bill yall.

[@michelleloberg1624]

+Jermaine Jackson Early on, Johnny Dollar (the character- first episodes) used to tip his taxi drivers big, using silver dollars, and that's how he got the name. Isn't that cool!?

[@Nosaracasalaplaya]

Can you add the month,day and year of the episodes?!

[@dreasmom2789]

I was able to Google. I entered Johnny Dollar and the name of the episode in this case the Phantom five matter. The one that I found to give the dates is www. Great detectives. Net

[@wilde4445]

Thank you, enjoyed the comments also.Mare

[@excalibur7300]

10cents for coffee? Wow

[@vincentsartain3061]

Johnny Dollar's "Bob Bailey" time was a decade prior to my childhood, but I remember when a cup of coffee was a quarter; pay phone calls were a dime; candy bars were .15c; gas stations gave full service and attendants pumped your tank at 33.c/gal; and when my dad bought Camel non-filters for .33c a pack.

[@cynthiamackenzie2273]

Is there a cost to listen to these old shows?

[@marcusjones298]

No

[@mgn5667]

1 tooth brush 49 cents....lolz

[@dreasmom2789]

Have to remember little minimum which was very low. In the seventies it was only $2 an hour. Crazy.

[@chriscrawford2197]

Listen 2

[@STP43FAN1]

56:20

[@TheWriterWalker]

You do me no favor by showing Bob Bailey's photo. His voice is more dashing and handsome -- more Johnny -- than Bailey's face.

[@dreasmom2789]

Definitely not the best picture of him. I Googled his images and as I said it's not the best picture there's many better. I went on Wikipedia I'm kind of sad I did the last 10 years of his life was spending a nursing home due to a stroke.

[@TheWriterWalker]

@@dreasmom2789, sorry to hear about his last ten years. He perhaps never guessed that more than 50 years later, his efforts would be entertaining, and even sentimentally soothing, others today.

[@vincentsartain3061]

The photos of Bob I've seen show him to be not UN-handsome, but he he was of medium height at most and wasn't a large man with the strapping physicality that everyone associates with TV and film action heroes. I think Bob Bailey's best prospects for a television career would have been in juicy character roles or as supporting characters; but poor Bob's career and life spiraled downward by the early 1960s and he spent nearly a decade living incognito even from his own family, while in the grip of alcoholism.

[@TheWriterWalker]

@@vincentsartain3061, thank you for your response, and I'm sorry to hear how Bailey fared.

[@vincentsartain3061]

@@TheWriterWalker After Bob's "lost decade" he made a recovery with Alcoholics Anonymous and reconnected with his family and now adult children. Bob went on to work at rescue missions and soup kitchens and the like in his fervent efforts to help others recover from alcoholism. Alas, a few short years into his recovery, he suffered a severe stroke that left him debilitated and living in a convalescent home during the last decade of his life. Fortunately, however, about a year before he died he was presented an opportunity to listen to some of his old Johnny Dollar work, when some folks in the early 1980s were discovering the show's brilliancy and Bob's fine acting in the program. I remain unclear as to whether he finally did get to revisit his old radio work, but he did become aware of the renewed fan appreciation and I'm sure it was of comfort to him and his loved ones. Bob died in August of 1983 at age 70.

[@alphawolf6374]

It's a completely different show without Bob Bailey I won't even listen to it I've tried it's completely different almost blasphemous