Little Jimmy Dickens made a name for himself starting in the late 1940s as a singer of novelty country songs. He cut a somewhat comical picture with his 4' 11" height and a crazy variety of pseudo-western rhinestone-studded outfits. Whether he'd intended to play the clown or not, it worked for him. But Dickens also contributed some fine rockabilly tunes during the 1950s.
His first top 10 hit, 1949's "Take an Old Cold Tater and Wait," set the stage for a string of similar novelty songs. "A-Sleeping at the Foot of the Bed," "Hillbilly Fever," and "My Heart's Bouquet" all became hits within the next year. In one of those unexplained plot twists in the music business, his string of hits came to an abrupt end in 1950. But he'd already established himself as a regular on the Grand Ol' Opry and kept on recording.
In 1952 he formed a band which included guitar great Grady Martin and released several recordings, none of which were hits. In fact, he wouldn't have another hit until 1954's "Out Behind the Barn." After that, his music often took a turn toward rockabilly as the new genre began to develop and he saw the potential in it. He released a number of songs that had a rockabilly flavor to them including "Black Eyed Joe's," "Stinky Pass the Hat Around," and the great "Rockin' With Red," which he released on Columbia records as "Rock Me."
None of these songs were pure rockabilly. Dickens was a country boy through and through and left a lot more of the country in his recordings than most rockabilly artists did, but his songs certainly contained rockabilly elements. "Stinky Pass the Hat Around" for instance has a very prominent and strong snare drum beat which was unusual for country music at that time and much more characteristic of the rockabilly records being made then.
His 1955 single "Salty Boogie" although featuring heavy fiddle work also has very rockabilly sounding guitar work and again the strong drumbeat of rockabilly. 1958's "I Got a Hole In My Pocket" can't be considered anything but rockabilly and is perhaps the purest rockabilly recording he ever made. The fiddle was mixed way back in this song and the guitar is straight-up rockabilly against a classic rockabilly drum beat. That song has to represent the pinnacle of Dickens' rockabilly offerings but it wasn't his last effort as evidenced by a very rockabilly sounding "Fireball Mail" which he released in 1960.
Throughout all of these years Dickens slipped effortlessly back and forth between rockabilly, hillbilly boogie, novelty songs, and country ballads. While his rockabilly and rockabilly-flavored pieces were great, it was always the novelty song that gave him his biggest successes. He finally hit #1 in 1964 when he released "May the Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose."
Dickens has become one of country's most loved elder statesmen and has been involved in the Grand Ol' Opry even into his 90s. But for a few brief years in the mid to late 1950s, he made some fine contributions to the rockabilly genre.
His first top 10 hit, 1949's "Take an Old Cold Tater and Wait," set the stage for a string of similar novelty songs. "A-Sleeping at the Foot of the Bed," "Hillbilly Fever," and "My Heart's Bouquet" all became hits within the next year. In one of those unexplained plot twists in the music business, his string of hits came to an abrupt end in 1950. But he'd already established himself as a regular on the Grand Ol' Opry and kept on recording.
In 1952 he formed a band which included guitar great Grady Martin and released several recordings, none of which were hits. In fact, he wouldn't have another hit until 1954's "Out Behind the Barn." After that, his music often took a turn toward rockabilly as the new genre began to develop and he saw the potential in it. He released a number of songs that had a rockabilly flavor to them including "Black Eyed Joe's," "Stinky Pass the Hat Around," and the great "Rockin' With Red," which he released on Columbia records as "Rock Me."
None of these songs were pure rockabilly. Dickens was a country boy through and through and left a lot more of the country in his recordings than most rockabilly artists did, but his songs certainly contained rockabilly elements. "Stinky Pass the Hat Around" for instance has a very prominent and strong snare drum beat which was unusual for country music at that time and much more characteristic of the rockabilly records being made then.
His 1955 single "Salty Boogie" although featuring heavy fiddle work also has very rockabilly sounding guitar work and again the strong drumbeat of rockabilly. 1958's "I Got a Hole In My Pocket" can't be considered anything but rockabilly and is perhaps the purest rockabilly recording he ever made. The fiddle was mixed way back in this song and the guitar is straight-up rockabilly against a classic rockabilly drum beat. That song has to represent the pinnacle of Dickens' rockabilly offerings but it wasn't his last effort as evidenced by a very rockabilly sounding "Fireball Mail" which he released in 1960.
Throughout all of these years Dickens slipped effortlessly back and forth between rockabilly, hillbilly boogie, novelty songs, and country ballads. While his rockabilly and rockabilly-flavored pieces were great, it was always the novelty song that gave him his biggest successes. He finally hit #1 in 1964 when he released "May the Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose."
Dickens has become one of country's most loved elder statesmen and has been involved in the Grand Ol' Opry even into his 90s. But for a few brief years in the mid to late 1950s, he made some fine contributions to the rockabilly genre.
