When I was a little kid in Iowa, my mom bought a wind-up record player from some one-room school house that was closing its doors. Later on, she bought some record albums. Back then, record albums really were albums, with six 78 rpm records in six sleeves, twelve songs total. One album contained songs by George Morgan. The other, my favorite, was by Little Jimmy Dickens. And on that album, my favorite song was "Country Boy". Even as a little girl, those lyrics made me laugh. Seriously, "the north end of a chicken flying south"? I thought that was the funniest line ever.
Later on, I learned to (sort of) play the guitar and sing. One of the songs I especially liked to sing was "Out Behind the Barn".
Just ask me, I'll sing it for you any time, except that I change a few words so it works for a woman.
He sang at the Grand Ole Opry shortly before Christmas. He died today at the age of 94. What a great run! Who could ask any more?
94 is a great run indeed!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting this. I had no idea that Little Jimmy Dickens had still been alive. I remember his recordings when I was a child. My father was a HUGE country music fan.
ReplyDeleteI was raised on Hank Williams, Hank Snow, Kitty Wells. Strange that I became a classical music pianist....
I had just read of his passing somewhere else. What a great career he had. Love that line about the chicken. My dad was also a huge country music fan.
ReplyDeleteLove all that old country music.
ReplyDeleteI remember "Out Behind the Barn."
ReplyDelete