Little Jimmy Dickens ~ The rhinestone cowboy

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Little Jimmy Dickens - 1971

Tomorrow is the birthday of Little Jimmy Dickens who was a whopping 4' 11" tall. I can completely relate to him!      

He was born James Cecil Dickens on December 19, 1920, was known as known as "Tater" but was better known by his stage name, Little Jimmy Dickens.        

Little Jimmy Dickens

date & photographer unknown

He started as a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 1948 and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1983.            
       

Little Jimmy Dickens - 14 November 1955 

photographer unknown 

He was an American country music singer and songwriter famous for his humorous novelty songs, his small size (4'11" [150 cm]), and his rhinestone-studded outfits (which he is given credit for introducing into country music live performances). 

Little Jimmy Dickens

John Edwards Memorial Foundation Records (20001) 

His biggest hit, written by Neal Merritt, was May the Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose which hit the scene in 1965 (link below).      

Little Jimmy Dickens  

AP photo

At the time of his death in Nashville on January 2, 2015, he was the oldest living member of the Grand Ole Opry.    

          

        

Viewfinder links:        

         

         

        

         

Net links:     
       
Discography         
Hollywood Reporter ~ Little Jimmy Dickens Dies at 94
        
         

        

        

YouTube links         

       

         

         

        

         

Styrous® ~ Wednesday, December 18, 2019       

Roy Acuff ~ Caruso of Mountain Music

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Roy Acuff & his Smoky Mountain Boys 

publicity photo

      

Today is  the birthday of Roy Acuff; he would have been 116 years old, if he were still alive. He was known as the "King of Country Music (links below)."     

According to Acuff's New York Times obituary (link below), he was a "protest candidate" for governor in the 1944 primaries on the Republican and Democratic ballot. The reason? In 1943, then-Tennessee governor Prentice Cooper disparaged country music by declining to attend a party feting the Acuff-hosted Grand Ole Opry radio show going nationwide. According to the book Smile When You Call Me a Hillbilly: Country Music's Struggle for Respectability, 1939-1954, in Cooper's eyes, Acuff was making Nashville and Tennessee the "hillbilly capital" of the U.S.      

Smile When You Call Me a Hillbilly:

Four years later, however, the country legend emerged from the primaries as the Republican candidate, on a platform the New York Times noted centered on the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule. "If they don't work in the Capitol, then I don't want to be governor," Acuff reportedly said.

     

In 1991, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts, and given a lifetime achievement award by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the first Country music act to receive the esteemed honor. Roy Acuff died in Nashville on November 23, 1992 of congestive heart failure at the age of 89.        

NY Times - November 24, 1992

     
    
Viewfinder links:     
     
Roy Acuff           
    
      
Net links:     
     
Discography     
Hill Billy Music ~ Roy Acuff and His Smoky Mountain Boys      
NY Times obit          
xroads.viginia.edu ~ Caruso of Mountain Music      
     
YouTube links    
     
   
    
     
       
   
Styrous ~ Sunday, September 15, 2019            
   
     
   
    
   
     

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