Friday, February 7, 2025

Hound Dog - Big Mama Thornton

Hound Dog - Big Mama Thornton
3:01
single, 1953
Written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller

Putting the King's famous cover to shame, this hokum blues song is rockin' so don't come knockin'.  Thornton belts out the lyrics like she knows what it's like to throw a no-good triflin' man out of your house.  It has a verse that Elvis didn't include,  "Baby, you made me weep and moan / 'Cause you ain't looking for a woman / All you looking is for a home."  I love how she calls out, "Shake it, but don't break it!"  I wonder if that's the first time that expression was recorded?  Stoller later said of Elvis' version, "It just sounded terribly nervous, too fast, too white. But you know, after it sold seven or eight million records it started to sound better."

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