Little Jimmy Dickens
James Cecil Dickens (born December 19, 1920) is an American country music singer from Bolt, West Virginia. A regular at the Grand Ole Opry for almost sixty years, Dickens is famous for his humorous novelty songs, his small size, 4'11", and his rhinestone-studded outfits.
Dickens' musical career began in the late 1930s, when he began performing on a local radio station while attending West Virginia University. He soon quit school to pursue a full-time music career, and travelled the country performing on various local radio stations under the name "Jimmy the Kid."
In 1948 Dickens was heard performing on a radio station in Saginaw, Michigan, by Roy Acuff, who introduced him to Art Satherley at Columbia Records and officials from the Grand Ole Opry. Dickens signed with Columbia in September and joined the Grand Ole Opry in August. Around this time he began using the nickname "Little Jimmy Dickens," a name inspired by his height of 4 feet 11 inches.
Dickens recorded many novelty songs for Columbia around this time, including "Country Boy," "A-Sleeping at the Foot of the Bed" and "I'm Little But I'm Loud." His song "Take an Old Cold Tater (And Wait)" inspired Hank Williams to nickname him "Tater."
In 1950 he formed the Country Boys with musicians Jabbo Arrington, Grady Moore and Bob Moore. In 1957 he left the Grand Ole Opry to tour with the Philip Morris Country Music Show.
In 1962 Dickens released "The Violet and the Rose," his first top ten single in twelve years. During 1964 he became the first country artist to circle the globe while on tour, and also made numerous TV appearances including The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Around this time he released his biggest hit, "May the Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose," reaching number one in the country charts and number fifteen in the pop charts.
In the late 1960s he left Columbia for Decca Records, before moving again to United Artists in 1971. That same year he married his wife, Mona, and in 1975 he returned to the Grand Ole Opry. In 1983 Dickens was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Recently Dickens has made appearances in a number of music videos by fellow country musician Brad Paisley. He has also been featured on several of Paisley's albums in bonus comedy tracks along with other Opry mainstays such as George Jones and Bill Anderson. They are collectively referred to as the Kung-Pao Buckaroos.
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