Before the King, there was the Queen: Big Mama Thornton’s raw, real, and revolutionary ‘Hound Dog’ turns 73
Made famous by Elvis Presley, the legendary song was first recorded by rhythm-and-blues singer Willie Mae ‘Big Mama’ Thornton.
Few people know it, but the date August 13 is a very significant date in the history of rock’n’roll music.
It was on August 13, 1952 that rhythm-and-blues singer Willie Mae Thornton, better known as ‘Big Mama Thornton’, stepped into a record studio to record the first version of a song that would go on to define an era. It was Thornton who would record the first version of ‘Hound Dog’, the legendary song that would go on to be one of the most iconic in Elvis Presley’s back-catalog.
Elvis’ version came four years later, in 1956, when he heard singer Freddie Bell performing a version of the song in Las Vegas in 1956. It was Ball who added lyrics ‘Crying all the time’ and ‘You ain’t never caught a rabbit’, before Elvis made it known the world over.
His version made it to No. 1 in the pop music charts and it stayed there for 11 weeks, making it the King’s longest-running chart-topper.
Big Mama Thornton was born in Montgomery, Alabama and she began working in music at the age of 14. She started her career on the R&B circuit in 1941 but it wasn’t until 1951 that she signed her first record contract with Peacock Records.
Through Peacock, Thornton became connected with songwriters Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller, who also worked with hugely influential acts like the Coasters and the Drifters. Lieber and Stoller reworked a 12-bar country blues song called ‘Hound Dog’ and ushered the classic tune into music history.
The now-iconic song has been through a number of different iterations before becoming the rock’n’roll cornerstone that fans know today. Many people played a part in that process, and Big Mama Thornton was definitely one of them.
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