This Day In History: “Big Bad John” Became the First Country Song to Go Gold
By | December 12, 2022
On December 14, 1961, sixty-one years ago today, Jimmy Dean, the singer and the breakfast sausage pitch man, made music history when his number one song, “Big Bad John,” became the first country music song to achieve gold status. In the days before folks streamed music on Spotify or Pandora, the popularity of a song was determined by the number of records sold. During the early days of rock ‘n roll, Jimmy Dean’s gold status – 500,000 records sold – for a country song was a remarkable feat, one that industry execs thought was impossible for a non-rock, non-jazz, non-big band genre. What was so special about “Big Bad John”? Let’s find out.
Jimmy Dean
Jimmy Dean grew up impoverished in rural Texas during the Great Depression. He later claimed that his poor childhood was the push he needed to be successful in his life. He enjoyed singing at church every Sunday and his mother taught him how to play the piano. On his own, he taught himself to play the guitar, harmonica, and accordion, as well. After serving in the Merchant Marines and the U.S. Air Force, Dean joined a band, the Tennessee Haymakers, and later formed his own band, the Texas Wildcats. His style of music was warm, folksy, and relatable and Dean himself was charming in a simple-man sort of way. He was a high school dropout who liked to perpetuate his ‘country bumpkin’ persona, but Jimmy Dean was, in fact, smart, driving, and had a knack for business.
On the Radio
Jimmy Dean’s success with the Tennessee Haymakers and the Texas Wildcats opened some doors for him. He landed a record deal with Four Star records. In 1953, he recorded his first single, “Bummin’ Around,’ which hit the Top Ten. He continued to write and record his own music, but he was also offered his own country music radio show. He interviewed many of the top country artists of the day on his radio show and helped launch the careers of Patsy Cline and Roy Clark. Dean also learned more about the music industry as he went.
“Big Bad John”
Jimmy Dean envisioned an American folk hero-like character, similar to John Henry or Paul Bunyan, when he wrote “Big Bad John” in the summer of 1961. He recorded and released the tune in September 1961. By early November, it reached Number One on the Billboard Top 100 music chart. Six weeks later, on December 14, 1961, it did something no other country song had ever done before. It went gold, with sales exceeding 500,000 copies. “Big Bad John” wasn’t just a mega-hit in the country genre; it was a crossover hit as well. It was nominated for a Grammy for Song of the Year and Best Male Vocalist of the Year for 1962, but it won the Grammy Award for Best Country & Western Recording.
A Storytelling Song
Jimmy Dean’s smooth voice and the catchy instrumentals of “Big Bad John” were, of course, appealing, but it was the story it told with the lyrics Dean wrote that captured the hearts of fans. Dean had a way with words and his lyrics painted a picture. In the song, listeners learned that a tall, large, muscular drifter named John arrived in town one day and took a job in a local mine. He was a closed-lipped fellow, but rumors spread among the other miners that John had fled New Orleans where he killed a man with a mighty punch during a fight over a woman, who Dean describes as a “Cajun Queen.”
One day, deep in the mine, a wooden support beam cracked and threatened to cave in the mine shaft. While the other miners panicked, the strong and powerful John held up the mine shaft long enough for the twenty or so miners to scramble to safety. On the surface, the miners gathered the equipment they needed to shore up the beam and rescue John, but just as they started to enter the mine, it all collapsed, presumably killing Big Bad John.
The Controversial Ending
Jimmy Dean recorded an alternate ending to “Big Bad John” because some radio stations refused to play the original one. No, he didn’t record an ending in which Big John miraculously survived the mine collapse. The last stanza of the song explains that a marble statue was erected at the site of the cave in with a plaque that read, “At the bottom of this mine lies one hell of a man – Big John.” The use of the word “hell” was considered profanity, therefore it would not see airtime on some radio stations. Dean changed the line to say, “At the bottom of this mine lies a big, big man – Big John.” It was redundant, but it appeased the morality police who shuttered at the word “hell.”
