Every Moment Has A Song

Jimmy Dean: “Little Black Book” (1962)

Jimmy Dean’s story is nearly as amazing as that of some of his songs’ heroes.

The country star-turned sausage mogul whose 1961 hit “Big Bad John” hit number one on the Country, Pop and Adult Contemporary charts and earned him a Gold Record and a Grammy came from a family so poor that he wore shirts made from sugar sacks and worked in cotton fields at age 6.

In addition to a successful country music career, Jimmy hosted a radio show on a Washington, D.C. station, then a nationally syndicated eponymous TV show on CBS.

Then it was on to other TV programs, including Daniel Boone, Fantasy Island and J.J. Starbuck and even a role in the James Bond movie Diamonds Are Forever.

While eating breakfast at a diner with his brother Don, a large piece of gristle in his mouth inspired his next venture:

“I reached in my mouth and pulled out a piece of gristle about the size of the tip of your little finger. I said to Don, ‘You know, there’s got to be room in this country for a good quality sausage.’”

Dean’s company, formed with said brother, became the number one seller of breakfast sausage in the country, with Dean himself playing the role of folksy TV ad spokesman.

He eventually sold his business to Consolidated Foods for $80 million, and remained philosophical about his success, quoting his mother’s advice: “It’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice.”

Jimmy Dean’s country career was a mix of memorable story songs, profiles of heroic figures real and fictional, heart-tugging sentimentality, and pure folksy fun.

“Little Black Book” is exemplary of the latter category, with lyrics that match the sass of the harmonica-led arrangement and are sung in a cadence perfectly compatible with the chugging of the song’s backbeat.

A simple country song it may be, but it’s also a perfectly cut jewel of the genre.