Jimmy Dean - Biography
By J Poet
Jimmy Dean was probably best known to TV viewers for his line of Jimmy Dean Foods, most notably his pork sausages. But before he was a businessman, he was a Grammy winning country singer, a pop crossover artist in the days before most country artists even dreamed of such a thing. He had a series of best selling albums and singles from the late 1950s to the early 80s, when he devoted his energies to his food company. He retired from Jimmy Dean Foods in 1990 and lives in Virginia with his wife country singer Donna Meade.
Dean was born near Plainview, Texas in 1928, to a single mother. He worked on local farms throughout his school career, and played music from an early age. His mother gave him basic piano lessons at 10 and by high school he could play guitar, harmonica and accordion as well. At 16 he quit school, joined the Merchant Marines and then the Air Force. He was stationed in Washington DC and put together a band with his service mates called the Tennessee Haymakers. They played clubs and honkytonks near the base.
In 1952 he had a new band the Texas Wildcats. His first single for Four Star records was 1953’s “Bummin' Around” a regional hit that got him a weekday and Saturday evening show on WMAL in Virginia. He made several more singles for the label and after he became a TV star they were reissues as Television Favorites (1957 Mercury). Dean’s TV show regularly hosted two new young singers named Patsy Cline and Roy Clark. His down home appeal and good looks landed him a variety show with CBS in 1957. Columbia signed him to record a novelty Christmas song, “Little Sandy Sleighfoot” and it was a minor national hit. His first actual album was Hour of Prayer (1957 Columbia) which sold well, but didn’t prepare anyone for Big Bad John and Other Fabulous Songs and Tales (1961Columbia).
CBS canceled his show just as the single of “Big Bad John” started to take off, a classic case of bad timing, at least for the network. The single hit #1 on the pop and country charts and went gold, and Big Bad John and Other Fabulous Songs and Tales (1961Columbia) was a crossover smash. “Big Bad John,” the song, won 1962’s Best Country & Western Song Grammy. It was the first song Dean ever wrote.
Dean was now a country music star and toured the nation and made a series of albums for Columbia: Portrait of Jimmy Dean (1962 Columbia), which included his tribute to JFK “PT 109,” Everybody's Favorite (1963 Columbia), Songs We All Love Best (1964 Columbia), the Christmas album Christmas Card (1965 Columbia), The First Thing Ev'ry Morning (1965 Columbia), another crossover hit with the title tune going #1 pop and country, and Big Ones (1966 Columbia) his interpretations of country classics.
In 1963 ABC TV gave him a variety show that lasted until 1966, and when it came to an end, he signed with RCA. His albums were solid, but the didn’t sell like they did five years before. He made almost two dozen albums for the label including: Jimmy Dean Is Here! (1967 RCA), a pop crossover bid produced by Chet Atkins, Jimmy Dean Show (1967 RCA), A Thing Called Love (1968 RCA) Speaker of the House (1968 RCA), Country Boy and Country Girl (1970 RCA), Everybody Knows (1970 RCA), another collection of country standards and These Hands (1972 RCA).
After leaving RCA, dean had two last hits, “I.O.U.” from I. O. U. (1976 Casino), an album made up mostly of recitations. “I.O.U.” was a pop crossover success and a remake of “To a Sleeping Beauty” also charted, but after this album he lefty the business to on his sausage making business.
In the late 60s, Dean had bought a hog farm in Texas. When the price of pork fell, he remembered his grandfather’s home made links and started Jimmy Dean Foods. He became the company’s pitch man and made hundreds of commercials for the products he sold. In 1985 the Sara Lee Corporation bought out Jimmy Dean Foods but Dean stayed on as President and spokesperson. Dean’s self effacing and humorous bio, Thirty Years of Sausage, Fifty Years of Ham, written with his wife Donna Meade Dean, was published by Penguin Books in 2004. Dean was inducted into the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame in 2005. In June 2010 Dean passed away. He was 81 years old.
