Jimmy Dean

"Big Bad John" is a country song originally performed by Jimmy Dean, who wrote and composed it.^[1] It was released in September 1961 and by the beginning of November it had gone to number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It won Dean the 1962 Grammy Award for Best Country & Western Recording, and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Song of the Year.

The song and its sequels tell a story typical of American folklore, reminiscent of Paul Bunyan or John Henry. Big Bad John was also the title of a 1990 television movie starring Dean.

Story

The song is about a mysterious and quiet miner who earns the nickname Big John because of his height, weight, and muscular physique – "He stood six foot six and weighed 245". He apparently hails from New Orleans, where, with "a crashin' blow from a huge right hand", he allegedly killed a man in a fight over a Cajun Queen.

One day, a support timber cracks at the mine where John works. The situation looks hopeless until John "grabbed a saggin' timber, gave out with a groan / and like a giant oak tree just stood there alone", then "gave a mighty shove", opening a passage and allowing the 20 other miners to escape. Just as men are about to re-enter with the tools necessary to save him, the mine fully collapses and John is believed dead. The mine itself is never reopened, but a marble stand is placed in front of it, with the words "At the bottom of this mine lies one hell of a man – Big John." (Some versions of the song change the last line to "lies a big, big man" to replace what was considered profane language.)^[2]

Sequels

In October 1961, Dottie West recorded a sequel called "My Big John". This song is told from the point of view of the "Cajun Queen" that drove John away – her search for him, then discovering about his death.

Its 1962 sequel "The Cajun Queen" (written and performed by Dean), describes the arrival of "Queenie", Big John's Cajun Queen, who rescues John from the mine and marries him. Eventually, they have "110 grandchildren". This song's events are more exaggerated than the first, extending the story into the realm of tall tales.

In June 1962, the story concludes with the arrival of "Little Bitty Big John", the flip side to "Steel Men" on Columbia 4-42483, learning about his father's act of heroism.

Reception

In the US, "Big Bad John" spent five weeks at number 1 on the pop chart, two weeks on the country chart, and nine weeks on the Easy Listening chart. It was also a number 2 hit in the United Kingdom.

The song received a Grammy nomination for Record of the Year, while Dean's performance earned him a nomination for Best Male Solo Vocal Performance, and Dean won Grammy Award for Best Country & Western Recording.

Dean's LP Big Bad John and Other Fabulous Songs and Tales, where the song first appeared, reached number 23 in the pop charts. It was the B-side of "I Won't Go Huntin' with You Jake", but it ended up becoming much more popular than the latter.

The song frequently ranks as one of the best country songs of the 1960s, and of all time.

Nikki Sixx, of Mötley Crüe, has stated that "Big Bad John" was one of the songs he heard growing up that influenced him the most, along with "Helter Skelter" by the Beatles.^[3][4]

"Big Bad John" was translated into Hebrew by Israeli lyricist Ehud Manor, under the title "John Biryon" (lit. "Strongman John"), as part of the 1982 Israeli television show "Red River Valley" dedicated to Manor's translations of famous country songs. Performed by Israeli singer and radio personality Dory Ben Ze'ev, it became a hit in Israel.

Chart performance

History

Columbia Records was considering dropping Dean before the release of this million-selling single, as he had not had a hit in years. Dean wrote the beginnings of "Big Bad John" on a flight from New York to Nashville because he realized he needed a fourth song for his recording session. Roy Acuff later helped him polish it.

The inspiration for the character of Big John was an actor, John Minto, whom Dean had met in a summer stock play, Destry Rides Again, who was 6'5" (195.6 cm). Dean would call him "Big John" and grew to like the rolling sound of the phrase.^[10]

Country pianist Floyd Cramer, who was hired to play piano on the song, came up with the idea to use a hammer and a piece of steel instead. This became a distinctive characteristic of the recording.

There are several known recordings of the song by Dean. Notably, there are two different versions of the inscription on the marble stand in front of the mine. The original, "At the bottom of this mine lies one hell of a man—Big John", was deemed too controversial, so in the version that was most often heard on the radio, one could hear "At the bottom of this mine lies a big, big man—Big John" instead. (However, a verse earlier in the song, "Through the smoke and the dust of this man-made hell..." remains intact in both versions, with no apparent controversy.)

The refrain was also used to end the Jimmy Dean song "PT-109", referring to John F. Kennedy.

Parodies

There were multiple contemporary parodies of "Big Bad John".^[11] Cleveland DJ Phil McLean, had a minor hit about a cowardly character, "Small Sad Sam", which was released in December 1961. Country Yossi, an Orthodox Jewish composer and singer, spoofed it as "Big Bad Moish" on one of his children's albums.^[12] There were several gay-themed takes, such as Steve Greenberg's "Big Bruce", and Ben Colder 's "Big Sweet John".^[13] The Barron Knights performed the song "Big Bad Bond" about Alan Bond and the America's Cup Challenge.

A French language translation was made in Quebec Canada and named "Gros Jambon"(Big Ham). It was done as a one-time novelty act by TV show host Réal Giguère but it caught the public's attention and was afterwards recorded by popular demand, selling over 300,000 copies.^[14]

In an episode of The Jimmy Dean Show, Dean and Rowlf the Dog performed a parody called "Big Bad Dog".^[15]

An Icelandic language version was written and performed by Guðmundur Jónsson, named "Jón tröll" (Jón ogre).^[16]

The song was used in a television advertisement for British supermarket chain Sainsbury's for their car insurance featuring a character named "Little Bill". It was also adapted for a series of UK television advertisements starting in 1987 to promote Domestos as "Big Bad Dom".^[17]

References