The “Golden Hits Of The 60s” 

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LITTLE” JIMMY DICKENS

“MAY THE BIRD OF PARADISE FLY UP YOUR NOSE”

(N. Merritt)

Columbia 43388

No. 15    December4, 1965

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Nineteen sixty-five was the 50th anniversary of the first nude scene ever in a motion picture (Annette

Kellerman in Daughter of the Gods ).  The same precious year,     someone set a world record by baking a

loaf of bread that weighed 20 pounds and measured   20’5″.   Disposable paper dresses were being sold in

cans for two bucks.   And a  4’11” old-timey country singer with a Stetson and glittery stuff all over his duds

treated radio  listeners to such lyrical significa as “May an elephant caress you with his toes/ May your  wife

be plagued with runners in her hose.”

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“May The Bird Of  Paradise Fly Up Your Nose” was the pinnacle of Jimmy Dickens’ crossover career.   It

would be his last major C & W  hit and his only appearance on Billboard’s Hot 100.  In 1983, the little guy

with the tall hat was voted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

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He was born Jimmy Cecil Dickens, the youngest of  13 in Bolt, West Virginia, on       December 19, 1925.

After a stay at the University of West Virginia,  Jim started hawking his vocal talents as “Jimmy the Kid,” on

numerous radio stations.   While  doing a radio spot  for  WKNX  in Saginaw, Michigan, Dickens met Roy

Acuff, who liked the kid’s chops and offered him a guest spot on the Grand Ole Opry.   The Opry  outing

opened doors for Jimmy, who was quickly signed to a contract with Columbia Records.   Country toppers

like “Out Behind The Barn,” “A-Sleeping At The Foot Of The Bed,”  “Hillbilly Fever,” and “Take An Old Cold

Tater And Wait” followed.

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In May of 1989, Little Jimmy and his long-time manager Richard Davis walked away from a  plane crash

that totalled Davis’ airplane.   While not as active as he used to be,  “Little” Jimmy Dickens  still performs

and occasionally waxes wares.