Hound Dog (song)
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| "Hound Dog" | ||
|---|---|---|
| Image:Image to come | ||
| Single by Big Mama Thornton | ||
| B-side(s) | "Nightmare" [1][2] | |
| Released | March 1953 | |
| Format | single | |
| Recorded | August 13, 1952 | |
| Genre | Rhythm and Blues | |
| Length | 2:52 | |
| Label | Peacock Records | |
| Writer(s) | Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller | |
| Producer(s) | Johnny Otis | |
| Chart positions | ||
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"Hound Dog" is a twelve-bar blues written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and originally recorded by Willa Mae "Big Mama" Thornton. Other early versions illustrate the differences among blues, country, and rock and roll in the mid 1950s. The 1956 remake by Elvis Presley is the best known version. "Hound Dog" was also recorded by 5 country singers in 1953 alone, and over 26 times through 1964. [3]
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[edit] Big Mama Thornton version
The blues singer Big Mama Thornton's biggest hit was Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller's "Hound Dog," which she recorded in 1952. Johnny Otis produced the record, and he received a writing credit on all 6 of the 1953 pressings. This 1953 Peacock Records release (#1612) was number one on the Billboard rhythm and blues charts for seven weeks. [4]
Thornton gave this account of how the original was created to Ralph Gleason. “They were just a couple of kids, and they had this song written on the back of a paper bag.” She added a few interjections of her own, played around with the rhythm (some of the choruses have thirteen rather than twelve bars), and had the band bark and howl like hound dogs at the end of the song. In fact, she interacts constantly in a call and response fashion during a one minute long guitar "solo" by Pete Lewis . Her vocals include lines such as: "Aw, listen to that ole hound dog howl.. OOOOoooow", "Now wag your tail", Aw, get it, get it, get it". The other musicians on this recording are Devonia Williams (piano), Albert Winston (bass), and Leard Bell (drums). [5] The only line that could be considered to have a sexual connotation is, "You ain't lookin' for a woman, all you lookin' for is a home", which is sung once near the end of the song.
The musicians on the recording are listed as "Kansas City Bill & Orchestra".
Thornton's version is a slow, powerful, country blues.
[edit] 1953 Country versions
Peacock released Thornton's version in March 1953. Five versions of the song were recorded on several different labels by "country" groups the very next month (April 1953):
- Billy Starr label shot sample
- Tommy Duncan label shot sample
- Eddie Hazelwood label shot sample
- Jack Turner label shotsample
- Cleve Jackson label shot
[edit] Bernie Lowe, Freddie Bell and the Bellboys
Bernie Lowe suspected that "Hound Dog" could potentially have greater appeal, and asked Freddie Bell of Freddie Bell and the Bellboys to rewrite the lyrics to appeal to a broader radio audience. "Snoopin' round my door" was replaced with "cryin' all the time", and "You can wag your tail, but I ain't gonna feed you no more" was replaced by "You ain't never caught a rabbit, and you ain't no friend of mine." This new version of "Hound Dog" was recorded on Lowe's Teen Records in 1955 ((TEEN 101 with "Move Me Baby" on the flip side,[6] two of four songs the group did with Lowe that year). The regional popluarity of this release, along with the group's showmanship, yielded both a tour, and an engagement in the Las Vegas Sands Hotel's Silver Queen Bar.[7] [8]
[edit] Elvis Presley version
| "Hound Dog" | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
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| Single by Elvis Presley | ||
| B-side(s) | "Don't Be Cruel" | |
| Released | July 13, 1956 | |
| Format | single | |
| Recorded | July 2, 1956, New York | |
| Genre | Rock and roll | |
| Length | 2:15 | |
| Label | RCA Records | |
| Writer(s) | Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller | |
| Producer(s) | Steve Sholes (Elvis Presley) | |
| Chart positions | ||
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| Elvis Presley singles chronology | ||
| "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You" (1955) |
"Hound Dog" (1956) |
"Blue Suede Shoes" (1956) |
Elvis Presley's first, apparently not very successful, appearance in Las Vegas, as an “extra added attraction”, was at the New Frontier from April 23 through May 6, 1955. Freddie Bell and the Bellboys were the hot act in town, and Elvis went to the Sands to take in their show. Elvis not only enjoyed the show, but also loved their reworking of 'Hound Dog' and asked Freddie if he had any objections to him recording his own version. By May 16 Elvis had added “Hound Dog” to his live performances. [9] [10] [11]
Drummer D.J. Fontana put it this way. "We took that from a band we saw in Vegas, Freddie Bell and the Bellboys. They were doing the song kinda like that. We went out there every night to watch them. He'd say: "Let's go watch that band. It's a good band! That's where he heard "Hound Dog", and shortly thereafter he said: "Let's try that song"." [12]
The song was recorded for RCA Victor by Elvis' regular band of Scotty Moore on lead guitar (with Elvis usually providing rhythm guitar), Bill Black on bass, D.J. Fontana on drums and backing vocals from the Jordanaires. Presley recorded this version along with "Don't Be Cruel" and "Any Way You Want Me" on July 2, 1956 at RCA's New York City studio. The producing credit was given to RCA's Steve Sholes, however the studio recordings reveal that Elvis produced the songs himself, which is verified by the band members. "Hound Dog" was introduced a month earlier on The Milton Berle Show on June 5, 1956. His gyrations while performing it elicited some 800,000 letters of protest to Berle. Because of the controversy, Steve Allen, whose show ran opposite to Ed Sullivan's on prime-time television, requested Presley to tone down his version of it when he appeared on his program. When Presley performed on the Allen show, Presley was featured wearing a tuxedo and singing the song to an actual top hat-wearing basset hound.
"Don't Be Cruel" was the B-side of the "Hound Dog" single that was released on July 13, 1956. On September 9, with the song still topping the US charts, Presley sang a short, but cleverly introduced version of it on the first of his three appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show. Presley's first time on the Sullivan show was an event that drew some 60 million TV viewers. Presley's second appearance on Sullivan's program was on October 28th, he sang a full version of it. Again, Presley drew more than 60 million viewers.
Presley's "Hound Dog" sold over 4 million copies in the United States on its first release. It was his best selling single and starting in July 1956, it spent a record eleven weeks at #1. It stayed in the #1 spot until it was replaced by "Love Me Tender", also recorded by Elvis.
In March, 2005, Q magazine placed Presley's version at number 55 in its list of the Q Magazine's 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks. Rolling Stone magazine ranked it #19 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time- the highest ranked of Presley's eleven entries.
This version of 'Hound Dog' is featured in Juddson Laipply's "Evolution of Dance"
[edit] Jimi Hendrix Version
| "Hound Dog" | ||
|---|---|---|
| Image:Image to come | ||
| Single by The Jimi Hendrix Experience | ||
| from the album BBC Sessions | ||
| Released | 1998 | |
| Recorded | 1967/1969 | |
| Genre | Rock | |
| Length | 2:43 | |
| Label | MCA Records | |
| Writer(s) | Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller | |
Another cover of "Hound Dog" appears on BBC Sessions.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by My Prayer |
Cash Box magazine best selling record chart #1 record August 18, 1956–September 8, 1956 |
Succeeded by Don't Be Cruel |
