Little Jimmy Dickens

Little Jimmy Dickens
Dickens in 1971
Background information
Birth name	James Cecil Dickens
Also known as	Little Jimmy Dickens Tater
Born	(1920-12-19)December 19, 1920 Bolt, West Virginia, U.S.
Died	January 2, 2015(2015-01-02) (aged 94) Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
Genres	Country
Occupation(s)	Country singer
Instruments	Guitar
Years active	1936–2014
Labels	Columbia Records, Decca Records, United Artists Records
Associated acts	Buddy Emmons, Kenneth Carllile, Hank Garland, Red Foley, Minnie Pearl, Hank Williams, Merle Haggard

James Cecil Dickens (December 19, 1920 – January 2, 2015), better known by his stage name Little Jimmy Dickens, was an American country music singer and songwriter famous for his humorous novelty songs, his small size (4'11" [150 cm]), and his rhinestone-studded outfits (which he is given credit for introducing into country music live performances).^[1] He started as a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 1948 and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1983. Before his death he was the oldest living member of the Grand Ole Opry.

Early life[]

Dickens was born in Bolt, West Virginia. He began his musical career in the late 1930s, performing on radio station WJLS in Beckley, West Virginia, while attending West Virginia University.^[2] He soon quit school to pursue a full-time music career, traveling the country performing on local radio stations under the name "Jimmy the Kid".

Career[]

Dickens in 1955

In 1948, Dickens was heard performing on WKNX, a radio station in Saginaw, Michigan while on location at Buck Lake Ranch, Angola Indiana. Roy Acuff introduced him to Art Satherley at Columbia Records and officials from the Grand Ole Opry. Dickens signed with Columbia in September and joined the Opry in August. Around this time he began using the nickname Little Jimmy Dickens, inspired by his short stature.^[3]

Dickens recorded many novelty songs for Columbia, including "Country Boy", "A-Sleeping at the Foot of the Bed", and "I'm Little but I'm Loud".^[4] His song "Take an Old Cold Tater (And Wait)" inspired Hank Williams to nickname him Tater. Later, telling Dickens he needed a hit, Williams wrote "Hey Good Lookin'" in only 20 minutes while on a plane with Dickens, Minnie Pearl, and Pearl's husband, Henry Cannon.^[5] A week later, Williams recorded the song himself, jokingly telling Dickens, "That song's too good for you!",^[6] to which Dickens replied, "much obliged, Hiram."

In 1950, Dickens formed the Country Boys with musicians Jabbo Arrington, Grady Martin, Bob Moore, and Thumbs Carllile. It was during this time that he discovered future Country Music Hall of Famer Marty Robbins at a Phoenix, Arizona television station while on tour with the Grand Ole Opry road show. In 1957, Dickens left the Grand Ole Opry to tour with the Philip Morris Country Music Show.^[7]

In 1962, Dickens had his first top-10 country hit since 1954 with "The Violet and a Rose".

In 1964, he became the first country artist to circle the globe while on tour. He also made numerous appearances on television, including on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. In 1965, he released his biggest hit, "May the Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose", which reached number 1 on the country chart and number 15 on the pop chart.

In the late 1960s, Dickens left Columbia for Decca Records before moving again to United Artists in 1971.^[8] That same year, he married his wife, Mona,^[9][10] and in 1975 he returned to the Grand Ole Opry. In 1983. Dickens was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.^[11]

Dickens joined the producers Randall Franks and Alan Autry for the In the Heat of the Night cast CD Christmas Time's A Comin’, performing "Jingle Bells" with the cast (the CD was released by Sonlite and MGM/UA and was one of the most popular Christmas releases of 1991 and 1992 with Southern retailers).

Later career[]

In 1984, Dickens appeared in Hank Williams Jr.'s music video for the hit single All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight.

Dickens performing at the Grand Ole Opry House in 2004. Notice the six-foot circle of oak which was cut from the corner of the Ryman Auditorium's stage and inlaid into center stage at the Grand Ole Opry House

Toward the end of his life, Dickens made appearances in a number of music videos by the country musician and West Virginia native Brad Paisley. He was also featured on several of Paisley's albums in bonus comedy tracks, along with other Opry mainstays such as George Jones and Bill Anderson. They were collectively referred to as the Kung-Pao Buckaroos.

With the death of Hank Locklin in March 2009, Dickens became the oldest living member of the Grand Ole Opry, at the age of 90. He made regular appearances as a host at the Opry, often with the self-deprecating joke that he is also known as "Willie Nelson after taxes," playing on his resemblance to Nelson in his later years, Nelson's highly publicized problems with the Internal Revenue Service, and Dickens's own short stature. At the 2011 CMA Awards, Dickens was dressed as Justin Bieber and made fun of Bieber's current paternity scandal.

Personal life[]

Dickens married Connie Chapman in 1944; the marriage ended in divorce in 1955. Later that year, he married Ernestine Jones; she died in 1968 in an automobile accident while traveling in Texas. He married Mona Evans in 1971.^[12] They had two daughters, Pamela Detert and Lisa King.^[13]

Jimmy Dickens was a 32nd degree Freemason, a member of Franklin Lodge #7 in Franklin, Tennessee.

Death[]

Dickens was hospitalized after a stroke on December 25, 2014, days after his last appearance on the Opry to mark his birthday.^[1] He died of cardiac arrest on January 2, 2015, at the age of 94.^[14] After his funeral on January 8, 2015 at the Grand Ole Opry House, Dickens was entombed in the Cross Mausoleum at Woodlawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Nashville.^[15]

Discography[]

Studio albums[]

Compilation albums[]

Singles[]

B-sides[]

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Little Jimmy Dickens.

• Watch Little Jimmy Dickens, "Hannah", on Ozark Jubilee, August 1, 1959 (Flash player)
• Dickens in the Country Music Hall of Fame
• Grand Ole Opry member
• Allmusic
• Little Jimmy Dickens at Find a Grave