From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Thu Dec 19, 2002  6:19 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Little Jimmy Dickens
 
LITTLE JIMMY DICKENS (By Shaun Mather)

Born James Cecil Dickens, 19 December 1920, Bolt, West Virginia

Just like Porter Wagoner, there's more substance behind the rhinestone
than most people think. Perhaps not taken seriously enough because of
overuse of novelty songs and his stature (less than 5 feet tall), he is a
good balladeer and managed to chart in each decade from the 1940s to
the 1970s, becoming a Grand Ole Opry regular in the process.
Dickens was the 13th child of a West Virginian farmer. During his childhood,
he fell in love with music and had a dream of performing on the Grand Ole
Opry. He began performing professionally while he was a student at the
University of West Virginia in the late '30s, singing on a local radio
station. Dickens left school shortly after he received his regular radio
job. He began travelling around the country, singing on radio shows in
Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan under the name Jimmy the Kid. His big break
came when the King of Country Music, Roy Acuff heard Dickens sing on a
radio show in Saginaw, MI, and invited him to sing on the Grand Ole Opry.
In 1949, Dickens became a permanent member of the Grand Ole Opry and
signed a contract with Columbia Records, releasing his first single, "Take
an Old Cold Tater and Wait,". The song became a Top Ten hit and launched
a string of hit novelty, ballad and honky tonk singles that lasted for a year,
which included "Country Boy," "A-Sleeping at the Foot of the Bed," "Hillbilly
Fever," and "My Heart's Bouquet." Early in the '50s, he formed a band called
the Country Boys which featured a steel guitar, two lead guitars and drums.
With their spirited, traditional country approach and rockabilly inflections
(Rockin' With Red), the band didn't sound like their Nashville contemporaries.
Perhaps that's why Dickens only had one hit between 1950 and 1962 - 1954's
"Out Behind the Barn."
Dickens bounced back to the Top Ten with the ballad "The Violet and the
Rose" in 1962. Three years later, he had his biggest hit, "May the Bird of
Paradise Fly Up Your Nose." The single topped the country charts and
crossed over to number 15 on the pop charts. Although his next single,
"When the Ship Hit the Sand,' was moderately successful, Dickens was
unable to replicate the success of "May the Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your
Nose."
In 1968, he stopped recording for Columbia, signing with Decca Records
where he had three minor hits in the late '60s and early '70s. In 1971, he
moved to United Artists, which resulted in two more small hits, but by that
time he had begun to concentrate on performing as his main creative outlet.
Dickens continued to tour and perform at the Grand Ole Opry into the '90s,
becoming one of the most beloved characters in country music (his nick-
name is "Tater, The Littlest, but the Biggest Star at the Opry").
(Adapted from All Music Guide).

Recommended listening:
The Little Jimmy Dickens Collection - Razor & Tie
Country Boy - Bear Family 4CD
Out Behind The Barn - Bear Family 4CD.