Jimmy Dean, enter Hall of Fame

Jimmy Dean, Don Williams enter Hall of Fame


Published by Peter Cooper on October 24, 2010





Two country music innovators — one a shy master of subtle emotion, the other a loquacious,
camera-ready force of nature — entered the Country Music Hall of Fame Sunday night at the Hall’s
Medallion Ceremony.

Don Williams, the quiet one, was unable to attend his own induction because of a bout with
bronchitis. Jimmy Dean, who brought country music into American households with hits including “Big,
Bad John” and with television shows that introduced such talents as Roy Clark, Mel Tillis and Connie
Smith, died in June, after hearing of his pending induction but before his Hall entry could be made
official.

And so it was left for those present at the Hall’s Ford Theater, including Hall of Famers Clark, Bill
Anderson, Jim Foglesong, The Jordanaires and Charlie McCoy, singer-songwriter Shawn Camp,
country artists Joey Rory, Trace Adkins and Chris Young, bluegrass acts Dailey & Vincent and The
Del McCoury Band and Grammy queen Alison Krauss, to pay bittersweet homage to absent influences.

Two other country forces, Ferlin Husky and Billy Sherrill, also entered the Hall in 2010; their Medallion
Ceremony was held in May. The Hall hosts the invitation-only Medallion events, underwritten by the
Country Music Association, in order to dedicate full evenings to celebrate accomplishments of its
newest members and to provide official inductions.

Williams, whose gently loping songs were staples of 1970s and ’80s country radio, ranks among
country’s most reclusive celebrities. Though he has long kept journalists and Music Row’s machinery
at arm’s length, his songs are most often about people yearning for or appreciating connections.

Krauss, the McCoury Band and Young performed in Williams’ honor, underscoring Williams’ impact on
generations of artists. Hall director Kyle Young spoke of Williams’ rise from a member of the folksy
1960s act The Pozo Seco Singers to a solo artist of merit and consequence. Williams’ start in
Nashville came as a member of Jack Clement’s Jack Music roster of songwriters, but the songs he
penned in the early 1970s weren’t recorded by others, and Williams wound up recording the songs himself.

The singer moved from Clement’s JMI label to Jim Foglesong’s Dot Records, then to Dot purchaser
ABC, and to ABC purchaser MCA, and finally to Capitol and RCA. Between 1974 and 1985, he
recorded 16 No. 1 hits. His inventive use of rhythm (often thanks to percussionist Kenny Malone)
helped bring country music to national and international markets where the music had previously
failed to impress.

Williams’ Sunday absence caused him to miss what would have likely been a nerve-wracking and
unusual task for him: talking about himself. Dean was much more comfortable with that sort of thing.
His assertiveness and ease with public speaking were key components in a Hall of Fame career.
Anderson paraphrased Roger Miller in saying “The only thing bigger than Jimmy’s voice was his
heart,” though his guile and gumption rated high, as well.

Raised in Texas, Dean joined the Merchant Marines, where he marked his 17th birthday in Peru. He
later served in the Army Air Corps, now known as the U.S. Air Force. In the early 1950s, while living
near Washington, D.C., he began making records, and in 1953 he notched a country hit with
“Bumming Around.”

Within two years, he was hosting a local television show, and by 1957 he was on national TV. Not
content to serve as a passive, smiling host, Dean fought behind the scenes to get country artists
bookings and a dignified presentation. Once, when guest-hosting The Mike Douglas Show, he
wanted to have Mel Tillis as a guest and was told he could not because Tillis was a stutterer.

“Jimmy said, ‘If you can’t use him, you can’t have me,’ ” Tillis said. “And I went on, and the next thing
I knew I’m doing shows with all kinds of people. Jimmy was the first to have me on major television.”

Dean was of similar help to Clark, Roger Miller, Connie Smith, Buck Owens and others, and he
recorded his own indelible hit with the 1961 spoken-word story-in-song “Big, Bad John.”

“He kicked doors down,” said Anderson, an old friend Dean hand-picked to induct him into the Hall.

Indeed. Williams made it through doors as well, though he preferred to open them gently. For both
men’s efforts, the Hall’s doors opened Sunday night.


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