| BIG BAD JOHN is a country song originally performed by Jimmy Dean and composed by Dean and Roy Acuff. Released in September 1961, by the beginning of November it went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and won Dean the 1962 Grammy Award for Best Country & Western Recording. * The Jordainares sing backup on this song. * Floyd Cramer was to play piano backup but suggested that a hammer hitting steel would be better! Floyd has no ego problem. Everyone wanted this to be a big hit for Jimmy, one he badly needed. Visit SongFacts for some interesting tidbits about the song: ngfacts.com/detail.php?id=1804 Other artists that covered Big Bad John: (source: Wikipedia) Johnny Cash Jim Ed Brown Henson Cargill Charlie Daniels Sammy Davis, Jr. Deadbolt Tex Williams Tennessee Ernie Ford --LYRICS-- Big John Big John Every morning at the mine you could see him arrive He stood six-foot-six and weighed two-forty-five Kinda broad at the shoulder and narrow at the hip Everybody knew you didn't give no lip to Big John Big John Big John Big Bad John Big John Nobody seemed to know where John called home He just drifted into town and stayed all alone He didn't say much, kinda quiet and shy If ya spoke at all, ya just said hi to Big John Somebody said he came from New Orleans Where he got in a fight o'er a cajun queen And a crashin' blow from a huge right hand Sent a Lousianna fella to the promised land, Big John Big John Big John Big Bad John Big John Then came the day at the bottom of the mine When a timber cracked and men started cryin' Miners were prayin' and hearts beat fast And everybody thought they'd breathed their last, 'cept John Through the dust and the smoke of this man-made hell Walked a giant of a man that the miners knew well Grabbed the saggin' timber and gave out with a groan And like a giant oak tree, just stood there alone, Big John Big John Big John Big Bad John Big John And with all of his strength he gave a mighty shove Then a miner yelled out, there's a light up above And twenty men scrambled from a would-be grave now there's only one left down there to save, Big John With jacks and timbers they started back down Then came that rumble way down in the ground As smoke and gas belched outta the mine Everybody knew it was the end of the line for Big John Big John Big John Big Bad John Big John Now, they never re-opened that worthless pit They just placed a marble stand in front of it These few words are written on that stand, At the bottom of this mine lies one Hell of a man, Big John Big John Big John Big Bad John Big John Big John Big Bad John Big John The song and its sequel 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. |
