Jimmy Dickens was born in West Virginia in December 1920 and
died, having had a long and productive singing life- in the new year of 2015. (2nd
January).
He came from a poor family, and was determined not to become
a miner, like his father. He had seen the hardship of life in the mines.
Jimmy was a very short man, not quite 5 feet tall. He adopted the name “Little Jimmy Dickens” in
reference to his short stature. Some of
his novelty songs referred to his size, such as “Take an Old cold Tater and
wait” Another one was “I’m Little but I’m loud.”
He dropped out of college, to start a singing career, and in
1948 he was spotted by Roy Acuff of Nashville and moved there. He was one of
the first singers to wear the loud glittery rhinestone suits that were adopted by many later
performers. He became friends with Hank Williams and Minnie Pearl, and Hank
gave him the nickname Tater.
His first marriage ended in divorce, and he remarried a
little later. His second wife died in an
automobile accident in the 1960s and he then married his third wife Mona Evans,
who survived him.
He was a comedian as well as a singer and was well loved. He appeared with Brad Paisley and as a host
at the Opry. He went on performing and
talking to his fans until a few days before his final illness
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