Portrait of Jimmy Dean, the follow-up to
Big Bad John and Other Fabulous Songs and Tales, offers a similar variety of styles ranging from historical story songs ("PT 109") to pop ballads ("You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Loves You") to straight country ("Kentucky Means Paradise.")
Dean started out in country music before dabbling in pop in the late '50s and finally found his place with vivid story songs like "Big Bad John." It would have been better if he had stuck with the latter kind of material since songs like "Steel Men" and "Pt 109" are much more satisfying than his homely ballads. On the other hand, his narrative streak could take him too far in the other direction, with recitations like
Stuart Hamblen's "Old Pappy's New Banjo" and the mildly humorous "Please Pass the Biscuits." On the other hand, there used to be an audience for recitations and
Dean had hits with a few of them. Several of the songs on
Portrait of Jimmy Dean were minor hits and all are included on Bear Family's anthology
Big Bad John.