There were two generations of Tiny Littles in this miniature musical dynasty.
The elder, Irvine “Tiny” Little (1902-82) was originally from Goldfield, Iowa, but eventually settled in Worthington, Minnesota. A saxophonist, he joined The Baldy Wetzel Orchestra, which toured the midwest with Dubinsky Brothers Tent Shows, circa 1919. In 1927 he formed his own seven piece combo Tiny Little’s Toe Teasers, which had expanded to a full orchestra by the ’30s. The band toured the midwest in a special bus, which was advertised to be the first of its kind (with sleeping accomodations) in the world. In 1947 the group disbanded, at which point Tiny sold its assets and joined the Eddie Skeets Orchestra as sax player and booker. He was making music professionally until 1971, when a stroke finally sidelined him.
The original Tiny Little was but a regional successl it was his son who became a national phenom for a time. Dudley “Big Tiny” Little (1930-2010) was a piano player from the age of five, and also played the double bass and the bass horn. He performed professionally with his father’s bands as a teenager and young adult, at which point he received his nickname, derived from the fact that he had grown to be larger than his father. Big Tiny organized Air Force bands for a time and toured the Far East for a time.
Big Tiny developed a skill for playing old time honky tonk and ragtime piano, and this is what got him booked as a regular on The Lawrence Welk Show in 1955. Tiny got his solo spots on the program, and also played with the orchestra. He stayed with the show until 1959, by which time he had become a solo star, releasing a dozen LP albums between 1957 and 1964 with titles like Honky Tonky Piano (1959), Christmas with Big Tiny Little (1961), and (capitalizing on the folk craze) Honky Tonk Hootenanny (1964). Joe Franklin began using Tiny’s version of “Twelfth Street Rag” for his TV show’s theme music shortly after its 1959 release. Tiny’s Lawrence Welk fame allowed him to be booked regularly in Las Vegas, and to get bookings on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Dinah Shore Chevy Show, The Dean Martin Show, The Joey Bishop Show, and George Jessel’s Here Come the Stars. By his later years, he was not just a nostlgia act, but a nostalgia act for nostalgia acts.
There is a terrific resource for information about both Tiny Littles. I hesitate to link you directly to it because I don’t like to link to social media, but it’s easy enough to find. It’s a Facebook page, titled “Story of Tiny Little – Father/Son from Worthington, Minnesota”. Clearly some relative’s labor of love it features what looks to be hundreds of photos, press clippings, and ephemera (posters, theatre programs, ads) related to both men. The material was posted randomly, so you can’t get a chronological account from perusing it, but all anyone would need to tell their whole story is all there. Just Google it!
For more about vaudeville consult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, And please stay tuned for my upcoming Electric Vaudeville: A Century of Radio and TV Variety.