Reception
In the US, "Big Bad John" spent five weeks at number one on the pop chart, two weeks on the country chart, and ten weeks on the Easy Listening chart. It was also a number-two hit in the United Kingdom.
The song received a Grammy nomination for Record of the Year, while Dean's performance of the song earned him a nomination for Best Male Solo Vocal Performance.
Dean's LP Big Bad John and Other Fabulous Songs and Tales, where the song first appeared, reached number twenty-three in the pop charts. The song was the B-side of "I Won't Go Huntin' with You Jake", but ended up becoming much more popular than the latter.
Read more about this topic: Big Bad John
Famous quotes containing the word reception:
“Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody’s face but their own; which is the chief reason for that kind of reception it meets in the world, and that so very few are offended with it.”
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745)
“I gave a speech in Omaha. After the speech I went to a reception elsewhere in town. A sweet old lady came up to me, put her gloved hand in mine, and said, “I hear you spoke here tonight.” “Oh, it was nothing,” I replied modestly. “Yes,” the little old lady nodded, “that’s what I heard.””
—Gerald R. Ford (b. 1913)
“He’s leaving Germany by special request of the Nazi government. First he sends a dispatch about Danzig and how 10,000 German tourists are pouring into the city every day with butterfly nets in their hands and submachine guns in their knapsacks. They warn him right then. What does he do next? Goes to a reception at von Ribbentropf’s and keeps yelling for gefilte fish!”
—Billy Wilder (b. 1906)