Little Jimmy Dickens
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The 13th child of a West Virginia farmer, he was born in Bolt, West Virginia on 19 December 1920. During his childhood, he fell in love with music and had a dream of performing on the Grand Ole Opry. At 17 he won a guest spot on a Beckley, West Virginia radio show, and he began performing professionally while he was a student at West Virginia University. He started travelling around the country, singing on radio shows in Indiana, Ohio and Michigan under the name Jimmy The Kid. Working on a radio show in Saginaw, Michigan, he was spotted by Roy Acuff, who invited him to sing on the Grand Ole Opry. By this time he was using the name Little Jimmy Dickens, and as such he became a permanent member of the Opry in 1949. That year he also signed a recording contract with Columbia, scoring his first Top Ten Country hits with Take An Old Cold Tater (And Wait) that summer. Though he loved to perform sad country weepers, Dickens enjoyed his greatest success with novelty tunes like A-Sleepin' At the Foot Of the Bed, Hillbilly Fever and Out Behind The Barn, all Top Ten entries in the early 1950s. He scored a big hit with Boudleaux and Felice Bryant's Country Boy in 1949, and formed his own band, The Country Boys, later that year. It was one of the first country bands to feature the now-classic line-up of steel guitar, twin electric lead guitar, bass and drums. With their spirited traditional country approach and slight rockabilly inflections, Dickens and his band stood out from the run-of-the-mill touring outfits. Though Dickens failed to chart between 1954's Out Behind The Barn and 1962's The Violet And A Rose, he was a popular road act and Opry favourite. He joined the Phillip Morris Caravan of Stars 1950s touring show and recorded a few rockabilly songs, including Blackeyed Joe's and I've Got A Hole In My Pocket.
In 1965 he had his biggest hit, May the Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose. The single topped the country charts and crossed over to no.15 on the pop charts. Although his next single, When The Ship Hit The Sand, was moderately successful, he wasn't able to build on his pop breakthrough. Possessing a rich country twang, and resplendent in his gaudy western-type attire, his image hardly fitted pop music; even on the Country charts, in fact, he struggled to maintain a regular run of hits. In 1968 he changed labels and signed with Decca Records. Though he recorded three albums in as many years, he only had a handful of minor hits in the late 1960s and early 1970s. A move to United Artists in 1971 resulted in only two more small hits, but in any case, by that time he had begun to concentrate on performing as his main creative outlet. He did record an album for Gusto in the early 1980s and also one for his own Tater Patch label, along with a handful of singles on Little Gem Records.
He was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1983, and has continued to tour and perform at the Grand Ole Opry, becoming one of the most well-loved characters in country music.
Though Little Jimmy Dickens is best known for novelty songs such as May The Bird Of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose, the Grand Ole Opry veteran is also a fine country balladeer specialising in heart songs like The Violet And The Rose. A near fixture on the Nashville music scene for more than 50 years, the diminutive singer (less than five feet) is easily recognised by his flamboyant, rhinestone-studded outfits and country humour. Although he has never been consistent on the Country charts, he scored hits in every decade between the 1940s and the 1970s, and has become one of the Grand Ole Opry's most popular performers.
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