Hound Dog (song)

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"Hound Dog"
Single by Big Mama Thornton
B-side "Nightmare" [1][2]
Released March 1953
Format 78 RPM 10" single
Recorded August 13, 1952 Los Angeles
Genre Blues
Length 2:52
Label Peacock Records
Writer(s) Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller
Producer Johnny Otis

"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. The 1956 version by Elvis Presley is the best-known version; it is his version that is No. 19 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[3] Other early versions illustrate the differences among blues, country, and rock and roll in the mid-1950s. "Hound Dog" was recorded by five country singers in 1953 alone, and over 26 times through 1964.[4] From the 1970s onward, the song has appeared, or is heard, as a part of the soundtrack in numerous films, most notably in blockbusters such as Grease, Forrest Gump, Lilo & Stitch, A Few Good Men, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Contents

Big Mama Thornton version [edit]

The blues singer Big Mama Thornton's biggest hit was "Hound Dog," which she recorded at Radio Recorders in Los Angeles on August 13, 1952. According to Leiber & Stoller's own account, Thornton’s "Hound Dog" was the first record they produced themselves, taking over from bandleader Johnny Otis. Said Stoller, "We were worried because the drummer wasn't getting the feel that Johnny had created in rehearsal. 'Johnny,' Jerry said, 'can't you play drums on the record? No one can nail that groove like you.' 'Who's gonna run the session?' he asked. Silence. 'You two?' he asked. 'The kids are gonna run a recording session?' 'Sure,' I said. 'The kids wrote it. Let the kids do it.' Johnny smiled and said, 'Why not?'"[5] So, Otis played drums on the recording, replacing Leard "Kansas City" Bell. This 1953 Peacock Records release (#1612) was number one on the Billboard rhythm and blues charts for seven weeks.[6] Otis received a writing credit on all 6 of the 1953 pressings. However, in 1957 Otis' claim to have co-written the song with Leiber and Stoller was dismissed in the New York Federal Court.[7][8]

Thornton gave this account of how the original was created to Ralph J. 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," and "Aw, get it, get it, get it."

Thornton's delivery has flexible phrasing making use of micro-inflections and syncopations. Over a steady backbeat, she starts out singing each line as one long upbeat. When the words change from "You ain't nothin' but a HOUND Dog," she begins to shift the downbeat around: "You TOLD me you was high-class / but I can SEE through that, You ain't NOTHIN' but a hound dog." Each has a focal accent which is never repeated.[9]

Johnny Otis, Pete Lewis, and bassist Albert Winston are listed as "Kansas City Bill & Orchestra" on the Peacock record labels.[10][11] Habanera and Habanera-mambo variations can be found in this recording.[12]

Billboard reviewed the record on March 14 as a new record to watch, calling it "a wild and exciting rhumba blues" with "infectious backing that rocks all the way".[13]

Preceded by
"(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean" by Ruth Brown		 Billboard R&B National Best Sellers number-one single
(Big Mama Thornton version)
April 18, 1953		 Succeeded by
"I'm Mad" by Willie Mabon and His Combo

1953 country versions [edit]

With a published review by March 14, "Hound Dog" inspired a knock off version recorded within a week.

  • Charlie Gore & Louis Innis (You Ain't Nothin but a Female) Hound Dog (King 3587) - recorded March 22, 1953 King Recording Studio, 1540 Brewster Ave., Cincinnati, OH retrieved 6.8.2011

Six versions of the song were recorded on several different labels by "country" groups the very next month (April 1953):

Bernie Lowe, Freddie Bell and the Bellboys [edit]

Hound Dog Teen.jpg

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,[14] two of four songs the group did with Lowe that year). The regional popularity 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.[15] The Bellboys' Vegas version of the song was a comedy-burlesque with show-stopping va-va-voom choreography.[16] Jerry Leiber, the original lyricist, found these changes irritating, saying that the rewritten words made "no sense".[17]

Others were also performing the song at that time. Bass player Al Rex, who joined Bill Haley and His Comets in the fall of 1955[18] told of performing the song when given the spotlight at live performances. "I used to do 'Hound Dog.' Haley would get mad at me if I'd do that. This was even before Presley did it. Haley didn't like those guys from Philadelphia that wrote the song."[19] As Leiber and Stoller were not from Philadelphia (and Haley recorded other Leiber and Stoller songs), Haley was probably referring to Bell and Lowe.

Elvis Presley TV performances and recording [edit]

"Hound Dog"
Single by Elvis Presley
A-side "Don't Be Cruel"
Released July 13, 1956
Format 45 rpm, 78 rpm single
Recorded July 2, 1956, New York City
Genre Rock and roll
Length 2:15
Label RCA Records
Writer(s) Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller
Producer Steve Sholes
Elvis Presley singles chronology
"I Want You, I Need You, I Love You"
(1956)		 "Hound Dog"
(1956)		 "Love Me Tender"
(1956)

Elvis Presley's first, apparently not very successful, appearance in Las Vegas, as an "extra added attraction," was in the Venus Room of the new Frontier Hotel from April 23 through May 6, 1956. 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.[14][20] The song was done as comic relief, and Presley based the lyrics, which he sometimes changed,[21] and "gyrations" on what he had seen at the Sands. The song always got a big reaction and became the standard closer.[22]

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.'"[23] "Hound Dog" became Elvis and Scotty and Bill's closing number for the first time on May 15, 1956 at Ellis Auditorium in Memphis.[24]

Presley first performed "Hound Dog" to a nationwide television audience on The Milton Berle Show on June 5, 1956, his second appearance with Berle. By this time, Scotty Moore had added a guitar solo, and D.J. Fontana had added a hot drum roll between verses of the song. Presley appeared for the first time on national television sans guitar. Before his death, Berle told an interviewer that he had told Elvis to leave his guitar backstage. "Let 'em see you, son," advised Uncle Miltie.[25]

An upbeat version ended abruptly as Presley threw his arm back, then began to vamp at half tempo, "You ain't-a nuthin' but a hound dog, cuh-crying all the time. You ain't never caught a rabbit..." A final wave signaled the band to stop. Elvis pointed threateningly at the audience, and belted out, "You ain't no friend of mine."[26] Presley's movements during the performance were energetic and exaggerated. The reactions of young women in the studio audience were enthusiastic, as shown on the broadcast.[27][28]

Over 40,000,000 people saw the performance and the next day controversy exploded. Berle's network received many letters of protest. The various self-appointed guardians of public morality attacked Elvis in the press.[29] TV critics began a merciless campaign against Elvis, making statements that he had a "caterwauling voice and nonsense lyrics" and was an "influence on juvenile delinquency," (despite the fact that when he started the movements, most of the audience laughed at it) and began using the nickname, "Elvis the Pelvis".

Elvis next appeared on national television singing "Hound Dog" on The Steve Allen Show on July 1. Steve Allen wrote: "When I booked Elvis, I naturally had no interest in just presenting him vaudeville-style and letting him do his spot as he might in concert. Instead we worked him into the comedy fabric of our program...We certainly didn't inhibit Elvis' then-notorious pelvic gyrations, but I think the fact that he had on formal evening attire made him, purely on his own, slightly alter his presentation."[30][31] As Allen was notoriously contemptuous of rock 'n' roll music and songs such as "Hound Dog," he smirkingly presented Elvis "with a roll that looks exactly like a large roll of toilet paper with, says Allen, the 'signatures of eight thousand fans,'"[32] and the singer had to wear a tuxedo while singing an abbreviated version of Hound Dog to an actual top hat-wearing Basset Hound.[33] Although by most accounts Presley was a good sport about it, according to Scotty Moore, the next morning they were all angry about their treatment the previous night.[34]

The morning after the Steve Allen Show performance, the studio version 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 (as well as most of the RCA recording sessions) himself, which is verified by the band members. Presley insisted on getting the song exactly the way he wanted it, recording 31 takes of the song.[35]

"Hound Dog" (G2WW-5935) was initially released as the B-side to the single "Don't Be Cruel" (G2WW-5936) on July 13, 1956.[36] Both sides of the record topped Billboard's Best Sellers in Stores and Most Played in Jukeboxes charts alongside "Don't Be Cruel" while "Hound Dog" on its own merit topped the country & western and rhythm & blues charts. On its own, "Hound Dog" peaked at number two on Billboard's main pop chart, the Top 100. Later reissues of the single by RCA in the 1960s designated the pair as double-A-sided.

On September 9, with the song topping several U.S. charts, Presley performed an abbreviated version of "Hound Dog" on The Ed Sullivan Show hosted by Charles Laughton. After performing "Ready Teddy," he introduced the song with the following statement, "Friends, as a great philosopher once said..." Elvis's first time on the Sullivan show was an event that drew some 60 million TV viewers. During his second Sullivan show appearance, October 28, he introduced the song thusly (although unable to keep a straight face). "Ladies and gentlemen, could I have your attention please. Ah, I'd like to tell you we’re going to do a sad song for you. This song here is one of the saddest songs we’ve ever heard. It really tells a story, friends. Beautiful lyrics. It goes something like this." He then launched into a full version of the song. Elvis was shown in full during this performance.[37] 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. "Hound Dog" would go on to sell 10 million copies worldwide, including 5 million in the United States alone.[38][39]

In March 2005, Q magazine placed Presley's version at No. 55 in its list of the Q Magazine's 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks. Rolling Stone magazine ranked it No. 19 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, the highest ranked of Presley's eleven entries.

Charts and certifications [edit]

Weekly charts [edit]

Chart (1956-1957) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[40] 17
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[41] 13
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[43] 2
US Billboard The Hot 100[44] 2
US Billboard Best Sellers in Stores[45] 1
US Billboard Most Played by Jockeys[45] 4
US Billboard Most Played in Jukeboxes[45] 1
US Billboard Most Played Country & Western Singles[45] 6
US Billboard Most Played Country & Western in Jukeboxes[45] 1
US Billboard Most Played Rhythm and Blues Singles[45] 2
US Billboard Most Played Rhythm and Blues in Jukeboxes[45] 1
US Billboard Top Selling Country & Western Singles[44] 1
US Billboard Top Selling Rhythm and Blues Singles[44] 1
US Cash Box Magazine Top Country & Western Singles[45] 1
Chart (1971) Peak
position
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[47] 41
Chart (1974) Peak
position
Netherlands (Mega Single Top 100)[48] 21
Chart (2007) Peak
position
Ireland (IRMA)[50] 25
Netherlands (Mega Single Top 100)[48] 83
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[52] 65

Year-End charts [edit]

Chart (1956) Peak
position
US Billboard (Best Sellers in Stores)[53] 8
US Singles (Cash Box)[54] 15

Sales and certifications [edit]

Region Certification Sales/shipments
United States (RIAA)[55] 4× Platinum 5,000,000[39]

^shipments figures based on certification alone

Chart succession [edit]

Preceded by
"My Prayer" by The Platters		 US Best Sellers in Stores number-one single
August 18, 1956 – September 16, 1956
(5 weeks)		 Succeeded by
"Don't Be Cruel" by Elvis Presley
US Cash Box number-one single
August 18, 1956 – September 8, 1956
(4 weeks)
US Most Played in Jukeboxes number-one single
September 1, 1956 – November 10, 1956
(11 weeks)		 Succeeded by
"Green Door" by Jim Lowe
Preceded by
"Honky Tonk" (Part 1 & 2) by Bill Doggett		 US Top Selling Rhythm and Blues Singles number-one single
September 15, 1956 – October 20, 1956
(6 weeks)		 Succeeded by
"Honky Tonk" (Part 1 & 2) by Bill Doggett
Preceded by
"I Want You, I Need You, I Love You" by Elvis Presley		 US Top Selling Country & Western Singles number one single
September 15, 1956– November 17, 1956
(10 weeks)		 Succeeded by
"Singing the Blues" by Marty Robbins
Preceded by
"Don't Be Cruel" by Elvis Presley		 US Best Sellers in Stores number-one single
September 29, 1956 – October 27, 1956
(5 weeks)		 Succeeded by
"Love Me Tender" by Elvis Presley

In popular culture [edit]

  • The AGM-28 Hound Dog missile's name is inspired by Presley's version of the song.[56]
  • In the 1994 film Forrest Gump, Forrest remembers a time when a young guitar player stays at his home, with Forrest dancing to the man playing "Hound Dog"--the man was indeed Elvis Presley.[citation needed]
  • The 2007 film Hounddog takes its name from the song. It is the favorite song of the film's lead character, a 12-year old Presley-obsessed girl.[citation needed]
  • The song was included in the musical revue Smokey Joe's Cafe.[citation needed]

Partial list of "cover" versions of "Hound Dog" [edit]

[57]

See also [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ "bigmama". Home.earthlink.net. Retrieved 2011-06-05. 
  2. ^ University of Mississippi - The Department of Archives and Special Collections[dead link]
  3. ^ "The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". RollingStone.com. Retrieved 2007-06-02. 
  4. ^ RCS Title Search, "Hound Dog"
  5. ^ Leiber, Jerry; Stoller, Mike; Ritz, David (2009). Hound Dog: The Leiber and Stoller Autobiography (1st ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 65. ISBN 978-1-4165-5938-2. 
  6. ^ "Information Not Found". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2011-06-05. [dead link]
  7. ^ Opinion, Valjo Music vs. Elvis Presley Music in US District Court, Southern District of New York, December 4, 1957
  8. ^ Billboard, 16 December 1957, p.28
  9. ^ Elvis Everywhere: Musicology and Popular Music Studies at the Twilight of the Canon. Robert Fink. American Music. Summer 1998. page 173.
  10. ^ [1][dead link]
  11. ^ Upside Your Head! Johnny Otis. 1993. Wesleyan University Press.page xxi.
  12. ^ The Use of Habanera Rhythm in Rockabilly Music. Roy Brewer. American Music. 17(3) September 1999. page 316.
  13. ^ Billboard Mar 14, 1953. page 32
  14. ^ a b "RAB Hall of Fame: Bill Black". Rockabillyhall.com. Retrieved 2011-06-05. 
  15. ^ "Frankie Brent". Rockabillyeurope.com. Retrieved 2011-06-05. 
  16. ^ Elvis Everywhere: Musicology and Popular Music Studies at the Twilight of the Canon. Robert Fink. American Music. Summer 1998. page 168.
  17. ^ http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story.asp?StoryId={78132abf-0ac9-4405-a56e-fd3d896c8b8d}
  18. ^ "Bill Haley Recordings". Thegardnerfamily.org. Retrieved 2011-06-05. 
  19. ^ Bill Haley: The Daddy of Rock and Roll. John Swenson. 1982. Stein and Day. page 64. ISBN 0-8128-2909-3
  20. ^ "Elvis live 1956". Web.archive.org. 2007-01-15. Archived from the original on 2007-01-15. Retrieved 2011-06-05. 
  21. ^ [2] Interview with D.J. Fontana
  22. ^ Elvis Everywhere: Musicology and Popular Music Studies at the Twilight of the Canon. Robert Fink. American Music. Summer 1998. pages 168, 169.
  23. ^ "Interview with D.J. Fontana". Elvis.com.au. Retrieved 2011-06-05. 
  24. ^ "Ellis Auditorium". Scotty Moore. Retrieved 2011-06-05. 
  25. ^ The Blue Moon Boys: The Story of Elvis Presley's Band. Ken Burke and Dan Griffin. 2006. Chicago Review Press. page 52. ISBN 1-55652-614-8
  26. ^ The Blue Moon Boys: The Story of Elvis Presley's Band. Ken Burke and Dan Griffin. 2006. Chicago Review Press. page 53. ISBN 1-55652-614-8
  27. ^ "See complete Milton Berle Show Hound Dog footage with original music". Youtube.com. Retrieved 2011-06-05. 
  28. ^ Elvis '56 DVD
  29. ^ Key Terms in Popular Music and Culture by Bruce Horner, Thomas Swiss page 195 ISBN 0-631-21264-7
  30. ^ "Steve Allen Comedy Show". Steveallen.com. 1956-06-24. Retrieved 2011-06-05. 
  31. ^ [3] Allen can be heard talking about the incident at this BBC site.
  32. ^ See Dundy, Elaine, Elvis and Gladys (University Press of Mississippi, 2004), p.259.
  33. ^ See Austen, Jake, TV-A-Go-Go: Rock on TV from American Bandstand to American Idol (2005), p.13.
  34. ^ Elvis Everywhere: Musicology and Popular Music Studies at the Twilight of the Canon. Robert Fink. American Music. Summer 1998. page 169.
  35. ^ "Sold on Song - Song Library - Hound Dog". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-06-05. 
  36. ^ Elvis Presley: RCA Victor 6604[dead link]
  37. ^ The Ed Sullivan Shows DVD SOFA ENTERTAINMENT, INC.
  38. ^ Tyler, Don (2008). Music of the Postwar Era. ABC-CLIO. p. 226. Retrieved 2013-02-17. 
  39. ^ a b Rees, Dafydd and Crampton, Luke (1991). Rock movers & shakers, Volume 1991, Part 2. ABC-CLIO. p. 400. ISBN 9780874366617. Retrieved 2013-02-17. 
  40. ^ Kent, David (2005). Australian Chart Book: 1940-1969: the Hit Songs and Records from Thirty Years of Specially Compiled Charts. Australian Chart Book Limited. Retrieved 2013-03-04. 
  41. ^ "Ultratop.be – Elvis Presley – Hound Dog!" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Ultratop & Hung Medien / hitparade.ch. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
  42. ^ "ChartArchive - Search results for query: hound". Chart Archive. 2012. Retrieved 2013-03-04. [dead link]
  43. ^ "Archive Chart" UK Singles Chart. Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
  44. ^ a b c "Elvis Presley - Awards". Allmusic. Retrieved March 4, 2013. 
  45. ^ a b c d e f g h Joel Whitburn's top pop singles 1955-2006. Record Research. 2008-01-08. Retrieved March 4, 2013. 
  46. ^ "ChartArchive - Search results for query: hound". Chart Archive. 2012. Retrieved 2013-03-04. [dead link]
  47. ^ "Archive Chart" UK Singles Chart. Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
  48. ^ a b "Dutchcharts.nl – Elvis Presley – Hound Dog" (in Dutch). Mega Single Top 100. Hung Medien / hitparade.ch. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
  49. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search charts". Irish Recorded Music Association. 2008. To use, type "Hound Dog" in the "Search by Song Title" search var and click search. Retrieved 2013-03-04. 
  50. ^ "Chart Track". Irish Singles Chart. Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
  51. ^ "ChartArchive - Search results for query: hound". Chart Archive. 2012. Retrieved 2013-03-04. [dead link]
  52. ^ "Archive Chart" UK Singles Chart. Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
  53. ^ "Billboard Top 50 - 1956". Billboard. Longbored Surfer. 1956. Retrieved 2013-03-04. 
  54. ^ "The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1956". Cash Box Magazine. 1957. Retrieved 2013-03-04. 
  55. ^ "American single certifications – Elvis Presley – Hound Dog_Don_t Be Cruel". Recording Industry Association of America.  If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH
  56. ^ Ellis Katz (February 9, 2011). "A Brief Account of the Beginning of the Hounddog (GAM 77) Program". AMMS Alumni. Retrieved February 6, 2012. "I recall Joe Berrer (Joe was president of the Missile Division at the time; not sure of the spelling of his last name) returning from Inglewood where he had met with Dutch Kindleberger and Lee Atwood regarding the contract award and telling us that it had been decided to name the GAM-77 as "Hounddog". At the time Elvis was "King" and his musical fame carried over to our bird." 
  57. ^ "Sold on Song - Song Library - Hound Dog". BBC. Retrieved 2011-06-05. 
  58. ^ Unterberger, Richie. ""The Best of Albert King, Vol. 1 - Albert King" Rovi Corporation, 2011". Allmusic.com. Retrieved 2011-06-05. 
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