Country singer and entrepreneur Jimmy Dean dead at 81

[Dennis Donovan]

http://www.wtvr.com/news/wtvr-jimmy-dean-obit,0,2360381.story

Central Virginia - Jimmy Dean dies at the age of 81.

The country music legend, singer, television host, actor, and businessman died Sunday night inside his Henrico home overlooking the James River.

His wife, Donna, spoke to CBS 6; She was grieving and said the following:

"I definitely need my privacy right now, and am not available for interviews. My husband died of natural causes, and funeral services are pending".

Donna Dean tells CBS 6 her husband died at 7:54 p.m. Sunday night.

Four months ago, Dean was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Dean had a number one hit "Big Bad John" back in 1961.
</snip>

Of course, we also know him as the Jimmy Dean of "Jimmy Dean Pork Sausage" fame.

Rest in peace and thanks for breakfast, Jimmy...:(

[Mudoria]

RIP Jimmy

[Botany]

1. he is a link to the past

[cherokeeprogressive]

2. You're punny! I just spit my wine all over the keyboard. RIP Jimmy and thanks for breakfast... n/t

[CTyankee]

56. wine with breakfast? How do you make it thru the day?

[Dennis Donovan]

6. DUzy! That is, if we still had DUzys...

:rofl:

[Berry Cool]

10. Bob Evans says "Welcome, pal." n/t

[DemoTex]

13. Never met Jimmy, but I knew Buck Owens.

Jimmy was from Siever, Tenn. Buck was from Sherman, Tex. I think Buck died in 2006. I taught Buck in the FlightSafety Mitsubishi MU-2 program, years ago.

[Blue_In_AK]

3. Does anyone else remember

that the Muppets got their start on the old Jimmy Dean Show, with Rowlf the Dog?

[XOKCowboy]

5. No Kidding?

I remember watching it but don't remember the Muppets.

[XOKCowboy]

9. OK Thank you YouTube...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-dHo7sIIb4

I plead short term memory since the show was from '63 to '66.

[Blue_In_AK]

21. Thanks for the link.

That was fun to watch. :)

[XOKCowboy]

23. Boots Randolph was a guest....

and Camel cigarettes were the sponsor. Brought back lots of memories for me also.

[blondeatlast]

16. Yes, indeed it was one of my very first memories. As a toddler,

I loved the show. RIP, childhood friend.

[verges]

26. My first thought nt

[XOKCowboy]

4. Sad....

RIP Jimmy. I'll be having a couple of your sausage, egg and cheese croissants tomorrow in your honor.

[Ozymanithrax]

7. Another one of those faces from my childhood gone...

Damn but time goes by.

[CatWoman]

11. was thinking the same thing

:(

[doc03]

8. Big Bad John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bx59fmP7jYE

[Berserker]

19. On the flip side

was I won't go Huntin with you Jake but I'll go chasin women.
My Favorite.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6Uq5VHGuPA

[doc03]

46. Thanks for posting, I don't remember ever hearing that one n/t

[Gman]

12. Well, Dang Me

[verges]

28. I think that was Roger Miller. nt

[Gman]

32. Yup..... yes, you are correct

never mind!

[Subdivisions]

14. Farewell, Jimmy. Thanks for everything. n/t

[hlthe2b]

15. Ahh, I remember him for "Big John" (Big Bad John)

RIP, Mr. Dean

[Bluebear]

17. LINK?

:)

[blondeatlast]

18. ...

;)

I kinda think he'd appreciate that!

[Bluebear]

38. =)

[Dennis Donovan]

20. How about several of them?

;)

[Rhiannon12866]

36. I only bought Jimmy Dean sausage once...

I tried making sausage and gravy for someone who said he liked it. :)

And my father was right:
<snip>
While running the company with his brother, Dean pitched his product on TV, singing of sausage "from the whole hawg, not just the leavin's." Amazingly, those leavin's didn't go to waste, either. The inner skins were donated to burn treatment centers...
<snip>

http://www.neatorama.com/tag/conway-twitty/

[blondeatlast]

43. Wow, that's really cool. Like I said upthread, he seemed genuine.

In fact, he reminded me of my dad.

[Rhiannon12866]

58. From what I've read here, he was a very nice guy and he's of that generation...

And though he doesn't remind me of my Dad, it dawned on me that they'd be the same age, except I lost my Dad in 1990. ;(

[gmoney]

22. See? Eating sausage and eggs and stuff will lead to...

living to be 81? Well, dang me indeed!

And Bob Evans only lived to be 89. Breakfast meats are a menace to society!

:sarcasm:

[XOKCowboy]

25. LOL +1

Take that you vegans! :hide:

[Rhiannon12866]

34. Years ago, my Dad told me that the reason that Jimmy Dean started his sausage company

Was to harvest the pig epidermis for use in skin grafts to help burn victims. Actually, I could look it up, but if that's the case, he was also a humanitarian, of sorts. :(

On edit: It's true:
<snip>
While running the company with his brother, Dean pitched his product on TV, singing of sausage "from the whole hawg, not just the leavin's." Amazingly, those leavin's didn't go to waste, either. The inner skins were donated to burn treatment centers...
<snip>

http://www.neatorama.com/tag/conway-twitty/

[Scruffy1]

41. Yes, Jimmy was the real thing

He started his sausage business in Osceola, Iowa and I have known quite a few that knew and worked for him. Later he sold the brand to Beatrice Foods and later on they decided to close the plant. Jimmy tried to but back the plant to keep the jobs there but Beatrice decided it was in their best interest to just leave it empty. Corporate America sucks. Or for that matter the Corporate world. He was very kind and always had a good word for everyone. Rest In peace.

[Rhiannon12866]

42. Thanks so much for the first hand account.

I'm sure that much of his success was because he was genuine. It's a trite thing to say, but they don't make them like that anymore. He'll certainly be missed. :(

[CTyankee]

57. My friend Giovanna complains that Americans eat sausage for breakfast and it's bad for you.

In Italy, sausage is never eaten at breakfast. I replied that I loved everything Italian except those cornettos and other little sweet stuff they serve at breakfast...all that sugar can't be any good in the morning...She had to take my point about the sugar...

[GreenPartyVoter]

24. I never realized he was a singer.

[Blue_In_AK]

27. Seriously?

That's what he was first. When I first heard of Jimmy Dean sausages, I thought it must be a different person. :) Before I saw the ads, of course.

[Bitwit1234]

29. Way back in Maryland in the 1950's

Jimmy Dean was one of the C&W wanta be's. He played at a 4th of July celebration in the little town of Laurel, along with Roy Clark and Buck Owens. Who in the world would have thought they would all go on to be the success they were.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

51. Mark Opsasnick

Mark Opsasnick is an author who has written about the history of country music and rock music in the 50s and 60s in the DC area. Sure that he had written about Jimmy Dean, I Googled him. Here is an obituary in which he is quoted. I think you'll like it.

Country Music Great Preferred to Stay Out of the Limelight

Country Music Great Preferred to Stay Out of the Limelight

By Matt Schudel
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, December 21, 2008

On one unforgettable night in the 1950s, four future country music superstars were sitting in a Bladensburg honky-tonk called the Dixie Pig.

Three of the four -- Jimmy Dean, Roy Clark and Patsy Cline -- either lived in Washington or regularly performed here. The fourth was the young prince of the country fiddle, Charlie Daniels.

All four had all come to listen to a guitarist who may have been the finest pure musician of them all, an affable Virginian named Chick Hall. He had come to Washington from Norfolk in 1948 and in short order became a local legend.

"Chick Hall was the king of Bladensburg," Washington music historian Mark Opsasnick said. "This guy was so good that all the other musicians gravitated toward him. Your night was not complete until you went out to see Chick Hall and his band."

"Chick was one of the most creative and innovative guitar players around," recalled Jimmy Dean, the breakfast sausage king who had two country music variety shows on network television.
....

When Mr. Hall wasn't leading his own trio at the Surf Club, he would turn the bandstand over to such stars as Cline, Jim Reeves and Lefty Frizzell.

During those heady postwar years, when country music was gaining mainstream acceptance, Washington was somewhat improbably at the center of the boom. Southerners had gravitated to the capital for wartime work, and they brought their music with them.
....

and another:

Nightwatch -- Live

Nightwatch -- Live
Hosted by Eric Brace
Washington Post Nightwatch columnist
Friday, August 23, 2002; 1 p.m. EDT

This week, Eric’s guest is local author and historian Mark Opsasnick. From 1993 to 1997, Opsasnick interviewed hundreds of folks about Washington D.C.'s musical past - specifically its country and early rock'n'roll past - which led to his 1997 book "Capitol Rock." This year, a revised and reprinted edition was released. A Prince George's County resident for all his 40 years, Opsasnick first became interested in the Washington area's cultural history while club hopping in College Park in the late '70s, listening to folks like Danny Gatton and Nils Lofgren and hearing about local legends like Link Wray and Roy Buchanan. As he delved into his research in the Washingtoniana Room of the Martin Luther King Library, Opsasnick discovered the lost worlds of Teen Clubs, biker bars and country honky-tonks, and he makes those long-gone days come alive in “Capitol Rock.”
....

Riverdale, Md.: Re: On the Town, Aug. 23, 2002. First, the 4400 Club was located in Brentwood, Md., not NE D.C. I didn't start hitting the "44" until the early '50s but it was not at the "44" where the famous country performers played, but next door at Waldrops. Waldrops had two floors with bands playing at the same time. The "44" was famous for its pizza (far better than Ledo's original). The "44's" demise was due to a new major warehouse built next door. Jimmy Comber sold out and then opened a place on University Boulevard and Riggs Road across from the Tick-Tock.

Mark Opsasnick: You are correct. The 4400 Club was located at 4400 Rhode Island Avenue in Brentwood, Maryland. Waldrop's operated next door at 4318 Rhode Island Avenue from 1942-1955 and offered big bands and exotic dancers for years. In 1954 they began booking country music bands, with Jimmy Dean and the Texas Wildcats playing there once a week throughout the fall months. Waldrop's next became Jimmy Comber's Supper Club and operated throughout the late 50s with a mixture of entertainment, including some rock and roll in the basement club known as "The Submarine Room."
....

Washington, DC: Hi Mark & Eric,

Currently at the Washingtoniana Division of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, we have an exhibit of Elvis photographs from the Washington Star collection. One of them is a posed studio shot of Elvis on the set of "Town and Country Jubilee" with Jimmy Dean, taken at the WMAL television studio on Conn. Ave. on March 14, 1955. Do you know if there are any surviving Kinetiscopes of that broadcast?

Jerry A. McCoy
Librarian
Washingtoniana Division

Mark Opsasnick: I had a number of people search for such material and we could find absolutely nothing. That posed shot of Elvis is a mystery in itself, as the person who took the photo could never be determined. I wish we had the video technology of today back in the golden era of the 50s - 60s.

[Laughing Mirror]

53. Biker bars and honky tonks

You heard a lot of southern and country and hillbilly accents on the streets and in the schools of DC back in those days. And there was music everywhere.

[Bolo Boffin]

30. I just saw him in Treme a couple of episodes ago!

He was the restaurant owner's father.

Second death connected to Treme! A writer with the show died right before the show's premiere...

ETA: Well, that's not right. Gary Grubbs is playing Richard Desautel, not Jimmy Dean. My bad.

[flvegan]

31. I just have to post this phone complaint, because it's comedy gold.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4RNb3tt0LM

[JVS]

37. Did you see the follow up?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Go3Uvxdatj8&feature=fvw

[Rhiannon12866]

39. Yikes! LOL.

Poor beleaguered Jimmy sold the company in 1984, though he continued on as pitchman for another 20 years...

http://www.neatorama.com/tag/conway-twitty/

[blondeatlast]

45. OMG--tears! "Goodbye..." Oh, geez!

:rofl:

[lumberjack_jeff]

50. "I'm gonna EAT, goddammit.!" n/t

[SeattleGirl]

33. RIP, Jimmy.

You were a big part of my childhood.

Rest well, sir.

[Horse with no Name]

35. I hope they don't hold his wake in the same place they make the sausage

That would be a terrible mistake....

RIP Mr. Dean.

[Confusious]

40. Noboby metioned "Dimonds are Forever"

Dean: "Is that Burt shooting at us?"

Connery: "yea" (Shoots and kills Burt)

Dean: (behind Connery, so he can't see) "Tell him he's FIRED!"

[DiverDave]

44. Bummer, my granny and papo watched his show

when I was a kid.

[pipi_k]

47. A story...Jimmy Dean and the Sleeping Beauty

Years ago I recall, at a very young age, that certain songs made my father sad.

One of them was Jimmy Dean's "To A Sleeping Beauty". He would sit and listen to that on the record on the Victrola and there was always this dreamy, sort of melancholy look on his face. Being a child, I didn't know why.

I grew up. Things happened. I didn't see my dad for a number of years. In 2001 I found a Jimmy Dean cassette tape with that song on it and sent it to my dad for Christmas, with a note saying that I always noticed him listening to it when I was a child. Yeah, it's probably a "sappy" song, but it meant something to him.

In January of 2002 he called to thank me, and he was overcome with emotion. He was touched that "someone" noticed what he did back then. I wondered if he ever felt unappreciated...maybe he did.


Anyway, by October of that same year, he was on life support in the hospital for ten days before he died. I wasn't able to be there, but I did ask a favor of my stepmom...I asked her to please bring that tape to the hospital and hook it up to a cassette player with headphones and play it for him as he lay unconscious.

She did. Even though he was in a coma, his face showed emotion.

My dad was a complicated person. He only hugged me once in my whole life, and I hugged him once...when he was in the hospital after a stroke in the late 1980s.


He died less than a week after my stepmom played "his" song.

I think he died knowing that I did love him, no matter what happened when we kids were younger. He did his best and I know he loved us, although it was hard for him to show it.


RIP Dad.

RIP Jimmy Dean.

[Blue Owl]

48. Thanks for the saursage, Jimmy D

n/t

[bikebloke]

49. Daniel Boone

Before sausages, I remember him in musical variety shows, then Daniel Boone.

[johnnie]

52. Wasn't that Fess Parker? n/t

[Laughing Mirror]

54. Dean was Fess Parker's sidekick, Josh Clements, from 1968 to 1970

He wasn't Daniel Boone.

[bikebloke]

55. Fess Parker played Boone.

Jimmy Dean played some other bloke with a tricorn hat and mate of Boone's.