Biography
Little Jimmy Dickens earned acclaim as a leading figure in country novelty tunes while also earning respect for his skill as a ballad vocalist. Standing under five feet tall, he became equally recognized for his love of flashy, rhinestone-covered attire and his penchant for humorous country stage banter. Though his chart presence remained sporadic, he scored successes across each decade from the 1940s through the 1970s and ranked among the Grand Ole Opry’s most enduring crowd favorites.
The thirteenth child of a farmer from West Virginia, Dickens developed an early passion for music and nurtured a lifelong ambition to appear on the Grand Ole Opry. While attending the University of West Virginia in the late 1930s, he launched his professional career by performing on a local radio broadcast. He soon abandoned his studies after securing a steady radio slot and began touring under the name Jimmy the Kid, appearing on stations throughout Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan. Roy Acuff discovered him during a Saginaw, Michigan, broadcast and extended an invitation to perform on the Opry.
By 1949 Dickens, now billed as Little Jimmy Dickens, had joined the Grand Ole Opry as a regular cast member. That same year Columbia Records offered him a contract, and his debut single, “Take an Old Cold Tater and Wait,” appeared in spring 1949. The track reached the Top Ten and triggered a run of novelty, ballad, and honky-tonk releases that continued for roughly twelve months, among them “Country Boy,” “A-Sleeping at the Foot of the Bed,” “Hillbilly Fever,” and “My Heart’s Bouquet.” Early in the 1950s he assembled the Country Boys, whose lineup included steel guitar, two lead guitars, and drums. The group’s energetic traditional-country style, touched with faint rockabilly leanings, set them apart from most Nashville acts of the era. As a result, Dickens managed only one additional hit between 1950 and 1962: the 1954 release “Out Behind the Barn.”
He returned to the Top Ten in 1962 with the ballad “The Violet and the Rose.” Three years later came his career peak, “May the Bird of Paradise Fly up Your Nose,” which ascended to number one on the country chart and reached number 15 on the pop side. Although the follow-up, “When the Ship Hit the Sand,” achieved modest success, he never again matched that single’s impact. After leaving Columbia in 1968, Dickens recorded for Decca Records and notched three minor hits in the late 1960s and early 1970s. A 1971 move to United Artists yielded two more small chart entries, yet by then he had shifted his primary focus to live performance. He maintained a busy touring schedule and remained a fixture at the Grand Ole Opry into the 1990s, ultimately becoming one of country music’s most cherished personalities.
The thirteenth child of a farmer from West Virginia, Dickens developed an early passion for music and nurtured a lifelong ambition to appear on the Grand Ole Opry. While attending the University of West Virginia in the late 1930s, he launched his professional career by performing on a local radio broadcast. He soon abandoned his studies after securing a steady radio slot and began touring under the name Jimmy the Kid, appearing on stations throughout Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan. Roy Acuff discovered him during a Saginaw, Michigan, broadcast and extended an invitation to perform on the Opry.
By 1949 Dickens, now billed as Little Jimmy Dickens, had joined the Grand Ole Opry as a regular cast member. That same year Columbia Records offered him a contract, and his debut single, “Take an Old Cold Tater and Wait,” appeared in spring 1949. The track reached the Top Ten and triggered a run of novelty, ballad, and honky-tonk releases that continued for roughly twelve months, among them “Country Boy,” “A-Sleeping at the Foot of the Bed,” “Hillbilly Fever,” and “My Heart’s Bouquet.” Early in the 1950s he assembled the Country Boys, whose lineup included steel guitar, two lead guitars, and drums. The group’s energetic traditional-country style, touched with faint rockabilly leanings, set them apart from most Nashville acts of the era. As a result, Dickens managed only one additional hit between 1950 and 1962: the 1954 release “Out Behind the Barn.”
He returned to the Top Ten in 1962 with the ballad “The Violet and the Rose.” Three years later came his career peak, “May the Bird of Paradise Fly up Your Nose,” which ascended to number one on the country chart and reached number 15 on the pop side. Although the follow-up, “When the Ship Hit the Sand,” achieved modest success, he never again matched that single’s impact. After leaving Columbia in 1968, Dickens recorded for Decca Records and notched three minor hits in the late 1960s and early 1970s. A 1971 move to United Artists yielded two more small chart entries, yet by then he had shifted his primary focus to live performance. He maintained a busy touring schedule and remained a fixture at the Grand Ole Opry into the 1990s, ultimately becoming one of country music’s most cherished personalities.
Albums
