Jimmy Dean

小簡介他曾是美國電視臺上介紹鄉(xiāng)村新星的系列節(jié)目主持人。
　　吉米·迪安原名Seth Ward，1928年8月10日出生于得克薩斯州的Plainview。他母親曾教過他彈鋼琴，不久他自己學了口琴和手風琴。18歲時他離家參加空軍，駐在靠近華盛頓的空軍基地?；刂杏行┤?，下班后到夜總會去演奏音樂，有一次他們的小提手病了，就讓迪安拉他的手風琴來代替。小提琴手病好了以后，他們還是將迪安留了下來。
　　退役后，迪安在維吉尼亞州Artington的WARL無線電臺謀得一個演奏鄉(xiāng)村音樂的位置。之后被華盛頓ABC電視臺所接納，1958又轉(zhuǎn)到紐約CBS無線聯(lián)網(wǎng)工作。
　　迪安也有著自己的錄音事業(yè)。他1953年由Four Star唱片公司為他錄過一曲《Bumming Around》。1957年他和哥倫比亞唱片公司簽了約。
　　1961年，迪安到納須維爾進行一期錄音，當時他只準備了三支歌曲，為了配合出唱片，一期錄音應當是四支歌曲。迪安將在飛機上剛寫成的的《Big Bad John》加了進來。由于是為了湊數(shù)，《Big Bad John》只放在了唱片的B面。然而他失算了，實際上放在B面的《Big Bad John》卻大受唱片騎師們的青睞，很快就成了一支熱門曲。
　　迪安和哥倫比亞公司還合作出了其它幾支熱門曲。其中一曲《Cajun Queen》還帶動了《Big Bad John》的二次銷售，這連迪安自己也沒想到，因為他本人不是很喜歡這支歌。還有1976年出的《I.O.U.》，這支銷售超越百萬張的歌曲，是為了紀念他母親的。
　　迪安在鄉(xiāng)村音樂上的成就，主要表現(xiàn)在ABC電視臺上1963－1966年的系列節(jié)目上。曾在這個節(jié)目中出現(xiàn)的有Roger Miller、Roy Clark，還有Jim Henson的木偶狗Rowlf。時至今日，迪安仍然經(jīng)常演出，此外在商業(yè)上也投入了相當?shù)呐d趣，如以他本身命名的肉食公司，為大眾提供著豬肉香腸，另外還開有一系列家庭式餐館。by Steve HueyThe average man on the street is most likely to recognize Jimmy Dean from the line of smoked sausage that bears his name, but prior to becoming a spokesman for pork products, Dean was a successful television personality and a country hitmaker noted for his half-spoken narrative songs. Dean was born Seth Ward in Plainview, TX, in 1928, and grew up poor, often working on farms as a boy to help make ends meet. His mother taught him piano starting at age ten, and he went on to pick up guitar, harmonica, and accordion. He joined the Merchant Marines at age 16, and after two years he enlisted in the Air Force, where he first performed publicly with a band called the Tennessee Haymakers. The Haymakers played venues near the Washington, D.C., base at which Dean was stationed, and when he left the service in 1948, he remained in the area and formed a new group called the Texas Wildcats. He eventually scored a record deal with Four Star, and his first hit, Bummin Around, reached the country Top Ten in 1953.During the mid-50s, Dean hosted a local television show devoted to country music, giving important early exposure to regulars Patsy Cline and Roy Clark. The show proved popular enough that CBS offered him his own national program in 1957, though it wasnt as successful. In the meantime, Dean signed with Columbia, and when his show was canceled, he recorded a series of singles for the label that didnt get much attention. That all changed when he recorded the self-penned Big Bad John in 1961. Establishing Deans flair for spoken narratives, the song went to number one on both the pop and country charts. He followed it with a string of popular singles in 1962: Dear Ivan, Little Black Book, and P.T. 109 (the latter about John F. Kennedys war exploits in the South Pacific) all made the country Top Ten, and the latter also made the pop Top Ten. Meanwhile, To a Sleeping Beauty and The Cajun Queen reached the country Top 20; all of Deans hits from this hot streak charted at least in the pop Top 40.In 1963, Dean returned to television as the host of his own daily variety show on ABC. Roger Miller became a regular, helping to jump-start his career, and the show also helped introduce America to another talent: puppeteer Jim Henson, whose regular appearances made Rowlf the piano-playing dog the first Muppet to become a household name. The Jimmy Dean Show ran until 1966, by which point Dean had switched labels to RCA; he returned to the country Top Ten that year with Stand Beside Me, and placed several more minor chart entries through 1971, leaving off with Slowly, a Top 40 duet with Dottie West. In the meantime, he developed an acting career, appearing as a regular on the TV series Daniel Boone during the late 60s, and landing the part of reclusive billionaire Willard Whyte in the 1971 James Bond flick Diamonds Are Forever.Dean had invested most of his showbiz earnings in hog-farming concerns, and founded the Jimmy Dean Meat Company in the late 60s. His sausage recipes soon turned into a popular mass-market product, and while he accepted the occasional guest acting role on TV during the 70s and 80s, he spent most of his time focusing on his burgeoning business. He recorded a bit more for Casino in 1976, landing a final Top Ten country hit that year with I.O.U., a narrative tribute to his mother. Dean eventually sold his meat company to Sara Lee Foods, but remained its chairman and TV spokesman, which kept him active and visible into the new millennium.