Tiny Kennedy

Biography

Tiny Kennedy (Jesse Kennedy, Jr., n Chattanooga, TN, December 20, 1925) was an American 1950s blues shouter and actor who disappeared from the music business in the mid-1950s, only to reappear in a couple of low budget movies later on. His hilarious stage name came from the fact that he was so large. "Big and fat" was how Trumpet Records boss Lillian McMurry vividly described him, and she should know: Trumpet recorded the shouter in 1951 and again in 1952. The vocalist, born Jesse Kennedy, Jr.,...

Tiny Kennedy (Jesse Kennedy, Jr., n Chattanooga, TN, December 20, 1925) was an American 1950s blues shouter and actor who disappeared from the music business in the mid-1950s, only to reappear in a couple of low budget movies later on. His hilarious stage name came from the fact that he was so large.

"Big and fat" was how Trumpet Records boss Lillian McMurry vividly described him, and she should know: Trumpet recorded the shouter in 1951 and again in 1952.
The vocalist, born Jesse Kennedy, Jr., had recorded with the great Kansas City pianist Jay McShann for Capitol in 1949 prior to joining Tiny Bradshaw's jumping band as one of its featured front men. After a session with Elmore James in 1951 didn't result in anything releasable, McMurry sent Kennedy up to Sam Phillips's fledgling Memphis Recording Service in September of 1952. Musicians on the session, which produced the fine "Strange Kind of Feelin'," "Early in the Mornin', Baby" (with overdubbed crowing by "Elmer, the Disc Jockey Rooster"), and "Blues Disease," included guitarist Calvin Newborn and saxophonist Richard Sanders. After a 1955 date for RCA's Groove subsidiary, Kennedy disappeared permanently from the R&B scene.
As an actor, he is known for Mr. No Legs (1979) and Fireball Jungle (1969). Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.