We were saddened to learn of the passing of Jimmy Dean, the country singer behind the 1961 hit “Big Bad John” and host of the long-running country music showcase The Jimmy Dean Show (he’s pictured here with the show’s frequent guest muppet, Rowlf).
Jimmy Dean was perhaps best known to this generation as a sausage magnate, and it’s clear from this October 7, 1957 Columbia Records press bio that, even before he entered the sausage business, breakfast had always been a central element of his persona:
Possibly the earliest riser in Arlington, Virginia these mornings is a tall, lanky ex-Texan who gets up at 3:30 a.m, makes his own breakfast (a goulash involving a pint of cream, two eggs, some sugar and a dash of vanilla) and rides off to CBS’ Broadcast House Studios in Washington, D.C. to do “The Jimmy Dean Show”. The early riser — and high-rated star — is Jimmy Dean himself.”
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Press release from SFC’s Artist Name File Collection, picture of Dean with “Rowlf the Muppet Hound” from Thurston Moore’s 1965 book The Pictorial History of Country Music.