Song of the Day 1/26: Big Mama Thornton, “Hound Dog”

Editor’s note: Guest post by Nathan Arizona

Many of Elvis Presley’s early hits were written and performed by black rhythm & blues artists.

His first single, “That’s All Right Mama,” was written by Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup in 1946. Elvis already knew about Crudup and other black musicians. He had seen him perform (using a box as a drum), and the Crudup record was in young Elvis’ collection. His singing idol was Jackie Wilson, the r&b star.

Elvis’ second single, “Good Rockin’ Tonight,” had been a rhythm & blues hit for Wynonie Harris in 1948. Some music historians consider Harris’ version to be the first rock ’n roll song, and it introduced some young white listeners to the concept of “rockin.’ ”

Elvis also picked up many of his dynamic stage mannerisms from Harris, whose gyrations were a huge hit with the ladies, which the hard-charging, hard drinking Harris took advantage of off stage.

But it was a song recorded by hefty, growly Willa Mae “Big Mama” Thornton that became Elvis’ best-selling single ever. “Hound Dog” topped the r&b charts for Thornton in 1952. It is perhaps the most important song in the development of r&b into rock ’n roll. It was written as a slam against no-good men. Big Mama also wrote and recorded “Ball and Chain,” later a hit for Janis Joplin.

This musical integration started before Elvis clicked with “Hound Dog.” In fact, that song was written, on the back of an envelope, by a couple of white Jewish kids named Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who never earned a dime from it. They made up for that by becoming the most successful writing team in early rock ’n roll, with hits by the Coasters (a black group) and many others. The black pioneers, on the other hand, never reaped their fair share of financial rewards, partly because of copyright issues.

There were some white kids listening to black music before Elvis, when they could. But radio and the record industry tried to keep it confined to a black audience. Elvis and his producer Sam Philips were the key to changing that. To put it in broad terms, it was now rock ’n roll, a term from black culture but now “safe” for whites. Country music played a part, too. Elvis” “Good Rockin’ Tonight,” released in 1954, was backed with Bill Monroe’s “Blue Moon of Kentucky.”