Song:Big Bad John
Album:Jimmy Dean's Greatest Hits
Today when most folks see the name Jimmy Dean they think of sausage. But Dean was a major country music star. The 1961 hit Big Bad John was one of two that crossed over to the top of the pop charts. It's a very memorable song. He was born Aug. 10, 1928 in Plainview, TX. He learned piano as a child. He went into the service and played with a group called the Tennessee Haymakers while stationed in the Air Force near Washington, DC. When he left the service in 1948, he remained in Washington and formed a group called the Texas Wildcats. He did have a top ten country hit with Bummin' Around in 1953 and hosted his own TV show and gave Roy Clark & Patsy Cline their first big breaks. Dean had a national TV show on CBS in 1957 and also signed with Columbia Records. But the show was cancelled and music wasn't clicking for him at that time. Columbia was about to drop Dean when Big Bad John topped the country and pop charts in 1961. It established Dean's flair for spoken word narratives in his songs. Though the song is about a coal miner, Dean was inspired by a football player he knew. He had several more country hits and PT 109 reached #3 on the pop charts in 1963. He again had his own TV show on ABC from 1963-66 and moved to RCA Records in 1966. This Columbia comp covers his biggest hits and was reissued as a budget release earlier this year. He continued to have success on the country charts and also appeared in the 1971 film Diamonds Are Forever. Dean started the Jimmy Dean Sausage Company with his brother in 1969 and became even more famous because he was the spokesman. The company was sold to Sara Lee in 1984. Jimmy Dean lives with his wife in retirement near Richmond, VA and he wrote his autobiography in 2004. Here's Jimmy Dean performing Bill Bailey & Big Bad John at Church Street Station in Orlando in 1984.
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