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Big Mama Thornton — Hound Dog
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AndyJ
(Oregon)
Posted: Mar 30, 2013 - 15:06
 
Sounds like friends or at least friendly strangers playing and drinking in a makeshift bar on a sultry afternoon...
Just walk in and get a beer and maybe  borrow a guitar from behind the bar...
good place to be while the heat of the day passes 

Abraxas336
Posted: Feb 27, 2013 - 04:10
 
{#Dancingbanana}

fredriley
(Nottingham, UK)
Posted: Dec 26, 2012 - 12:32
 
 gallardo wrote:
Oh yeah! The very best! Like it better that Elvis version, 

I wonder how many know that Elvis sung a cover, not his own composition. I for sure didn't until I heard this, and IMO it's a definite improvement on Elvis's cover. Plus the lyrics make a heck of a lot more sense when sung by a woman about a man. Thanks for digging out this gem and enlightening me, RP. 8 from the Nottingham jury.

johnjconn
(chicago land)
Posted: Jul 22, 2012 - 09:11
 
yes

gallardo
Posted: Apr 18, 2012 - 09:05
 
Oh yeah! The very best! Like it better that Elvis version,

Respectfully speaking



cc_rider
(Austin Texas. Y'all.)
Posted: Dec 13, 2011 - 09:43
 
 Clark_Novato wrote:
Great rendition.  First time I heard it.  This is what I love about RP.
 
Maybe the best. I think Lieber and Stoller wrote it with her in mind. Everybody else is a pale imitation.

Get it? Pale? Elvis was white.


ozzie1313
Posted: Dec 13, 2011 - 09:41
 
Wonderful.  In retrospect, as I get older, I learn to like lots of artist I summarily dismissed at a younger age: Elvis isn't one of them. He didn't touch Big Mama with his version.

Clark_Novato
(Novato, CA)
Posted: Dec 13, 2011 - 09:39
 
Great rendition.  First time I heard it.  This is what I love about RP.

Poacher
(Brighton, UK)
Posted: Dec 13, 2011 - 09:39
 
 bam23 wrote:
Truly, whatever one thinks about Elvis, his attempt at this song is so much less authentic.
 
Exactly. I never rated Elvis and never could understand the fuss. However I will concede he opened the door through to rock and roll. . .  

fitzworld
(The Big A)
Posted: Aug 09, 2011 - 08:16
 
Makes Elivis sound like a white guy.

Tana
(Lancaster, PA)
Posted: Aug 09, 2011 - 07:48
 
Absofrickinlutely amazing. Love the little barkin' and howlin' tucked inside.

Cynaera
(South of Neanderthal)
Posted: May 06, 2011 - 17:30
 
 nagsheadlocal wrote:
The real thing. The whole cloth. The well from which all else springs.

Man, imagine seeing this live at about 2 am in a roadhouse somewhere in the South, the whole place shaking. 
 
{#Clap} This is SO good....


kilroyjoe3
(Farmington, NM)
Posted: May 06, 2011 - 17:29
 
Volume up... WAY up!

jimmpypowder
Posted: Mar 04, 2011 - 14:35
 
They should have added this song to the "A Soldier's Story " soundtrack.

socalhol
(Seattle)
Posted: Mar 04, 2011 - 14:34
 
 lmic wrote:

Boy, this song makes a lot more sense when sung by a woman! {#Clap}
 
True that!  this is smokin' - love it


WonderLizard
(2,755.46 mi. due east of Paradise)
Posted: Apr 21, 2010 - 13:28
 
If this song were recorded today by any good blues band, the drumming would be heavy on the 4/4 time and the backbeat. What I love about this version is the rolling drum line—something Greg Elmore adopted with Quicksilver's Bo Diddly remakes ("Mona," "Who Do You Love"). Mick Fleetwood's early work also incorporates this style. Very cool.

nagsheadlocal
(North Carolina, the new New Jersey)
Posted: Apr 21, 2010 - 13:24
 
The real thing. The whole cloth. The well from which all else springs.

Man, imagine seeing this live at about 2 am in a roadhouse somewhere in the South, the whole place shaking. 

gumbo73039
(Devon, England)
Posted: Feb 17, 2010 - 08:56
 
Yassss! Loving this version!

perryandcaro
(Down on the farm in SW France)
Posted: Dec 16, 2009 - 13:21
 
Love this. It's got real guts. Anyone heard the Etta James version? Same style, but the rhythm has a little more swing.

nalle
(Malmo, Sweden)
Posted: Dec 16, 2009 - 13:20
 
She know´s what´s she talking about! What do you do think about it "Lrobby99"


calypsus_1
Posted: Dec 04, 2009 - 12:08
 

Big Mama Thornton ft. Buddy Guy - "Hound Dog" Live (1965)

"  "Hound Dog" is a twelve-bar blues written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and originally recorded by Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton in 1952. 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. This is the version that is #19 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time"





calypsus_1
Posted: Dec 02, 2009 - 17:03
 

John Lennon - Live in New York City (1972)

"Hound Dog"

" Actually, it was Big Mama Thornton's song before it was anybody else's. Lieber and Stoller wrote it.
Love Lennon's response when he was pressed for a quote when Elvis died: "He died when he went into the army."



mrdak
(Middle GA)
Posted: Nov 15, 2009 - 03:48
 
right own.......right own......right own!!!

CortezTheKiller
(Vancouver, B.C.)
Posted: Oct 14, 2009 - 16:30
 
Great—another weird cover.

Kidding! 9 from me.

helgigermany
(Germany)
Posted: Sep 13, 2009 - 03:24
 
I like this! Keeps me moving !!!Rated it a 7 but i am going to 8, i guess!



Misterfixit
(Nashville)
Posted: Aug 12, 2009 - 15:24
 
Yeow!

shawshank
(Maryland)
Posted: Jun 10, 2009 - 04:47
 
{#Dancingbanana} oh yeah!!!


Mugro
(Lane Village, Red Sox Nation)
Posted: Mar 07, 2009 - 08:37
 
I just kicked myself for having rated this a 7. It is clearly NOT a 7. {#Beat}
9

bam23
(Berkeley)
Posted: Feb 03, 2009 - 19:38
 
Truly, whatever one thinks about Elvis, his attempt at this song is so much less authentic.

redstorm
(East Coast!........ Lou!)
Posted: Jan 03, 2009 - 04:11
 

another reason to love RP! i had never heard this before,(much to my chagrin) and it is a much better song sung by a woman....drink up big mama! {#Cheers} solid 8 the roots of rock and roll.....are so deep


Lyndra_Ski
Posted: Dec 02, 2008 - 14:05
 
Learn about the blues.

 zipper wrote:
I cannot comprehend how this was ranked by anyone anywhere from 1 to 6.
WTF is wrong with you people?
 



Danimal174
(Upstate South Carolina)
Posted: Sep 30, 2008 - 13:31
 
Love this version!! The style of music & Big Mama's style of singing fits it better than Elvis's version, IMO.

{#Bananapiano}


lmic
(Sacramento, CA)
Posted: Sep 30, 2008 - 13:16
 
 Alifreckles50 wrote:
Elvis who?
 
Boy, this song makes a lot more sense when sung by a woman! {#Clap}

Alifreckles50
(Frederick, MD)
Posted: Jul 29, 2008 - 07:37
 
Elvis who?

AphidA
Posted: May 27, 2008 - 07:57
 
that sucked
Dragonfly_Launch
(Conway, Ar)
Posted: Jan 22, 2008 - 10:15
 
cc_rider wrote:
Story about Willie Mae:
A buddy of mine, now deceased, was one of the unofficial chauffers for The Armadillo. He picked up Big Mama at the airport and took her around town all weekend. Made dinner at his house, etc.
She drank up every drop of alcohol in his house: first the liquor and beer, then the cough medicine, then the vanilla extract, then the Lavoris. He had to restock the entire house after she left. Said she was a wonderful woman though; loved his home cooking even though he was a scrawny little white boy.

His penmanship appears on the cover of 'Mighty Crazy' with Big Mama and Lightin' Hopkins. Lightin' was a big fan of his victuals as well.

c.


Cool story.
nigelr
(Coffs Harbour, Australia)
Posted: Dec 21, 2007 - 23:20
 
peyotecoyote wrote:
Oh, yeah, her voice alone just makes me quiver and shake...SO GOOD! This is why I love RP!

Me too. Sensational!
meloman
(Warsaw, Poland)
Posted: Aug 23, 2007 - 14:29
 
Darlington wrote:


I wouldn't really call Elvis a "nice lilly white" singer nor would I put him in the same class as Pat Boone. For a great insight into the early Elvis, Peter Guralnick's two volume biography of Elvis, especially the first volume, is very insightful/educational. A very good read.

You're right, Elvis and Pat were different. I haven't read the book you mention, but I do know that Elvis grew up as poor white in the South, which put him socially closer to Blacks of the day, thus he was able to articulate Black music much more truthfully. Boone was just a product devised by the record industry.
cc_rider
(Austin Texas. Y'all.)
Posted: Apr 30, 2007 - 12:15
 
Heard an interview with Lieber (or was it Stoller?) a few years ago. Said when they took Big Mama the song, she started to sing it slow and low, like a funeral dirge or something. They said no, it needed to be hot and uptempo. One of them got on the piano and started it up, and she jumped in full force. Instant Classic.

Nothing better than Willie Mae's version. All the covers are pale imitations (pun intended). I would consider Robert Palmer's version an 'homage' rather than 'cover'. A rather fine distinction though...

c.
dionysius
(The People's Republic of Austin)
Posted: Apr 14, 2007 - 14:44
 
mesham wrote:
Wow, I've never heard this original before, but this song suddenly makes so much more sense.


Yep. Leiber and Stoller could barely recognize Elvis's version of the lyrics, which itself was a cop of the cover by Freddie Bell and the Bellboys, who kinda garbled the words up themselves. Only Big Mama sang the song as written.
zipper
(the double z)
Posted: Mar 29, 2007 - 21:41
 
I cannot comprehend how this was ranked by anyone anywhere from 1 to 6.
WTF is wrong with you people?
peyotecoyote
(London, Ontario)
Posted: Mar 14, 2007 - 08:31
 
Oh, yeah, her voice alone just makes me quiver and shake...SO GOOD! This is why I love RP!
SpaceCase
(Lancaster, PA, USA)
Posted: Dec 29, 2006 - 07:59
 
My son absolutely LOVES this song....of course he's only heard Elvis' supreme version of it!!
mesham
(Bethesda, MD)
Posted: Dec 29, 2006 - 07:57
 
Wow, I've never heard this original before, but this song suddenly makes so much more sense.
fretman
Posted: Nov 30, 2006 - 05:09
 
Leiber and Stoller at their best... I had the 78 of Elvis as a kid, and about wore out him and Scotty and the Jordanaires making history. Big Mama surely did a nice version despite Elvis' cover. I'd say "more authentic", but it was a newly written pop tune in its day.
federico
(Padova, Italy)
Posted: Nov 15, 2006 - 14:20
 
satanic!

an equally mephistophelic cover of this song was made by (wait for it) robert palmer.
RockinBlueVoodoo
(Deep in the Blues)
Posted: Oct 17, 2006 - 10:40
 
Darlington wrote:


I wouldn't really call Elvis a "nice lilly white"


When Elvis started out the white stations wouldn't play his music because they thought he sounded black and the black stations wouldn't play him because he was white
cc_rider
(Austin Texas. Y'all.)
Posted: Oct 17, 2006 - 08:41
 
Story about Willie Mae:
A buddy of mine, now deceased, was one of the unofficial chauffers for The Armadillo. He picked up Big Mama at the airport and took her around town all weekend. Made dinner at his house, etc.
She drank up every drop of alcohol in his house: first the liquor and beer, then the cough medicine, then the vanilla extract, then the Lavoris. He had to restock the entire house after she left. Said she was a wonderful woman though; loved his home cooking even though he was a scrawny little white boy.

His penmanship appears on the cover of 'Mighty Crazy' with Big Mama and Lightin' Hopkins. Lightin' was a big fan of his victuals as well.

c.
nampelkafe
(Argentina)
Posted: Oct 17, 2006 - 08:39
 
dmax wrote:
You know, this song would be great if we could only find a white guy who can sing like a black one.


Are you serious, or that was just a bad joke???
chfLarry
Posted: Oct 17, 2006 - 08:28
 
niiiiiiiiice
this is a great day!!!!!!!!