Jimmy Dean 1928 ~2010
Jimmy Dean, a country music legend for his smash hit "Big Bad John," and an entrepreneur known for his sausage brand, died Sunday at his Henrico County, Virginia home. He was 81.
Dean was born Seth Ward in Plainview, TX, in 1928, and grew up poor, often working on farms as a boy to help make ends meet. His mother taught him piano starting at age 10, and he went on to pick up guitar, harmonica, and accordion. He joined the Merchant Marines at age 16, and after two years he enlisted in the Air Force, where he first performed publicly with a band called the Tennessee Haymakers.
The Haymakers played venues near the Washington, D.C., base at which Dean was stationed. When he left the service in 1948, he remained in the area and formed a new group called the Texas Wildcats.
In 1953, he landed a record deal with Four Star, and charted his first Billboard hit that year with "Bummin' Around." His big break came when Columbia Records signed him to a contract in 1961. Dean soon catapulted to the top of the charts with "Big Bad John."
The song which is about a coal miner, who saves fellow workers when a mine roof collapses, went to No. 1 on both the pop and country charts in 1961. It became his signature song and won a Grammy. Jimmy followed it with a couple of popular singles in 1962; "Dear Ivan" and "Little Black Book." Meanwhile, "To a Sleeping Beauty," Dear Ivan, P.T. 109 and" The Cajun Queen" reached the country Top 20 1962. He followed with The First Thing Ev'ry Morning in 1965.
Jimmy's fame led him to a series of television shows, including "The Jimmy Dean Show" on CBS (1957 -- 1958). Jimmy moved to ABC with a version of "The Jimmy Dean Show in 1963. The show ran until 1966, at which point Dean had left Columbia Records and joined the equally lucrative RCA Record label. He returned to the country Top 10 that year with the No. 10 hit "Stand Beside Me" and placed several more minor chart entries through 1971, leaving off with "Slowly," a Top 40 duet with Dottie West. He recorded for Casino in 1976, scoring a final Top 10 country hit that year "I.O.U.," a narrative tribute to his mother.
In 1969, Dean started a sausage business. The Jimmy Dean Meat Co. opened with a plant in Plainview, Texas. After six months, the company was profitable. His fortune was estimated at $75 million in the early '90s.
Though his recording career diminished in 1977, he remained in the spotlight by making guest appearances on such popular TV programs on Pop Goes the Country, Nashville Now and The Tonight Show.
Dean was nominated for the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2010, although he died before being formally inducted.
Television: CBS-TV Series 1977 -- 1958; ABC-TV Series 1963 -- 1966
Major Record Labels: Columbia (1961 -- 1965) and RCA (1966 -- 1972)
First Billboard Chart Hit: Bumming Around (1953, 4 Star Records)
Biggest Hit: Big Bad John (1961)
Gold Records: Big Bad John and I.O.U.
Jimmy Dean was inducted into the Country Music hall of Fame in 2010..
RJB: Country Music Historian, Nashville, Tennessee USA
Loading...
63 videos
So sorry they wouldn`t let us view(U.S.A) see your post of the dedication to him!
5*****
jtls8 1 year ago