Hound Dog (song)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

"Hound Dog" is a twelve-bar blues song written by
Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller Lyricist Jerome Leiber (April 25, 1933 – August 22, 2011) and composer Michael Stoller (born March 13, 1933) were American songwriting and record producing partners. They found success as the writers of such crossover hit songs as " Hound Dog" ( ...
. Recorded originally by Big Mama Thornton on August 13, 1952, in Los Angeles and released by
Peacock Records Peacock Records was an American record label, started in 1949 by Don Robey in Houston, Texas, United States. History " Hound Dog" by Big Mama Thornton was a hit for Peacock in 1953. Other significant rhythm and blues artists on Peacock were Ma ...
in late February 1953, "Hound Dog" was Thornton's only hit record, selling over 500,000 copies, spending 14 weeks in the
R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...
s, including seven weeks at number one. Thornton's recording of "Hound Dog" is listed as one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll", and was inducted into the
Grammy Hall of Fame The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...
in February 2013. "Hound Dog" has been recorded more than 250 times. The best-known version is the July 1956 recording by
Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
, which ranked number 19 on ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
s list of the
500 Greatest Songs of All Time "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring survey compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2004 in ...
in 2004, but was excluded from the revised list in 2021; it is also one of the best-selling singles of all time. Presley's version, which sold about 10 million copies globally, was his best-selling song and "an emblem of the rock 'n' roll revolution". It was simultaneously number one on the US pop, country, and R&B charts in 1956, and it topped the pop chart for 11 weeks — a record that stood for 36 years. Presley's 1956 RCA recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1988, and it is listed as one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll". "Hound Dog" has been at the center of controversies and several lawsuits, including disputes over authorship, royalties, and
copyright infringement Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, s ...
by the many
answer song An answer song, response song or answer record, is a song (usually a recorded track) made in answer to a previous song, normally by another artist. The concept became widespread in blues and R&B recorded music in the 1930s to the 1950s. Answer so ...
s released by such artists as Rufus Thomas and Roy Brown. From the 1970s onward, the song has been featured in numerous films, including '' Grease'', '' Forrest Gump'', ''
Lilo & Stitch ''Lilo & Stitch'' is a 2002 American animated science fiction comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 42nd Disney animated feature film, it was written and directed by Chris Sande ...
'', ''
A Few Good Men ''A Few Good Men'' is a 1992 American legal drama film based on Aaron Sorkin's 1989 play. It was written by Sorkin, directed by Rob Reiner, and produced by Reiner, David Brown and Andrew Scheinman. It stars an ensemble cast including Tom C ...
'', '' Hounddog'', ''
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ''Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'' is a 2008 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg and the fourth installment in the ''Indiana Jones'' series. Released and taking place 19 years after the previous ...
'', and ''
Nowhere Boy ''Nowhere Boy'' is a 2009 British biographical drama film, directed by Sam Taylor-Wood in her directorial debut. Written by Matt Greenhalgh, it is based on Julia Baird's biography of her half-brother, the musician John Lennon. ''Nowhere Boy'' i ...
''.


Background and composition

On August 12, 1952, R&B bandleader Johnny Otis asked 19-year-old songwriters
Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller Lyricist Jerome Leiber (April 25, 1933 – August 22, 2011) and composer Michael Stoller (born March 13, 1933) were American songwriting and record producing partners. They found success as the writers of such crossover hit songs as " Hound Dog" ( ...
to his home to meet blues singer Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton. Thornton had been signed by "Diamond" Don Robey's Houston-based Peacock Records the year before, and after two failed singles, Robey had enlisted Otis to reverse her fortunes. After hearing Thornton rehearse several songs, Leiber and Stoller "forged a tune to suit her personality—brusque and badass".Richard Crouse, ''Who Wrote The Book Of Love?'' (Random House Digital, Inc., 2012). In an interview in ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'' in April 1990, Stoller said: "She was a wonderful blues singer, with a great moaning style. But it was as much her appearance as her blues style that influenced the writing of 'Hound Dog' and the idea that we wanted her to growl it."David Fricke
"Leiber and Stoller: Rolling Stone's 1990 Interview With the Songwriting Legends"
''Rolling Stone'' (April 19, 1990; reprinted: August 22, 2011).
Leiber recalled: "We saw Big Mama and she knocked me cold. She looked like the biggest, baddest, saltiest chick you would ever see. And she was mean, a 'lady bear,' as they used to call 'em. She must have been 350 pounds, and she had all these scars all over her face" conveying words which could not be sung. "But how to do it without actually saying it? And how to do it telling a story? I couldn't just have a song full of expletives." In 1999, Leiber said, "I was trying to get something like the
Furry Lewis Walter E. "Furry" Lewis (March 6, 1893 or 1899 – September 14, 1981) was an American country blues guitarist and songwriter from Memphis, Tennessee. He was one of the first of the blues musicians active in the 1920s to be brought out of retir ...
phrase 'Dirty Mother Furya'. I was looking for something closer to that but I couldn't find it, because everything I went for was too coarse and would not have been playable on the air." Using a "black slang expression referring to a man who sought a woman to take care of him",Rick Kennedy and Randy MacNutt, ''Little Labels – Big Sound: Small Record Companies and the Rise of American Music'' (Indiana University Press, 1999) p. 74. the song's opening line, "You ain't nothin' but a hound dog", was a euphemism, said Leiber The song, a Southern blues lament, is "the tale of a woman throwing a
gigolo A gigolo () is a male escort or social companion who is supported by a person in a continuing relationship, often living in her residence or having to be present at her beck and call. The term ''gigolo'' usually implies a man who adopts a lifes ...
out of her house and her life":Nicholas Barber
"Elvis Presley's pedigree chum"
''The Independent'' (October 29, 1995).
The song was written for a woman to sing in which she berates "her selfish, exploitative man",Michael Billig, ''Rock and Roll Jews'' (Syracuse University, 2001):43. and in it she "expresses a woman's rejection of a man – the metaphorical dog in the title". According to Iain Thomas, "'Hound Dog' embodies the Thornton persona she had crafted as a comedienne prior to entering the music business" by parading "the classic puns, extended metaphors, and sexual
double entendre A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, of which one is typically obvious, whereas the other often conveys a message that would be too socially ...
s so popular with the
bawdy Ribaldry or blue comedy is humorous entertainment that ranges from bordering on indelicacy to indecency. Blue comedy is also referred to as "bawdiness" or being "bawdy". Sex is presented in ribald material more for the purpose of poking fun at ...
genre."Iain Ellis, ''Rebels Wit Attitude: Subversive Rock Humorists'' (Counterpoint Press, 2008) p. 44. R&B expert George A. Moonoogian concurs, calling it "a biting and scathing satire in the double-entendre genre" of 1950s rhythm and blues. Leiber and Stoller wrote the song "Hound Dog" in 12 to 15 minutes, with Leiber scribbling the lyrics in pencil on ordinary paper and without musical notation in the car on the way to Stoller's apartment.Dave Gritten
"Jerry Leiber tribute"
''The Telegraph'' (August 23, 2011).
Said Leiber, "'Hound Dog' took like twelve minutes. That's not a complicated piece of work. But the rhyme scheme was difficult. Also the
metric structure In music, metre ( Commonwealth spelling) or meter (American spelling) refers to regularly recurring patterns and accents such as bars and beats. Unlike rhythm, metric onsets are not necessarily sounded, but are nevertheless implied by the perfo ...
of the music was not easy." According to Leiber, as soon as they reached the parking lot and Stoller's 1937 Plymouth, "I was beating out a rhythm we called the ' buck dance' on the roof of the car. We got to Johnny Otis's house and Mike went right to the piano… didn't even bother to sit down. He had a cigarette in his mouth that was burning his left eye, and he started to play the song."Martin Chilto
"Hound Dog: 10 facts about Elvis Presley's hit song"
''The Telegraph'' (August 23, 2011).
Leiber and Stoller along with Johnny Otis, also wrote a different version to the "Hound Dog" song structure on behalf of Big Mama Thornton, recorded with an alternative lyric entitled "Tom Cat".


Big Mama Thornton's version (1952/53)

Thornton's recording of "Hound Dog" is credited with "helping to spur the evolution of black R&B into rock music".
Brandeis University , mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = NECHE , president = Ronald D. Liebowitz , ...
professor Stephen J. Whitefield, in his 2001 book ''In Search of American Jewish Culture'', regards "Hound Dog" as a marker of "the success of race-mixing in music a year before the
desegregation Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups, usually referring to races. Desegregation is typically measured by the index of dissimilarity, allowing researchers to determine whether desegregation efforts are having impact o ...
of public schools was mandated" in ''
Brown v. Board of Education ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segrega ...
''. Leiber regarded the original recording by the 350-pound "blues belter" Big Mama Thornton as his favorite version, while Stoller said, "If I had to name my favorite recordings, I'd say they are Big Mama Thornton's 'Hound Dog' and Peggy Lee's '
Is That All There Is? "Is That All There Is?", a song written by American songwriting team Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller during the 1960s, became a hit for American singer Peggy Lee and an award winner from her album of the same title in November 1969. The song wa ...
'" In 1992, Lieber and Stoller recalled that during the rehearsal, Thornton sang the song as a ballad. Lieber said that this was not the way they planned and sang it for her, with Stoller on piano, as an example of the concept. Thornton agreed to try their recommendation.Behind the Song: “Hound Dog,” by Leiber & Stoller
/ref> According to Maureen Mahon, a music professor at
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...
, Thornton's version is "an important art of thebeginning of rock-and-roll, especially in its use of the guitar as the key instrument".


Recording

Thornton recorded "Hound Dog" at Radio Recorders Annex in Los Angeles on August 13, 1952, the day after its composition. It subsequently became her biggest hit. According to ''Hound Dog: The Leiber and Stoller Autobiography'', Thornton's "Hound Dog" was the first record that Leiber and Stoller produced themselves, taking over from bandleader Johnny Otis. Said Stoller: Otis played drums on the recording, replacing Ledard "Kansas City" Bell. As Otis was still signed exclusively to
Federal Records Federal Records was an American record label founded in 1950 as a subsidiary of Syd Nathan's King Records and based in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was run by famed record producer Ralph Bass and was mainly devoted to Rhythm & Blues releases. The compa ...
, a subsidiary of
Syd Nathan Sydney Nathan (April 27, 1904 – March 5, 1968) was an American music business executive who founded King Records, a leading independent record label, in 1943. He contributed to the development of country & western music, rhythm and blues a ...
's King Records as "Kansas City Bill"Steve Sullivan, "Hound Dog (1953)" in ''Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings, Volume 1'' (Scarecrow Press, 2013) p. 466. or perhaps with
Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it i ...
at this time, Otis used the
pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...
"Kansas City Bill" (after his drummer "Kansas City" Bell) on this record. Therefore, Otis, Louisiana blues guitarist
Pete "Guitar" Lewis Pete "Guitar" Lewis (probably July 11, 1913 – September 25, 1970) was an American rhythm and blues guitarist and occasional harmonica player, best known as a session musician and performer with Johnny Otis in the late 1940s and 1950s. Biograp ...
, and Puerto Rican bass player Mario Delagarde (some sources say erroneously it was Albert Winston) are listed as "Kansas City Bill & Orchestra" on the Peacock record labels. During the rehearsal, Leiber objected to Thornton's vocal approach, as she was
crooning Crooner is a term used to describe primarily male singers who performed using a smooth style made possible by better microphones which picked up quieter sounds and a wider range of frequencies, allowing the singer to access a more dynamic range ...
the lyrics rather than belting them out. Although intimidated by her size and facial scarring, Leiber protested, to which Thornton responded with an icy glare and told him, White boy, don't you be tellin' me how to sing the blues.Cleothus Hardcastle
"The Backpages Interview: Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller"
''Rock's Backpages'' (June 30, 2001).
After this exchange, Leiber sang the song himself to demonstrate how they wanted it done. After that, according to Stoller's later recollection, Thornton understood the bawdy style they were looking for. Speaking to music writer Ralph J. Gleason, Thornton recalled that 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: "I started to sing the words and join in some of my own. All that talkin' and hollerin'—that's my own." Thornton interacts constantly in a
call and response Call and response is a form of interaction between a speaker and an audience in which the speaker's statements ("calls") are punctuated by responses from the listeners. This form is also used in music, where it falls under the general category of ...
fashion during a one-minute long guitar "solo" by Lewis. These verbal interjections, sometimes called "blues talk," are common in blues music. Years later Thornton helped launch a controversy over "Hound Dog", claiming to have written it. When questioned further on the matter, Thornton explained that, while the song had been composed by Leiber and Stoller, she had transformed it: "They gave me the words, but I changed it around and did it my way". In his book ''Race, Rock, and Elvis'', Michael T. Bertrand says that Thornton's explanation "ingenuously stresses artist interpretation as the sole yardstick with which to measure authenticity". Thornton recorded two takes of the song, and the second take was released.Robert Fink
"Elvis Everywhere: Musicology and Popular Music Studies at the Twilight of the Canon"
''American Music'' 16:2 (University of Illinois Press, Summer 1998) p. 175.
Habanera and
mambo Mambo most often refers to: * Mambo (music), a Cuban musical form *Mambo (dance), a dance corresponding to mambo music Mambo may also refer to: Music * Mambo section, a section in arrangements of some types of Afro-Caribbean music, particul ...
elements can be found in this recording.Roy Brewer, "The Use of Habanera Rhythm in Rockabilly Music", ''American Music'' 17:3 (September 1999) p. 316. Puerto Rican bass player Mario Delagarde is credited with adding "a jazz-based rhythm." Influenced by African-American musical cultures,Anne Dhu McLucas, ''The Musical Ear: Oral Tradition in the USA'' (Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2011) p. 58. its "sounds range from the gravelly beginning of several phrases, to her spoken and howled interpolations, and the ending with dog sounds from the band." According to musicologist Robert Fink, Thornton's delivery has flexible phrasing making use of micro-inflections and syncopations. Each has a focal accent which is never repeated. According to Maureen Mahon: On September 9, 1952, the copyright application for "Hound Dog" was lodged. On the application the words and music are attributed to Thornton and recording executive Don Robey, with the copyright claimants listed as: "Murphy L. Robey (W) & Willie Mae Thornton (A)." It was renewed subsequently on May 13, 1980, with the same details.


Release and reception

In late February 1953, "Hound Dog" was released by Peacock (Peacock 1612), with the song credited erroneously on the label to Leiber--Otis. Thornton recalled later that she learned her record was in circulation while she was on her way to a performance with the Johnny Otis Orchestra during this tour in Dayton, Ohio. "I was going to the theater and I just turned the radio on in the car and the man said, 'Here's a record that's going nationwide: 'Hound Dog' by Willie Mae Thornton.' I said, 'That's me!' aughsI hadn't heard the record in so long. So when we get to the theater they was blasting it. You could hear it from the theater, from the loudspeaker. They were just playing 'Hound Dog' all over the theater. So I goes up in the operating room, I say, 'Do you mind playing that again?' 'Cause I hadn't heard the record in so long I forgot the words myself. So I stood there while he was playing it, listening to it. So that evening I sang it on the show, and everybody went for it. 'Hound Dog' just took off like a jet." On March 7, 1953, "Hound Dog" was advertised in '' Billboard'', and reviewed positively on March 14, 1953, as a new record to watch, described as "a wild and exciting rhumba blues" with "infectious backing that rocks all the way". According to
Johnny Ace John Marshall Alexander Jr. (June 9, 1929 – December 25, 1954), known by the stage name Johnny Ace, was an American rhythm-and-blues singer. He had a string of hit singles in the mid 1950s. Alexander died of an accidental self-inflicted guns ...
biographer James M Salem, "The rawness of the sound combined with the overt sexuality of the lyric made 'Hound Dog' an immediate smash hit in urban black America from late March to the middle of July 1953."James M. Salem, ''The Late Great Johnny Ace and the Transition from R&B to Rock 'N' Roll'' (University of Illinois Press, 2001) p. 83. "Hound Dog" takes off immediately and looks like a national hit record. Rufus Thomas quickly records an answer song called "Bear Cat" on Sun 181. Thornton's record is such a big seller that Peacock Records has three new pressing plants running full-time to try and keep up with demand. Debuting in the charts on March 28, 1953, it spent fourteen weeks on the ''Billboard'' Rhythm and Blues charts, seven of them at number one. By April 30, 1953, '' Cash Box'' magazine listed the song as "the nation's top-selling blues record", and it topped the charts in New York, Chicago, New Orleans, San Francisco, Newark, Memphis, Dallas, Cincinnati, St. Louis, and Los Angeles. "By mid summer, it is obvious that "Hound Dog" will be the biggest seller in the history of Peacock Records." The song was named as the Best Rhythm and Blues song of 1953 by ''Cash Box'' magazine, and was ranked number three on ''Billboards Best Selling Rhythm & Blues Chart for 1953. Don Robey estimated that Thornton's version of "Hound Dog" sold between 500,000 and 750,000 copies, and would have sold more had its sales not been diluted by an abundance of cover versions and "
answer song An answer song, response song or answer record, is a song (usually a recorded track) made in answer to a previous song, normally by another artist. The concept became widespread in blues and R&B recorded music in the 1930s to the 1950s. Answer so ...
s". The success of "Hound Dog" secured Peacock Record's place as a major independent label. However, despite its success, neither the composers nor artist were compensated well for their efforts. According to Stoller, "Big Mama's 'Hound Dog' went to number one, sold a million copies, and did nothing for our bank statements. We were getting screwed." After suing Robey, "We were given an advance check for $1,200," said Stoller, "but the check bounced." As a result, Leiber and Stoller started their own label,
Spark Records Spark Records was a record label started by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller around 1954 in Los Angeles, California. Artists released on Spark Records included Willy & Ruth, The Sly Fox, Ervin "Big Boy" Groves, and The Robins. Leiber and Stoller even ...
, and publishing company, Quintet Music. Those ventures were successful, but Leiber and Stoller would only earn substantial royalties from "Hound Dog" when it was covered by Elvis Presley (RCA 6604) in July 1956. Similarly, Thornton stated: "That song sold over two million records. I got one check for $500 and never saw another." In 1984, she told ''Rolling Stone'', "Didn't get no money from them at all. Everybody livin' in a house but me. I'm just livin."


Re-releases

By July 1956, "the rock 'n roll age was upon the world, and as the new sensation Elvis Presley recorded "Hound Dog" to international acclaim, Peacock re-released Willa Mae Thornton's original" by August 18, 1956, backing it with "Rock-a-Bye Baby" (Peacock 5–1612),''Billboard'' (18 Aug 1956):70 but it failed to chart. In Australia and New Zealand, Prestige Records (founded in Auckland by 17 year-old Phil Warren and Bruce Henderson) released the same record on licence in 1956 (Prestige PSP-1004), but the composition is credited to Robey-Thornton-Leiber-Stoller. By early 1957 "Willa Mae Thornton is seen as one who is out of the rock / pop mainstream and so her affiliation with Peacock Records ends... Thornton continues to make personal appearances and is always remembered for her original version of "Hound Dog" which gets a spate of airplay during the summer of 1958 which leads to another re-release of the original." On October 7, 1965, Thornton's live performance of "Hound Dog" with
Eddie Boyd Edward Riley Boyd (November 25, 1914 – July 13, 1994)Dahl, Bill. Eddie Boyd: Biography AllMusic. Retrieved October 13, 2016. was an American blues pianist, singer and songwriter, best known for his recordings in the early 1950s, including the ...
and
Buddy Guy George "Buddy" Guy (born July 30, 1936) is an American blues guitarist and singer. He is an exponent of Chicago blues who has influenced generations of guitarists including Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Stevie Ray Vaugh ...
at American Folk Blues Festival '65 in Hamburg, Germany, is recorded and released subsequently by Fontana Records on an album ''American Folk Blues Festival '65'' (Fontana 681 529 TL) with other artists.


Awards and accolades

In February 2013, Thornton's recording of "Hound Dog" was inducted into
Grammy Hall of Fame The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...
. It has also received the following accolades: * #2 Acclaimed Music: The Top Songs From 1953 * #18 Women Who Rock – The Top 25 Girl-Power Anthems * #36 ''Rolling Stone'' Fifty Essential Recordings From The Fifties (1990) * #65 Acclaimed Music: The Top 200 Songs from the 1950s * #675 Acclaimed Music: All Time Top 3000 * Thornton's recording of "Hound Dog" is listed as one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll" * In 2017, Thornton's recording of "Hound Dog" was selected for preservation in the
National Recording Registry The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservati ...
by the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...
as being "culturally, historically, or artistically significant." * The original version was ranked No. 318 on the 2021 edition of "Top 500 Songs of All Time" by Rolling Stone Magazine.


Responses (1953–1955)


Cover versions

Thornton's "Hound Dog" was so popular that it spawned at least ten cover versions of the original before Elvis Presley recorded it in July 1956. One of the earliest covers of Thornton's original was that of
Little Esther Esther Phillips (born Esther Mae Jones; December 23, 1935 – August 7, 1984) was an American singer, best known for her R&B vocals.Santelli, Robert (2001). ''The Big Book of Blues: A Biographical Encyclopedia''. Penguin Books. p. 376. . She ...
, who recorded an R&B cover on March 11, 1953 (b/w "Sweet Lips") on
Federal Records Federal Records was an American record label founded in 1950 as a subsidiary of Syd Nathan's King Records and based in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was run by famed record producer Ralph Bass and was mainly devoted to Rhythm & Blues releases. The compa ...
(Federal 12126) that was released by April. While Federal's trade ads touted this release as the greatest record ever made by Little Esther, in its review on April 11, 1953, ''Billboard'' opined: "It fails to build the same excitement of the original." Within a month of the release of Thornton's "Hound Dog", the following six country cover versions of the song—all credited erroneously to Leiber-Stoller (or )-Otis—were released on several different labels by white artists: * Jack Turner & his Granger County Gang (RCA 20–5267; 47–5267) (actually Henry D. Haynes on vocals, with his
Homer and Jethro Homer and Jethro were the stage names of American country music duo Henry D. "Homer" Haynes (1920–1971) and Kenneth C. "Jethro" Burns (1920–1989), popular from the 1940s through the 1960s on radio and television for their satirical versio ...
partner Kenneth C. Burns on mandolin, with
Chet Atkins Chester Burton Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001), known as "Mr. Guitar" and "The Country Gentleman", was an American musician who, along with Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson, helped create the Nashville sound, the country music ...
on
lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featu ...
, Charles Green on bass, and
Jerry Byrd Gerald Lester Byrd (March 9, 1920 – April 11, 2005) was an American musician who played the lap steel guitar in country and Hawaiian music, as well as a singer-songwriter and the head of a music publishing firm. He appeared on numerous radio ...
on steel guitar), recorded a
Rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western musical styles such as country with that of rhythm and blu ...
Boogie Boogie is a repetitive, swung note or shuffle rhythm,Burrows, Terry (1995). ''Play Country Guitar'', p.42. Dorling Kindersley Limited, London. . "groove" or pattern used in blues which was originally played on the piano in boogie-woogie mus ...
or hillbilly Country-Western version''The Billboard'' (April 11, 1953) page 18. on March 20, 1953, in New York City. After the success of Patti Page's version of the
Bob Merrill Henry Robert Merrill Levan (May 17, 1921 – February 17, 1998) was an American songwriter, theatrical composer, lyricist, and screenwriter. He was one of the most successful songwriters of the 1950s on the US and UK single charts. He wrote ...
-penned ''
(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window? "(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?" is a popular novelty song. It was written by Bob Merrill and first registered on September 25, 1952, as "The Doggie in the Window". On January 27, 1953, its sheet music was published in New York as "(H ...
'', as Homer and Jethro they recorded a parody version, "(How Much Is) That Hound Dog in the Window" (RCA Victor 47–5280) in March that went to number two on the US Country charts, and number 17 on the Billboard national charts. ''Billboard'' noted: "By coincidence or intent, the use of 'hound dog' also recognizes the top r&b record of the moment."Philip H. Ennis,''The Seventh Stream: The Emergence of Rocknroll in American Popular Music'' (Wesleyan University Press, 1992) p. 193. After Elvis Presley released his version of "Hound Dog" in 1956, by early November Homer & Jethro released a parody version, "Houn' Dawg" (RCA Victor 6706). * Billy Starr (Imperial 8186) This version is described as "a
juke joint Juke joint (also jukejoint, jook house, jook, or juke) is the vernacular term for an informal establishment featuring music, dancing, gambling, and drinking, primarily operated by African Americans in the southeastern United States. A juke joint ...
-honed blend of country and pre-
rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western musical styles such as country with that of rhythm and blu ...
raunch". * Eddie Hazelwood (Intro 6069) His version " two-steps in
honky-tonk A honky-tonk (also called honkatonk, honkey-tonk, or tonk) is both a bar that provides country music for the entertainment of its patrons and the style of music played in such establishments. It can also refer to the type of piano (tack piano) ...
style." * Former Hollywood child actress and 1946 National Yodeling champion Betsy Gay (Intro 6070) recorded a hillbilly version with
Joe Maphis Otis Wilson "Joe" Maphis (May 12, 1921 – June 27, 1986), was an American country music guitarist. He married singer Rose Lee Maphis in 1953 and they performed together, later referred to as "Mr & Mrs Country Music". One of the flashiest co ...
and Merle Travis at
Radio Recorders Radio Recorders, Inc. was an American recording studio located in Los Angeles, California. During the 1940s and 1950s, Radio Recorders was one of the largest independent recording studios in the world. Notable musicians recorded at Radio Recorder ...
studio in Los Angeles on March 18, 1953. ''Billboard'' described her recording: "She sings it well, shouting out the lyrics with occasional excitement, tho without the power the tune needs." * Former Texas Playboy band
Western swing Western swing music is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late 1920s in the West and South among the region's Western string bands. It is dance music, often with an up-tempo beat, which attracted huge crowds to dance ...
vocalist
Tommy Duncan Thomas Elmer Duncan (January 11, 1911 – July 25, 1967), was an American Western swing vocalist and songwriter who gained fame in the 1930s as a founding member of The Texas Playboys. He recorded and toured with bandleader Bob Wills on and o ...
and the Miller Bros. (Intro 6071) Duncan's version is described as "a smoother, jazzy reading featuring fine guitar and piano contributions."Peter Nazaret
"Nineteen Fifty-Five": Alice, Elvis And The Black Matrix"
''Journal of the African Literature Association'' 1:2 (Summer/Fall 2007) p. 157.
*Cleve Jackson (Jackson Cleveland Toombs) & His Hound Dogs (Herald 6000), On February 24, 1954, The Cozy Cole All Stars recorded an instrumental version, "Hound Dog Special" (MGM 11794), a " of Willie Mae Thornton's" version. Bass player Al Rex, who joined
Bill Haley and His Comets Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...
in the fall of 1955, 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." As Leiber and Stoller were not from Philadelphia (and Haley recorded other Leiber and Stoller songs), Haley was probably referring to Freddie Bell and Bernie Lowe, of Philadelphia's Teen Records. In later years Big Mama Thornton's version was covered by such artists as: the Dirty Blues Band on their 1968 album ''Dirty Blues Band''; Etta James; Robert Palmer; and
Macy Gray Natalie Renée McIntyre (born September 6, 1967), known by her stage name Macy Gray, is an American R&B and soul singer and actress. She is known for her distinctive raspy voice and a singing style heavily influenced by Billie Holiday. Gray ha ...
.


Answers and parodies

By the end of 1953, at least six "answer songs" that responded to 'Big Mama' Thornton's original version of "Hound Dog" were released. According to Peacock's Don Robey, these songs were "bastardizations" of the original and reduced its sales potential.James M. Salem, ''The Late Great Johnny Ace and the Transition from R&B to Rock 'N' Roll'' (University of Illinois Press, 2001) p. 84.


="Bear Cat" (1953)

= The first and most popular answer song to "Hound Dog" was "Bear Cat (The Answer To Hound Dog)" (Sun 101), recorded at
Sun Studios Sun Studio is a recording studio opened by rock-and-roll pioneer Sam Phillips at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee, on January 3, 1950. It was originally called Memphis Recording Service, sharing the same building with the Sun Records label ...
at 706 Union Avenue, Memphis, Tennessee on March 8, 1953, just two weeks after Thornton's original version was released,
Colin Escott Colin Escott (born August 31, 1949) is a British music historian and author specializing in early U.S. rock and roll and country music. His works include a biography of Hank Williams, histories of Sun Records and The Grand Ole Opry, liner note ...
and Martin Hawkins, ''Good Rockin' Tonight: Sun Records and the Birth of Rock 'n' Roll'' (Open Road Media, 2011).
and even before a review of "Hound Dog" had been published in ''Billboard''.''The Billboard'' (April 18, 1953). "Bear Cat" had new lyrics written by Sun Records founder
Sam Phillips Samuel Cornelius Phillips (January 5, 1923 – July 30, 2003) was an American record producer. He was the founder of Sun Records and Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, where he produced recordings by Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, ...
, in which he altered the gender of the singer, who bemoaned that his woman was a "bear cat", a Jazz Age slang term for "a hot-blooded or fiery girl".David Mahony, ''Excel Preliminary English'' (Pascal Press, 2003) p. 177.Peter Clayton and Peter Gammond, ''The Guinness Jazz Companion'' (Guinness Books, 1989) p. 24. According to Phillips' biographer
Peter Guralnick Peter Guralnick (born December 15, 1943, in Boston, Massachusetts) is an American music critic, author, and screenwriter. He specializes in the history of early rock and roll and has written on Elvis Presley, Sam Phillips, and Sam Cooke. Caree ...
: :Sam was knocked out by Big Mama Thornton's "Hound Dog" the first time he heard it. Performed with ripsaw gusto by the singer... and modified by a delicate Latin-flavored "rhumba-boogie" beat, the record struck a communal chord somewhere between low comedy and bedrock truth. It totally tickled Sam on both levels. "I said, my God, it's so true. You ain't nothing but a hound dog. You ain't met your responsibilities. You didn't go to work like you hould" And it gave him an immediate idea for a follow-up – from the ''man's'' point of view... "Bear Cat", " the time-honored tradition of answer songs, was a virtual carbon copy of "Hound Dog" with lyrics, chord progressions, and rhythmic structure all patterned directly on the original.Peter Guralnick, ''Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock 'n' Roll'' (Hachette UK, 2015). Looking for a suitable man to record this song, Phillips selected part-time local WDIA disk jockey Rufus Thomas, who adopted the nickname, "Rufus 'Hound Dog' Thomas" for this recording. "With his gruff Louis Armstrong-influenced voice, quick wit, and eye-popping antics, he was the perfect candidate to reply to the harsh accusations Big Mama Thornton had thrown out in her song, this time leveling them at a 'bossy woman'". Despite his reluctance to record the song and his reservations about the band assembled by Phillips, Thomas "threw himself into the song with the same brash charm that he brought to all his performances, complete with yowls, growls, and fervent imprecations". The record's spare electric guitar work by
Memphis blues The Memphis blues is a style of blues music created from the 1910s to the 1930s by musicians in the Memphis area, such as Frank Stokes, Sleepy John Estes, Furry Lewis and Memphis Minnie. The style was popular in vaudeville and medicine shows a ...
man
Joe Hill Louis Joe Hill Louis (September 23, 1921 – August 5, 1957), born Lester Hill, was an American singer, guitarist, harmonica player and one-man band. He was one of a small number of one-man blues bands (along with fellow Memphis bluesman Doctor Ross) ...
was greatly influenced by that of Pete Lewis on the original. According to James M. Salem: While "the result was peppier than Big Mama's version, with a more straight-ahead beat... hillipswas under no illusions about surpassing the original": "Hell, we didn't come close to being as good as Big Mama. She could have done that song a cappella and convinced me that, by God, you ain't nothing but a damned hound dog!" Thomas was dissatisfied with the result, especially
Joe Hill Louis Joe Hill Louis (September 23, 1921 – August 5, 1957), born Lester Hill, was an American singer, guitarist, harmonica player and one-man band. He was one of a small number of one-man blues bands (along with fellow Memphis bluesman Doctor Ross) ...
's country-style blues guitar playing. In 1978, Robert Palmer wrote: "Even today, Rufus takes perverse delight in pointing out the wrong notes in Louis's solo." Within two weeks, "Bear Cat" (Sun 181) was in stores, prompting ''Billboard'' to describe it on March 28 as "the fastest answer song to hit the market". It became both Thomas' and
Sun Records Sun Records is an American independent record label founded by producer Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee in February 1952. Sun was the first label to record Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny ...
' first hit,Rob Bowman ''Soulsville, U.S.A.: The Story of Stax Records'' (Music Sales Group, 1997) p. 9. More than 5,000 copies were ordered in the first days by distributors, and by mid-April it had charted nationally, eventually reaching number three on the R&B charts. However, as Phillips claimed a writing credit for the song,John Broven, ''Record Makers and Breakers: Voices of the Independent Rock 'n' Roll Pioneers'' (University of Illinois Press, 2009) pp. 152–153. a copyright-infringement suit ensued that nearly bankrupted Phillips' record label.Galen Gart, ed., ''First Pressings: The History of Rhythm & Blues, Vol. 4''(1954) p. 41."Blues Legend Rufus Thomas Succumbs at 84", ''Jet'' (January 7, 2002) p. 16"Answer to the 'Answers'",''The Billboard'' (April 4, 1953) p. 18.


=Other answer records

= In the months after the release of "Hound Dog" and "Bear Cat", a spate of answer records followed: * On March 18, Blues shouter Roy Brown recorded "Mr. Hound Dog's in Town" for King Records (45–4627).Walter Bruyninckx, comp., ''60 Years of Recorded Jazz 1917–1977, Volume 2'' (W. Bruyninckx) p. B-899.Nick Tosches, ''Unsung Heroes of Rock 'n' Roll: The Birth of Rock 'n' Roll in the Wild Years Before Elvis'', rev. ed (Harmony Books, 1991) p. 209.J.C. Mario
"Good Rockin' Roy Brown : part two"
''Jamm Up'' 41 (2006).
While it had the same melody and many of the same lyrics as the original, Brown is credited as the sole writer.Library of Congress. Copyright Office, ''Catalog of Copyright Entries: Musical Compositions'' (U.S. Government Printing Office, 1954) p. 37. Despite the threat of legal action, Brown's "Mr. Hound Dog's in Town" was still being advertised in ''Billboard'' on June 6, 1953."Ladder of Best Sellers From King and Federal Records", ''The Billboard'' (June 6, 1953):32. * Vocalist Charlie Gore and guitarist Louis Innis recorded "(You Ain't Nothin' But A Female) Hound Dog" (King 45–1212) for King Records on March 22.Michel Ruppli and William R. Daniels, ''The King Labels: A Discography, Volume 1''(Greenwood Press, 1985) p. 68. This song was credited to Innis, Lois Mann (a pseudonym of King Records owner
Syd Nathan Sydney Nathan (April 27, 1904 – March 5, 1968) was an American music business executive who founded King Records, a leading independent record label, in 1943. He contributed to the development of country & western music, rhythm and blues a ...
, the latter his wife's maiden name),Jeff Wallenfeldt, ed., ''The Birth of Rock and Roll: Music in the 1950s Through The 1960s'' (The Rosen Publishing Group, 2013) p. 162. and Johnny Otis.Library of Congress. Copyright Office., ''Catalog of Copyright Entries, 3D Ser Vol 7 Pt 5A'', (U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1953) p. 180. * At the request of
Leonard Chess Lejzor Szmuel Czyż (March 12, 1917 – October 16, 1969), best known as Leonard Sam Chess, was a Polish-American record company executive and the co-founder of Chess Records. He was influential in the development of electric blues, Chicago bl ...
, Blues guitarist
John Brim John Charles Brim (April 10, 1922 – October 1, 2003) was an American Chicago blues guitarist, songwriter, and singer. He wrote and recorded the song "Ice Cream Man" which was later covered by the rock band Van Halen for their first album, and ...
wrote an answer song called "Rattlesnake" for Chess Records' Checker subsidiary. In March 1953 Brim and his His Gary Kings recorded "Rattlesnake" (Checker 769) at
Universal Recording Universal Recording Corporation was a recording studio in Chicago founded by Bill Putnam, Sr. for the purpose of investigating new recording techniques and the development of specialized recording equipment. Universal Recording was seminal i ...
in Chicago. "Rattlesnake" and "It Was a Dream" were backed by
Little Walter Marion Walter Jacobs (May 1, 1930 – February 15, 1968), known as Little Walter, was an American blues musician, singer, and songwriter, whose revolutionary approach to the harmonica had a strong impact on succeeding generations, earning hi ...
on
blues harp The Richter-tuned harmonica, or 10-hole harmonica (in Asia) or blues harp (in America), is the most widely known type of harmonica. It is a variety of diatonic harmonica, with ten holes which offer the player 19 notes (10 holes times a draw and ...
; Willie Dixon on string bass;
Fred Below Frederick Below, Jr. (September 6, 1926 – August 13, 1988) was an American blues drummer, best known for his work with Little Walter and Chess Records in the 1950s. According to Tony Russell, Below was a creator of much of the rhythmic struc ...
on drums; and Louis and Dave Myers on guitar. However, when Don Robey threatened an injunction against Sun Records for the similar "Bear Cat", Leonard and
Phil Chess Philip Chess (born Fiszel Czyż; March 27, 1921 – October 18, 2016) was a Polish-born American record producer and company executive, the co-founder with his brother of Chess Records. Early life Chess was born to a Polish-Jewish family in the ...
, decided to not to release "Rattlesnake" at that time. In 1969 these songs were released officially on ''Whose Muddy Shoes'' (1969: Chess LP 1537) with songs by both Brim and
Elmore James Elmore James ( Brooks; January 27, 1918 – May 24, 1963) was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, and bandleader. Noted for his use of loud amplification and his stirring voice, James was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ...
, and the backing musicians credited as "his Stompers". *
Jake Porter Jake Vernon Haven Porter (August 3, 1916 – March 25, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter and record producer. Born in Oakland, California, Porter started playing violin at age seven and switched to cornet at nine. He played locally in the ...
's Combo Records released "Real Gone Hound Dog" (Combo 25), "an obscure 'answer' record to 'Hound Dog'","Review"
''AMG AllMusic Guide: Pop Albums: Central Rocks: The Central Ave Scene 1951–58, Vol. 2''.
by
Chuck Higgins Charles Williams Higgins (April 17, 1924 – September 14, 1999) was an American saxophonist. Higgins relocated from his birthplace of Gary, Indiana to Los Angeles in his teens, where he played trumpet and went to school at the Los Angeles Con ...
and His Mellotones' with a vocal by Higgins' brother " Daddy Cleanhead". The composition was credited to Higgins and Porter (as V. Haven). * "Call Me a Hound Dog", written by
Bob Geddins Robert L. Geddins (February 6, 1913 – February 16, 1991) was an American San Francisco Bay Area blues and rhythm and blues musician and record producer. Geddins was born in Highbank, Texas, United States, a town ten miles south of Marlin, who c ...
, in which the hound dog states his case, was recorded by Blues singer Jimmy Wilson (as Jimmie Wilson) and His All Stars (with Hal "King" Solomon on piano) and released by Geddins' Big Town Records in May 1953 (Big Town Records 103). The review in the May 23 edition of ''Billboard'' describes this song as "the latest, and possibly the last in the long line of answers to 'Hound Dog', featuring Jimmy Wilson singing the tune okay style. Ork backs him in a blues manner but they could have added a stronger beat." * Former '' Our Gang'' child actor
Eugene Jackson Eugene W. Jackson II (December 25, 1916 – October 26, 2001) was an American child actor who was a regular of the '' Our Gang'' short series during the silent Pathé era. Career When he joined the gang, Jackson replaced the series' firs ...
and actress
Juanita Moore Juanita Moore (October 19, 1914 – January 1, 2014) was an American film, television, and stage actress. She was the fifth black actor to be nominated for an Academy Award in any category, and the third in the Supporting Actress category at a t ...
(backed by the Eugene Jackson Trio and All Stars) also recorded "You Call Me a Hound Dog" about this time which was released on
John Dolphin John Robert Vernon Dolphin (1 October 19052 May 1973) was a British engineer and inventor, who joined the Secret Intelligence Service and then became the Commanding Officer of the top-secret Second World War Special Operations Executive (SOE) " ...
's
Recorded In Hollywood Recorded In Hollywood was an independent American record label specializing in rhythm and blues, active from the late 1940s to the end of the 1950s, which issued several sides by artists significant to the genre. John Dolphin (music producer), Joh ...
label (421A). * "New Hound Dog" (Big Town 116) by Frank "Dual Trumpeter" Motley and His Motley Crew, with vocals provided by
Curley Bridges Curley Wilson Bridges (February 7, 1934 – November 27, 2014) was an American electric blues, rock and roll, and rhythm and blues singer, pianist and songwriter. Life and career Bridges was born in Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina. His father, G ...
Bill Munson, "Bridges, Curley", ''The Blues Encyclopedia'', eds. Edward Komara and Peter Lee (Routledge, 2004) p. 147. was recorded in October 1954 for Big Town Records, a subsidiary of 4 Star Records, owned by
Bob Geddins Robert L. Geddins (February 6, 1913 – February 16, 1991) was an American San Francisco Bay Area blues and rhythm and blues musician and record producer. Geddins was born in Highbank, Texas, United States, a town ten miles south of Marlin, who c ...
. Motley is credited as the sole composer, and "King" Herbert Whitaker plays tenor saxophone. This song is described as "the first rocking rearrangement of 'Hound Dog'." It was re-released in Canada in 1956 by
Quality Records Quality Records was a Canadian entertainment company which released music albums in Canada on behalf of American record labels. They also released recordings by Canadian artists. The company operated between 1950 and 1985 with offices in Toron ...
(Quality K1544). When the dust settled, the publishing for "Hound Dog" (in all variations) remained with Lion, and writing credit with Leiber and Stoller. In April, 1954, ''Billboards Rolontz summed up the events thusly: "The year 1953 saw an important precedent set in regard to answer tunes… since the 'Hound Dog' decision, few record firms have attempted to 'answer' smash hits by other companies by using same tune with different lyrics."


"Rip offs"

Two records were released that were neither cover versions of nor answers to Thornton's release, yet used a similar melody without any attribution to Leiber and Stoller. The first was
Smiley Lewis A smiley, sometimes referred to as a smiley face, is a basic ideogram that represents a smiling face. Since the 1950s it has become part of popular culture worldwide, used either as a standalone ideogram, or as a form of communication, such a ...
's "Play Girl", credited to D. Bartholomew and released by the Imperial Records label (Imperial 45–5234) by the end of March 1953. Described as a "stomping uptempo boogie rocker", it began: "You ain't nothin' but a Play Girl / Staying out all night long". In April 1955,
female impersonator A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part of ...
Jesse "Big 'Tiny'" Kennedy recorded "Country Boy" accompanied by His Orchestra that was released by RCA's
Groove Records Groove Records was a subsidiary of RCA Victor records, founded by '' Billboard'' writer Bob Rolontz in 1953 as a rhythm and blues label. The label tried hard to break into the R&B market. Piano Red had its first hit but Mickey & Sylvia was its ...
(Groove 4G-0106) by May 21. While credited solely to Kennedy, this song has a similar melody to "Hound Dog": "'Country Boy' has a deceptively slouching flip on the 'Hound Dog' motif – this time with Tiny proclaiming proudly that he 'ain't nothing but a country boy'". In the early 1970s, Robert Loers, owner of Dutch label Redita Records, found a song with the same melody as "Hound Dog" called "(You Ain't Nuttin' But a) Juicehead" on an anonymous acetate at
Select-o-Hits Select-O-Hits is an American independent record label distributor of music based in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. They have been in business for almost 60 years, and distribute artists that include Johnnie Taylor, Jimmy Buffett, Three 6 M ...
, the Memphis distributorship owned by Sam Phillips' brother, Tom, where Sun artifacts were stored. Philip H. Ennis sees "Two Hound Dogs", which was recorded on May 10, 1955, by Bill Haley & His Comets (Decca 29552), as a response to Thornton's recording. While not an answer record in the traditional sense, the lyric characterized "Rhythm" and "Blues" as the titular "Two Hound Dogs," an apparent testament to the stature of "Hound Dog."


Freddie Bell and the Bellboys' versions (1955–1956)

By 1955 Philadelphia-based Teen Records co-founder Bernie Lowe suspected that "Hound Dog" could potentially have greater appeal, but knew it had to be sanitized for mainstream acceptance, and so asked popular Las Vegas lounge act
Freddie Bell Ferdinando Dominick Bello, known as Freddie Bell, (September 29, 1931 – February 10, 2008), was an American musician, whose group, Freddie Bell and the Bellboys, were influential in the development of rock and roll in the 1950s. He was a promin ...
of
Freddie Bell and the Bellboys Freddie Bell and the Bellboys were an American vocal group, influential in the development of rock and roll in the 1950s. Their recordings include " Hound Dog", " The Hucklebuck" and "Giddy Up a Ding Dong". Career The group were established in 1952 ...
, who had been performing songs with "tongue-in-cheek" humour as the band in residence at The Silver Queen Bar and Cocktail Lounge at The Sands Hotel and Casino soon after its opening in December 1952,James P. Kraft, ''Vegas at Odds: Labor Conflict in a Leisure Economy, 1960–1985'' (JHU Press, 2010) p. 72. to rewrite the lyrics for their first release on his label. Bell removed innuendoes like "You can wag your tail but I ain't gonna feed you no more" and replaced them with sanitized lyrics, changing a racy song about a disappointing lover into a song that was literally about a dog. Musically, he gave the song a rock and roll rhythm. Jerry Leiber, the original lyricist, found these changes irritating, saying that the rewritten words made "no sense". Described as "one of their trademark spoofs," the Bellboys version became a staple of their Las Vegas act.Jim Miller, ''Flowers in the Dustbin: The Rise of Rock and Roll, 1947–1977'' (Simon & Schuster, 1999) p. 135.''All Roots Lead to Rock: Legends of Early Rock 'n' Roll: a Bear Family Reader'', ed. Colin Escott (Schirmer Books, 1999) p. 75.Robert Fink, "Elvis Everywhere: Musicology and Popular Music Studies at the Twilight of the Canon", in Roger Beebe, Denise Fulbrook, Ben Saunders, ed., ''Rock Over the Edge: Transformations in Popular Music Culture'' (Duke University Press, 2002) p. 97. In early 1955 this version of "Hound Dog" became the first record released on Teen Records (TEEN 101), "a subsidiary of the equally obscure Sound Records", that was owned by Lowe; jazz impresario Nat Segal, who owned Downbeat, the first integrated nightclub in Philadelphia; and partially by American Bandstand's creator and first host Bob Horn. Their version of "Hound Dog", which includes "arf arf" dog sounds made by the band throughout the song, also included the "most overused rhythmic pattern" of the 1950s, the three-beat Latin bass riff pioneered by
Dave Bartholomew David Louis Bartholomew (December 24, 1918 – June 23, 2019) was an American musician, bandleader, composer, arranger, and record producer. He was prominent in the music of New Orleans throughout the second half of the 20th century. Originally ...
that was also used in Rufus Thomas' "Bear Cat", a 1953 answer song to Thornton's original recording, and subsequently in Presley's 1956 recording. In June 1984 music researcher and historian George A. Moonoogian also "found a stylistic similarity" between Frank "Dual Trumpeter" Motley & His Crew's 1954 number "New Hound Dog" (Big Town 116) and Bell's 1955 Teen Records release of "Hound Dog". On the single's label, authorship is credited to and Stoller. No credit is given to Bell or anyone else for the revised lyrics. Their recording of "Hound Dog" was a local hit in the Philadelphia area, and received "lots of radio play on the east coast, and Bell found himself with a regional hit, that included Philadelphia, Cleveland, and New York. Despite "Hound Dog" spending 16 weeks at number one on the pre-
Dick Clark Richard Wagstaff Clark (November 30, 1929April 18, 2012) was an American radio and television personality, television producer and film actor, as well as a cultural icon who remains best known for hosting '' American Bandstand'' from 1956 to 19 ...
''Bandstand'', it attracted no national attention. However, the regional popularity of this release, along with the group's showmanship, yielded a tour; an appearance in the seminal pioneer Rock and Roll musical film '' Rock Around the Clock'' in January 1956; and eventually a recording contract with Mercury Records'
Wing Records Wing Records was a record label subsidiary of Mercury Records founded in 1955, that found its greatest success during the late 1950s. In 1986, the label was revived by Mercury's parent company, PolyGram and the label had brief success with R&B ...
subsidiary by February 1956. In May 1956 (two months before Presley recorded his version), Bell and the Bell Boys recorded a more up ''tempo'' version of the song for Mercury that was over 20 seconds shorter, and that also omitted the comedic "arf arf" dog sounds of their 1955 Teen Records version. However, Mercury did not release this new version until after the success of Presley's version. Initially released in France in late 1956 on an EP ''Rock 'n' Roll'' (Barclay 14159), it was released subsequently in 1957 in Australia (July 1957: Mercury Records 45152), Sweden (''Rock'n'Roll Vol. 2''; Mercury EP-1-3502), and Norway (Mercury EP MN5). As the legal dispute about its composition had not been resolved, authorship of the Mercury Records version is attributed to Leiber-Stoller-Otis. Mercury finally released Freddie Bell and the Bellboys' new version of "Hound Dog" in the USA on their debut album ''Rock & Roll ... All Flavors'' (Mercury MG 20289) in January 1958, but now crediting Leiber & Stoller only. Both the 1955 Teen Records (2:45) and the 1956 Mercury Records (2:22) versions of "Hound Dog" are included in the 1996 compilation album ''Rockin' Is Our Business '' (Germany: Bear Family Records BCD 15901).


Elvis Presley's version (1956)

Elvis Presley and his band first encountered "Hound Dog" at the
Sands Casino The Sands Hotel and Casino was a historic American hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada, United States, that operated from 1952 to 1996. Designed by architect Wayne McAllister, with a prominent high sign, the Sands was the sevent ...
in
Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
, Nevada in 1956.Scotty Moore (with James L. Dickerson), ''Scotty and Elvis: Aboard the Mystery Train'' (Univ. Press of Mississippi, 2013) p. 111. Presley had been booked from April 23 through May 6, 1956 to appear at the Venus Room of the
New Frontier Hotel and Casino The New Frontier (formerly Hotel Last Frontier and The Frontier) was a hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The property began as a casino and dance club known as Pair O' Dice, opened in 1931. It was sold in 1941, and inco ...
as an "extra added attraction", third on the bill to the Freddy Martin Orchestra and comedian
Shecky Greene Shecky Greene (born Fred Sheldon Greenfield; April 8, 1926) is an American comedian. He is known for his nightclub performances in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he became a headliner in the 1950s and '60s. He has appeared in several films, including ' ...
. It was his first appearance in Las Vegas. However, "because of audience dissatisfaction, low attendance, and unsavory behavior by underage fans", the booking was reduced to one week. Freddie Bell and the Bellboys were still the resident act at the Silver Queen Bar in the Sands, and "Hound Dog" remained a staple for them. Presley and his band attended a performance and loved their burlesque reworking of "Hound Dog".Robert Fink
"Elvis Everywhere: Musicology and Popular Music Studies at the Twilight of the Canon"
''American Music'' 16:2 (University of Illinois Press, Summer 1998) p. 168.
According to Paul W. Papa: "From the first time Elvis heard this song he was hooked. He went back over and over again until he learned the chords and lyrics." When asked about "Hound Dog", Presley's guitarist
Scotty Moore Winfield Scott Moore III (December 27, 1931 – June 28, 2016) was an American guitarist who formed The Blue Moon Boys in 1954, Elvis Presley's backing band. He was studio and touring guitarist for Presley between 1954 and 1968. Rock critic ...
and his drummer
D. J. Fontana Dominic Joseph Fontana (March 15, 1931 – June 13, 2018) was an American musician best known as the drummer for Elvis Presley for 14 years. In 1955, he was hired to play drums for Presley, which marked the beginning of a 15-year relationshi ...
agreed that Elvis had borrowed the Bellboys version after seeing them perform the song live. In 1992, Leiber and Stoller confirmed that Presley was familiar with Thornton's record of the song but "he didn’t do her version"; he had learned the song from Freddie Bell & The Bellboys. Presley first added "Hound Dog" to his live performances at the
New Frontier Hotel The New Frontier (formerly Hotel Last Frontier and The Frontier) was a hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The property began as a casino and dance club known as Pair O' Dice, opened in 1931. It was sold in 1941, and inco ...
in Las Vegas. Ace Collins indicates that "Far from being the frenetic, hard-driving song that he would eventually record, Elvis' early live renditions of 'Hound Dog' usually moved pretty slowly, with an almost burlesque feel." Presley modelled his performance, particularly his hip gyrations, on the Bellboys version, which was a Las Vegas-style comic burlesque. Just weeks after they had seen Bell and the Bellboys perform, "Hound Dog" became Elvis and Scotty and Bill's closing number for the first time on May 15, 1956, at Ellis Auditorium in
Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...
, during the Memphis Cotton Festival before an audience of 7,000. The song remained his standard closer until the late 1960s. By the spring of 1956, Presley was fast becoming a national phenomenon and teenagers came to his concerts in unprecedented numbers, with the enthusiastic reaction – particularly to "Hound Dog" – causing riots at some performances. Presley researcher Guillermo F. Perez-Argüello contends that:


Response

Larry Birnbaum described Elvis Presley's rendition of "Hound Dog" as "an emblem of the rock 'n' roll revolution".Larry Birnbaum, ''Before Elvis: The Prehistory of Rock 'n' Roll'' (Rowman & Littlefield, 2012) p. 234. George Plasketes argues that Elvis Presley's version of "Hound Dog" should not be considered a cover "since ost listeners… were innocent of Willie Mae Thornton's original 1953 release".George Plasketes, ''Play It Again: Cover Songs in Popular Music'' (Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2010) p. 243. Michael Coyle asserts that "Hound Dog", like almost all of Presley's "covers were all of material whose brief moment in the limelight was over, without the songs having become standards." While, because of its popularity, Presley's recording "arguably usurped the original", Plasketes concludes: "anyone who's ever heard the Big Mama Thornton original would probably argue otherwise." Presley was aware of and appreciated Big Mama Thornton's original recording of "Hound Dog", and had a copy in his personal record collection. Ron Smith, a schoolfriend of Presley's, says he remembers Elvis singing along to a version by Tommy Duncan (lead singer for the classic lineup of
Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys James Robert Wills (March 6, 1905 – May 13, 1975) was an American Western swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader. Considered by music authorities as the founder of Western swing, he was known widely as the King of Western Swing (although S ...
). According to another schoolmate, Elvis' favorite r'n'b song was "Bear Cat (the Answer to Hound Dog)" by Rufus Thomas, a hero of Presley's. Agreeing with Robert Fink, who claims that "Hound Dog" as performed by Presley was intended as a burlesque, "troping off white overreactions to a black sexual innuendo", Freya Jarman-Ivens asserts that "Presley's version of 'Hound Dog' started its life as a blackface comedy", in the manner of
Al Jolson Al Jolson (born Eizer Yoelson; June 9, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was a Lithuanian-American Jewish singer, comedian, actor, and vaudevillian. He was one of the United States' most famous and highest-paid stars of the 1920s, and was self-billed ...
, but more especially "African-American performers with a penchant for 'clowning' Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, and Louis Jordan. It was Freddie Bell and the Bellboys' performance of the song (with Bell's amended lyrics) that influenced Presley's decision to perform, and later record and release, his own version: "Elvis's version of 'Hound Dog' (1956) came about, not as an attempt to cover Thornton's record, but as an imitation of a ''parody'' of her record performed by Freddie Bell and the Bellboys… The words, the tempo, and the arrangement of Elvis' 'Hound Dog' come not from Thornton's version of the song, but from the Bellboys'." According to Rick Coleman, the Bellboys' version "featured
ave ''Alta Velocidad Española'' (''AVE'') is a service of high-speed rail in Spain operated by Renfe, the Spanish national railway company, at speeds of up to . As of December 2021, the Spanish high-speed rail network, on part of which the AVE s ...
Bartholomew's three-beat Latin riff, which had been heard in Bill Haley's '
Shake, Rattle and Roll "Shake, Rattle and Roll" is a song, written in 1954 by Jesse Stone (usually credited as Charles Calhoun, his songwriting name). The original recording by Big Joe Turner is ranked number 127 on the ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's list of The 500 Grea ...
'."Rick Coleman, ''Blue Monday: Fats Domino and the Lost Dawn of Rock 'n' Roll'' (Da Capo Press, 2007) p. 125. Just as Haley had borrowed the riff from Bartholomew, Presley borrowed it from Bell and the Bellboys. The Latin riff form that was used in Presley's "Hound Dog" was known as "Habanera rhythm," which is a Spanish and African-American musical beat form. After the release of "Hound Dog" by Presley, the Habanera rhythm gained much popularity in American popular music. When asked if Bell had any objections to Presley recording his own version, Bell gave
Colonel Tom Parker Thomas Andrew Parker (born Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk; June 26, 1909 January 21, 1997),
, Presley's manager, a copy of his 1955 Teen Records' recording, hoping that if Presley recorded it, "he might reap some benefit when his own version was released on an album." According to Bell, " arkerpromised me that if I gave him the song, the next time Elvis went on tour, I would be the opening act for him—which never happened." In another interview Bell said: "I hope my career is more than giving 'Hound Dog' to Elvis". In May 1956, two months before Presley's release, Bell re-recorded a more frantic version of the song for the Mercury label; however, it was not released as a single until 1957. It was later included on Bell's 1957 album, ''Rock & Roll…All Flavors'' (Mercury Records MG 20289).


Television performances

Presley first performed "Hound Dog" for a nationwide television audience on ''
The Milton Berle Show ''Texaco Star Theater'' was an American comedy-variety show, broadcast on radio from 1938 to 1949 and telecast from 1948 to 1956. It was one of the first successful examples of American television broadcasting, remembered as the show that gave Mi ...
'' on June 5, 1956. It was his second appearance on Berle's program. At Berle's request, Presley appeared without his guitar, the first time he had done so on national television. By this time, Presley's band had added instrumental flourishes to the song: Scotty Moore had added a guitar solo, and D.J. Fontana had added a
drum roll A drum roll (or roll for short) is a technique used by percussionists to produce a sustained sound for the duration of a written note.Cirone, Anthony J. (1991). Simple Steps to Snare Drum', p.30-31. Alfred. . "The purpose of the roll is t ...
between verses. The performance started in an upbeat tempo in the style of the Bellboys, but dropped to a half tempo for the dramatic finish. Presley's movements during the performance were energetic and sexually charged, especially his hip gyrations, and the reactions of young women in the studio audience were enthusiastic, as shown on the broadcast.Robert Fink
"Elvis Everywhere: Musicology and Popular Music Studies at the Twilight of the Canon"
''American Music'' 16:2 (University of Illinois Press, Summer 1998) p. 170.
According to Robert Fink, "Hound Dog" as performed by Presley on Berle's show was intended to be humorous, "troping off white overreactions to a black sexual innuendo". Over 40,000,000 people saw the performance.Jake Austen, ''TV-a-Go-Go: Rock on TV from American Bandstand to American Idol'' (Chicago Review Press, 2005) p. 11. Unfortunately for Presley, the mainstream public did not find the sexually charged performance amusing, and controversy erupted. It was the first major controversy of Presley's career. Letters of protest poured into the NBC mailroom, critics called the performance vulgar, moral watchdogs raised concerns about juvenile delinquency, and even the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
published an opinion piece entitled "Beware Elvis Presley". The performance earned Presley the
sobriquet A sobriquet ( ), or soubriquet, is a nickname, sometimes assumed, but often given by another, that is descriptive. A sobriquet is distinct from a pseudonym, as it is typically a familiar name used in place of a real name, without the need of expla ...
"Elvis the Pelvis".
Ed Sullivan Edward Vincent Sullivan (September 28, 1901 – October 13, 1974) was an American television personality, impresario, sports and entertainment reporter, and syndicated columnist for the ''New York Daily News'' and the Chicago Tribune New Yor ...
, host of a popular televised variety show, publicly stated that he would never feature Presley.
Steve Allen Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen (December 26, 1921 – October 30, 2000) was an American television personality, radio personality, musician, composer, actor, comedian, and writer. In 1954, he achieved national fame as the co-cre ...
, who had already booked Presley for ''
The Steve Allen Show ''The Steve Allen Show'' was an American variety show hosted by Steve Allen from June 1956 to June 1960 on NBC, from September 1961 to December 1961 on ABC,
'' on NBC, faced pressure from network executives to cancel the performance. Allen refused, insisting he would control the performance so it would not offend the public's sensibilities. Presley appeared on ''
The Steve Allen Show ''The Steve Allen Show'' was an American variety show hosted by Steve Allen from June 1956 to June 1960 on NBC, from September 1961 to December 1961 on ABC,
'' on July 1 that year. Steve Allen, who was notoriously contemptuous of rock 'n' roll music and especially songs such as "Hound Dog", ensured that the performance had a comedic bent, cracking jokes and presenting Presley with a signed prop toilet paper roll as a play on the name of the genre. Presley performed in a
tuxedo Black tie is a semi-formal Western dress code for evening events, originating in British and American conventions for attire in the 19th century. In British English, the dress code is often referred to synecdochically by its principal element ...
while singing an abbreviated version of "Hound Dog" to an actual
top hat A top hat (also called a high hat, a cylinder hat, or, informally, a topper) is a tall, flat-crowned hat for men traditionally associated with formal wear in Western dress codes, meaning white tie, morning dress, or frock coat. Traditional ...
-wearing
Basset Hound The Basset Hound is a short-legged breed of dog in the hound family. The Basset is a scent hound that was originally bred for the purpose of hunting hare. Their sense of smell and ability to ''ground-scent'' is second only to the Bloodhound.Har ...
. Presley was reportedly a good sport about the silliness while on the show, but Presley would later recall it as an extremely embarrassing moment.Robert Fink
"Elvis Everywhere: Musicology and Popular Music Studies at the Twilight of the Canon"
''American Music'' 16:2 (University of Illinois Press, Summer 1998) p. 169.
Scotty Moore later suggested that Presley's anger about the way Allen orchestrated the performance drove the aggressive style that he recorded "Hound Dog" in the very next day. Although Ed Sullivan had publicly stated he would never invite Presley onto his show, the ratings success of Presley's appearance on ''The Steve Allen Show'' convinced him to reconsider. Sullivan wound up paying $50,000 for Presley to appear on the ''
Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the '' CBS Sunday Night ...
'' three times; "Hound Dog" was performed during each appearance. On September 9, 1956, with the song topping several U.S. charts, Presley's set featured an abbreviated version of "Hound Dog". During his second appearance on October 28, Presley jokingly introduced the song as "one of the saddest songs we've ever heard," before playing it in full. In the third and final appearance on January 6, 1957, Presley performed seven songs, including "Hound Dog". This proved to be Presley's last live performance on American television.


Recording

For 7 hours from 2:00 pm on July 2, 1956, the day after the ''Steve Allen Show'' performance, Presley recorded "Hound Dog" along with "
Don't Be Cruel "Don't Be Cruel" is a song that was recorded by Elvis Presley and written by Otis Blackwell in 1956.Victor (2008), ''The Elvis Encyclopedia'', p.115-116 It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002. In 2004, it was listed #197 in '' Rol ...
" and "Any Way You Want Me" for RCA Victor at
RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...
's New York City studio with his regular band of Scotty Moore on lead guitar,
Bill Black William Patton Black Jr. (September 17, 1926 – October 21, 1965) was an American musician and bandleader who is noted as one of the pioneers of rock and roll. He played in Elvis Presley's early trio. Black later formed Bill Black's Combo. Ear ...
on bass, D. J. Fontana on drums, and backing vocals from
the Jordanaires The Jordanaires were an American vocal quartet that formed as a gospel group in 1948. Over the years, they recorded both sacred and secular music for recording companies such as Capitol Records, RCA Victor, Columbia Records, Decca Records, Vocal ...
. Despite its popularity in his live shows, Presley had neither planned nor prepared to record "Hound Dog", but agreed to do so at the insistence of RCA's assigned producer Stephen H. Sholes, who argued that "'Hound Dog' was so identified with Elvis that fans would demand a record of the concert standard."Ace Collins, ''Untold Gold: The Stories Behind Elvis's #1 Hits'' (Chicago Review Press, 2005) p. 30. According to Ace Collins: "Elvis may not have wanted to record 'Hound Dog', but he had a definite idea of how he wanted the finished product to sound. Though he usually slowed it down and treated it like a blues number in concert, in the studio Elvis wanted the song to come off as fast and dynamic." While the producing credit was given to Sholes, the studio recordings reveal that Presley produced the songs himself, which is verified by the band members. Gordon Stoker, First Tenor of the
Jordanaires The Jordanaires were an American vocal quartet that formed as a gospel group in 1948. Over the years, they recorded both sacred and secular music for recording companies such as Capitol Records, RCA Victor, Columbia Records, Decca Records, Voc ...
, who were chosen to provide backup vocals, recalls: "They had demos on almost everything that Elvis recorded, and we'd take it from the demo. We'd listen to the demo, most of the time, and we'd take it from the demo. We had (Big) Mama Thornton's record on 'Hound Dog', since she had a record on that. After listening to it we actually thought it was awful and couldn't figure out why Elvis wanted to do that." However, what Stoker did not realize was that Presley wanted to record the version he saw in Las Vegas by Freddie Bell and the Bellboys that he had been performing since May. As session pianist Emidio "Shorty Long" Vagnoni left to work on a rehearsal for a stage show, Stoker plays piano on this recording of "Hound Dog". As Stoker was unable to also sing first tenor, "the Jordanaires try to come up with a combined sound as best they can to cover it, and Gordon laughs as he states, 'That's one of the worst sounds we ever got on any record!' However Elvis insists on doing the song, and the results, albeit without Gordon singing tenor, will still do more than please the masses. Gordon also related that Elvis very much knew in his mind what he wanted the final results to be so they didn't spend a lot of time working out tempos." In response to journalist Dave Schwensen, who said: "I remember reading an interview a few years ago with
Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943), often referred to during the 1960s and 1970s as "Keith Richard", is an English musician and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the co-founder, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-princi ...
from the Rolling Stones... "He was talking about the second guitar break on the recording of 'Hound Dog' and said it sounded like you just took off your guitar, dropped it on the floor and it got the perfect sound. He said he's never been able to figure out how you did that.", in 2002 Scotty Moore indicated: " Musicologist Robert Fink asserts that "Elvis drove the band through thirty-one takes, slowly fashioning a menacing, rough-trade version quite different than the one they had been performing on the stage." The result of Presley's efforts was an "angry hopped-up version" of "Hound Dog". Citing Presley's anger at his treatment on the ''Steve Allen Show'' the previous evening,
Peter Nazareth Peter Nazareth (born 27 April 1940) is a Ugandan-born literary critic and writer of fiction and drama. Life Peter Nazareth was born in Uganda of Indian Goan ancestry, and his mother's family was earlier based in Malaya-Malaysia-Singapore. He wa ...
sees this recording as "revenge on Steve ("you ain't no friend of mine") Allen, and as a protest at being censored on national TV." In analyzing Presley's recording, Fink asserts that In the end, Presley chose version 28, declaring: "This is the one." During the day Presley's manager
Colonel Tom Parker Thomas Andrew Parker (born Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk; June 26, 1909 January 21, 1997),
told RCA vice president Larry Kananga that "Hound Dog" "may become such a big hit that RCA may have to change its corporate symbol from the 'Victor Dog' to the 'Hound Dog'." After this recording, Presley performed this "angry hopped-up version" of "Hound Dog" in his concerts, and also on his performances on ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' on September 9 and October 28, 1956.


Release and reception

"Hound Dog" (G2WW-5935) was initially released as the
B-side to the single "Don't Be Cruel" (G2WW-5936) on July 13, 1956. Soon after the single was re-released with "Hound Dog" first and in larger print than "Don't Be Cruel" on the record sleeve. 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 and peaked at number one 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. By August 18, 1956, Peacock Records had re-released Big Mama Thornton's original recording of "Hound Dog", backing it with "Rock-a-Bye Baby" (Peacock 5–1612), but it failed to chart. Stoller learned of the Presley cover from Leiber after returning from vacation in Europe. He expressed some disappointment in the success of the cover: "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." Leiber and Stoller tired of explaining that Presley had dropped most of their lyrics. For example, Leiber complained about Presley adding the line, "You ain't never caught a rabbit, and you ain't no friend of mine", calling it "inane…It doesn't mean anything to me." Forty years later, Leiber told music journalist Rikky Rooksby that Presley had stamped the hit with his own identity: "(A) white singer from Memphis who's a hell of a singer—he does have some black attitudes—takes the song over… But here's the thing: we didn't make it. His version is like a combination of country and
skiffle Skiffle is a genre of folk music with influences from American folk music, blues, country, bluegrass, and jazz, generally performed with a mixture of manufactured and homemade or improvised instruments. Originating as a form in the United State ...
. It's not black. He sounds like
Hank Snow Clarence Eugene "Hank" Snow (May 9, 1914 – December 20, 1999) was a Canadian-American country music artist. Most popular in the 1950s, he had a career that spanned more than 50 years, he recorded 140 albums and charted more than 85 singles on ...
. In most cases where we are attributed with rock and roll, it's misleading, because what we did is usually the original record—which is R&B—and some other producer (and a lot of them are great) covered our original record." In September 1956, Democratic congressman
Emanuel Celler Emanuel Celler (May 6, 1888 – January 15, 1981) was an American politician from New York who served in the United States House of Representatives for almost 50 years, from March 1923 to January 1973. He served as the dean of the United States H ...
expressed disgusted at "the bad taste that is exemplified by Elvis Presley's 'Hound Dog' music, with his animal gyrations". In October 1956 '' Melody Maker'' critic
Steve Race Stephen Russell "Steve" Race OBE (1 April 192122 June 2009) was a British composer, pianist and radio and television presenter. Biography Born in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, the son of a lawyer, Race learned the piano from the age of five.Spencer ...
reacted negatively to Presley's rendition of "Hound Dog", saying that "for sheer repulsiveness coupled with the monotony of incoherence, Hound Dog hit a new low in my experience." Race later stated: "it is a thoroughly bad record", lacking in "tone, intelligibility, musicianship, taste ndsubtlety", and defying "the decent limits of guitar amplification". In 1957 Frank Sinatra supported US Senator
George Smathers George Armistead Smathers (November 14, 1913 – January 20, 2007) was an American lawyer and politician who represented the state of Florida in the United States Senate from 1951 until 1969 and in the United States House from 1947 to 1951, as ...
' crusade against "inferior music", including "Hound Dog", which Sinatra sarcastically referred to as "a masterpiece." Oscar Hammerstein II had "a particular loathing of 'Hound Dog'". In 1960, Perry Como told ''
The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely ...
'': "When I hear 'Hound Dog' I have to vomit a little, but in 1975 it will probably be a slightly ancient classic." Albin J. Zak III, Professor of Music at the State University of New York, Albany, in his inaugural
American Musicological Society The American Musicological Society (AMS) is a musicological organization which researches, promotes and produces publications on music. Founded in 1934, the AMS was begun by leading American musicologists of the time, and was crucial in legitim ...
/
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music an ...
lecture
"'A Thoroughly Bad Record': Elvis Presley's 'Hound Dog' as Rock and Roll Manifesto"
in October 2011 asserted: "In retrospect… we can recognize defining moments of crystallization… The record was widely scorned by music industry veterans and high-pop aficionados, yet in its rude enthusiasm it represents an emphatic assertion of aesthetic principle at the dawn of rock and roll." In 1997
Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
indicated that Presley's record influenced his decision to get into music: "What got me into the whole thing in the beginning wasn't songwriting. When 'Hound Dog' came across the radio, there was nothing in my mind that said, 'Wow, what a great song, I wonder who wrote that?'… It was just… it was just there." 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 eleven weeks at number one—a record not eclipsed until Boyz II Men's " End of the Road" held at the top for 13 weeks in 1992. It stayed in the number one spot until it was replaced by " Love Me Tender", also recorded by Elvis. ''Billboard'' ranked it as the number two song for 1956. "Hound Dog" would go on to sell 10 million copies worldwide, including 5 million in the United States alone. In 1958 the "Hound Dog"/"Don't Be Cruel" single became just the third record to sell more than three million copies, following Bing Crosby's " White Christmas" and Gene Autry's "
Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a fictional reindeer created by Robert L. May. Rudolph is usually depicted as the ninth and youngest of Santa Claus's reindeer, using his luminous red nose to lead the reindeer team and guide Santa's sleigh on ...
". Despite its commercial success, "Elvis used to say that 'Hound Dog' was the silliest song he'd ever sung and thought it might sell ten or twelve records right around his folks' neighborhood." By the end of summer 1956, after Presley's recording of the song was a million-seller, Freddie Bell, who had introduced the song to Presley in April, told an interviewer: "I didn't feel bad about that at all. In fact, I encouraged him to record it." However, after the success of Presley's recording, "Bell sued to get some of the composer royalties because he had changed the words and indeed the song, and he would have made millions as the songwriter of Elvis's version: but he lost because he did not ask Leiber & Stoller for permission to make the changes and thereby add his name as songwriter."


Later notable performances

Presley's final performance on stage for almost 8 years was a benefit concert for the
USS Arizona Memorial The USS ''Arizona'' Memorial, at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii, marks the resting place of 1,102 of the 1,177 sailors and Marines killed on during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and commemorates the events of that day. The ...
on Sunday, March 25, 1961, at the Bloch Arena in
Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the R ...
. During this concert, which raised nearly $65,000 the USS Arizona Memorial building fund, Presley closed the concert singing "Hound Dog". Presley performed a high-energy version of "Hound Dog" in his legendary '' Comeback Special'' that aired on December 3, 1968, on the NBC television network. After the ratings success of this program, on July 31, 1969, Presley returned to perform in Las Vegas for the first time since his unsuccessful performances in April and May 1956. Booked for a four-week, fifty-seven show engagement at the International Hotel, which has just been built and has the largest showroom in the city, "this engagement breaks all existing Las Vegas attendance records and attracts rave reviews from the public and the critics. It is a triumph." Elvis' first live album, ''Elvis in Person at the International Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada'' is recorded during this engagement and is soon released. During this concert, Presley introduced "Hound Dog" as his "special song." "Never one to take himself too seriously, Elvis joked with the crowd about the old days and the old songs. At one point, he decided to dedicate his next number to the audience and the staff at the International: 'This is the only song I could think of that really expresses my feeling toward the audience', he said in all earnestness, before bursting into 'Hound Dog'." Presley performed "Hound Dog" in his historic
Aloha from Hawaii Via Satellite ''Aloha from Hawaii via Satellite'' is a concert starring Elvis Presley that took place at the Honolulu International Center and was broadcast live via satellite to audiences in Asia and Oceania on January 14, 1973. The show was presente ...
concert that was the "first entertainment special to be broadcast live around the world," on January 14, 1973. Beamed via Globecam Satellite to Australia, South Korea, Japan, Thailand, the Philippines, South Vietnam and other countries, it was also seen on a delayed basis in around thirty European countries. An expanded version was broadcast on NBC in the USA on April 4, 1973, on NBC, attracting 51% of the television viewing audience, and was seen in more American households than the July 1969
Moon landing A Moon landing is the arrival of a spacecraft on the surface of the Moon. This includes both crewed and robotic missions. The first human-made object to touch the Moon was the Soviet Union's Luna 2, on 13 September 1959. The United S ...
. Eventually it was seen in about forty countries by one billion to 1.5 billion people.


Awards and accolades

In 1988, Presley's original 1956 RCA recording was inducted into the
Grammy Hall of Fame The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...
. In December 2004, ''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. In March 2005, ''Q'' magazine placed Presley's version at number 55 of Q Magazine's 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks. Presley's version is listed as one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll".


Charts and certifications


Weekly charts


Year-End charts


Sales and certifications


Responses

The commercial success of Presley's 1956 RCA version of "Hound Dog" precipitated a proliferation of cover versions, answer songs, and parodies. Additionally, "Hound Dog" was translated into several languages, including German, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and even
Bernese German Bernese German (Standard German: ''Berndeutsch'', gsw, Bärndütsch) is the dialect of High Alemannic German spoken in the Swiss plateau (Mittelland) part of the canton of Bern and in some neighbouring regions. A form of Bernese German is spoke ...
.


Other cover versions

By 1964, Presley's version of "Hound Dog" had been covered over 26 times, and by 1984, there were at least 85 different
cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
s of the song, making it "the best-known and most often recorded Rock & Roll song". In July 2013 the official Leiber & Stoller website listed 266 different versions of "Hound Dog", but acknowledged that its list is incomplete. Among the notable artists who have covered Presley's version of "Hound Dog" are:
Gene Vincent Vincent Eugene Craddock (February 11, 1935 – October 12, 1971), known as Gene Vincent, was an American musician who pioneered the styles of rockabilly and rock and roll. His 1956 top ten hit with his backing band the Blue Caps, " Be-Bop-a-Lula ...
and His Blue Caps;
Jerry Lee Lewis Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as " rock & roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis ma ...
;
Chubby Checker Chubby Checker (born Ernest Evans; October 3, 1941) is an American rock and roll singer and dancer. He is widely known for popularizing many dance styles, including The Twist dance style, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard & The Midnight ...
;
Pat Boone Patrick Charles Eugene Boone (born June 1, 1934) is an American singer and actor. He was a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He sold more than 45 million records, had 38 Top 40 hits, and appeared in mo ...
; Sammy Davis, Jr.;
Betty Everett Betty Jean Everett (November 23, 1939 – August 19, 2001) was an American soul singer and pianist, best known for her biggest hit single, the million-selling " Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)", and her duet " Let It Be Me" with Jerry Butle ...
; Little Richard;
The Surfaris The Surfaris are an American surf rock band formed in Glendora, California, United States, in 1962. They are best known for two songs that hit the charts in the Los Angeles area, and nationally by May 1963: "Surfer Joe" and " Wipe Out", which ...
; the
Everly Brothers The Everly Brothers were an American rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close harmony singing. Consisting of Isaac Donald "Don" Everly (February 1, 1937 – August 21, 2021) and Phillip "Phil" Everly (January 19, 193 ...
;
Junior Wells Junior Wells (born Amos Wells Blakemore Jr., December 9, 1934January 15, 1998) was an American singer, harmonica player, and recording artist. He is best known for his signature song " Messin' with the Kid" and his 1965 album '' Hoodoo Man Blues ...
;
the Mothers of Invention The Mothers of Invention (also known as The Mothers) was an American rock band from California. Formed in 1964, their work is marked by the use of sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Originally an R&B band ...
;
The Easybeats The Easybeats were an Australian rock band that formed in Sydney in late 1964. They enjoyed a level of success that in Australia rivalled The Beatles. They became the first Australian rock act to score an international hit, with the 1966 sing ...
; Jimi Hendrix;
Vanilla Fudge Vanilla Fudge is an American rock band known predominantly for their slow extended heavy rock arrangements of contemporary hit songs, such as their hit cover of The Supremes' " You Keep Me Hangin' On". The band's original line–up—vocalist ...
;
Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...
; Conway Twitty;
John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
and the Plastic Ono Elephant's Memory Band; John Entwistle; Carl Perkins; Eric Clapton;
James Taylor James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, havi ...
; and (in 1993) Tiny Tim (in his full baritone voice). In 1999 David Grisman,
John Hartford John Cowan Hartford (December 30, 1937 – June 4, 2001) was an American folk, country, and bluegrass composer and musician known for his mastery of the fiddle and banjo, as well as for his witty lyrics, unique vocal style, and extensive kn ...
, and
Mike Seeger Mike Seeger (August 15, 1933August 7, 2009) was an American folk musician and folklorist. He was a distinctive singer and an accomplished musician who played autoharp, banjo, fiddle, dulcimer, guitar, mouth harp, mandolin, dobro, jaw harp, a ...
included "Hound Dawg" on their 1999 album '' Retrograss'', which was nominated for a Grammy in the Traditional Folk Album category in 2000. Australian band Sherbet released "Hound Dog" in 1973 as a non-album single, backed with "Can I Drive You Home?". It reached number 18 on the Kent Music Report and appeared at number 21 on the
Go-Set ''Go-Set'' was the first Australian pop music newspaper, published weekly from 2 February 1966 to 24 August 1974, and was founded in Melbourne by Phillip Frazer, Peter Raphael and Tony Schauble. NOTE: This PDF is 282 pages. Widely described as ...
year-end chart.


Beatles and John Lennon cover versions

As Elvis Presley was a major seminal influence on
Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...
and
John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
,Bill Harry, ''The John Lennon Encyclopedia'' (Virgin, 2000) p. 727. and "Hound Dog" was a favorite of the young Lennon and his mother, during
The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...
' early career "Hound Dog" was one of the songs Lennon and McCartney as the
Quarrymen The Quarrymen (also written as "the Quarry Men") are a British skiffle/rock and roll group, formed by John Lennon in Liverpool in 1956, which evolved into the Beatles in 1960. Originally consisting of Lennon and several schoolfriends, the Quar ...
later as the Beatles played from August 1957 through 1961. No recorded version is known to survive. On August 30, 1972, Lennon performed the song with the Plastic Ono Elephant's Memory Band at Madison Square Garden, New York City, in one of his last charity concerts, and was released on his ''Live in New York'' album on January 24, 1986.
John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
also recorded "Hound Dog" during his huge rehearsal of early Rock and Roll classics (for the Madison Square Garden concert) that was released on the unauthorized album S.I.R. John Winston Ono Lennon.
Tony Sheridan Anthony Esmond Sheridan McGinnity (21 May 1940 – 16 February 2013), known professionally as Tony Sheridan, was an English rock and roll guitarist who spent much of his adult life in Germany. He was best known as an early collaborator of th ...
(who was asked to join the young Beatles) also recorded the Presley version of "Hound Dog".


Foreign-language versions

Among those artists who have recorded non-English versions of "Hound Dog" are: *
Ralf Bendix Karl Heinz Schwab (16 August 1924 – 1 September 2014), known professionally as Ralf Bendix, was a German Schlager singer, music producer, composer and songwriter. Biography Early on, Ralf Bendix played the modern music of his time in bands ...
(in German, as "Heut Geh' Ich Nicht Nach Hause") (1957); (Today I'm Not Going Home) * Die Rock and Rollers with the
Johannes Fehring Johannes Fehring (1926–2004) was an Austrian composer, who worked on a number of film scores.Bergfelder p.262 Selected filmography * ''Ideal Woman Sought'' (1952) * ''Emperor's Ball'' (1956) * ''Mariandl'' (1961) * '' Dance with Me Into the Mor ...
Orchestra (in German, as "Das Ist Rock And Roll") (lyrics: Fini Busch) (1957);
Dyno Y Los Solitarios
(in Mexican Spanish, as "Sabueso") (1960: Discos Audiomex). (Hound) * Los Rogers (in Spanish, as "El Twist Del Perro") (1961); (Dog Twist) *
Lucky Blondo Lucky Blondo (born Gerard Blondiot, 23 July 1944 in Paris, France) is a French singer who was popular in the 1960s. His heyday came during the emergence of French rock. Career His main successes were "Sheila", "Baby Face", "Dix petits indiens", ...
(in French, as "Un Vieux Chien de Chasse") on his album ''To Elvis from Nashville'' (1977: Philips) (An Old Hound) * Angela Ro Ro (in
Brazilian Portuguese Brazilian Portuguese (' ), also Portuguese of Brazil (', ) or South American Portuguese (') is the set of varieties of the Portuguese language native to Brazil and the most influential form of Portuguese worldwide. It is spoken by almost all of ...
, as "Hot-Dog") (1984) *
Züri West Züri West ( Swiss German for ''Zürich West'') is a Swiss rock band. Most of their songs are written in Bernese German. The band's name is an ironic reference to Bern, the capital of Switzerland, as merely a place west of Zürich, the largest ...
(in
Bernese German Bernese German (Standard German: ''Berndeutsch'', gsw, Bärndütsch) is the dialect of High Alemannic German spoken in the Swiss plateau (Mittelland) part of the canton of Bern and in some neighbouring regions. A form of Bernese German is spoke ...
as "Souhung") on their album ''Elvis'' (June 15, 1990: Black Cat at Sound Service) * Aurelio Morata (in Spanish, as "Perra Boba") ''Tributo Al Rey'' (1997: Picap)


Parodies

After the Presley version of "Hound Dog" became a commercial success, Homer and Jethro parodied it as "Houn' Dawg" (RCA Victor 47–6706; 20–6706), including such lines as: "You look like an Airedale, with the air let out". Several parodies emphasized the cross-cultural appeal of Presley's record. Lalo "Pancho Lopez" Guerrero, the father of Chicano music, released a parody version in 1956 entitled "Pound Dog" (L&M LM1002) about a chihuahua. In January 1957, Jewish American satirist
Mickey Katz Meyer Myron "Mickey" Katz (June 15, 1909 – April 30, 1985) was an American musician and comedian. He was the father of actor Joel Grey and paternal grandfather of actress Jennifer Grey. Early life Meyer Myron Katz was born on Sawtell Court in ...
released a
Yinglish Yiddish words used in the English language include both words that have been assimilated into Englishused by both Yiddish and English speakersand many that have not. An English sentence that uses either may be described by some as Yinglish (or H ...
novelty song version, "You're a Doity Dog" (Capitol F3607), singing with a
Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...
accent, and having a klezmer break between verses. In this '' freilach''-rock song, Katz sang "You ain't nothin' but a paskudnick". By March 1957, veteran country singer Cliff Johnson responded to the popularity of Presley's "Hound Dog" by recording his self-penned "Go 'Way Hound Dog (Let Me Sing My Blues)" (Columbia 4-40865; Australia:
Coronet Records Coronet Records is the name of at least three different record companies. One was based in San Francisco in the 1940s and was responsible for the first recordings of Dave Brubeck. Brubeck's Coronet Records disbanded when it couldn't pay its bills ...
KW-022), described in ''Billboard'' as "
rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western musical styles such as country with that of rhythm and blu ...
that professes satiation with rockabilly music." In 1991, Elvis "translator"
El Vez Robert Alan Lopez (born 1960),"El Vez", ''St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture'', Thomson Gale 2005–2006reproduced online at BookRags.comand accessed online 28 April 2007. better known by his stage name El Vez, is an American singer-songwrit ...
, backed by The Memphis Mariachis, released "(You Ain't Nothin' But A) Chihuahua", a "Chicano Power parody" that opens with: "You ain't nothin' but a Chihuahua/ Yapping all the time." Encouraged by the 1994 decision of the
U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
in ''
Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc. ''Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc.'', 510 U.S. 569 (1994), was a United States Supreme Court copyright law case that established that a commercial parody can qualify as fair use. This case established that the fact that money is made by a work do ...
'' that "ruled that… musicians do not have to obtain permission from the original artists to perform and record parodies of those compositions", other parodies of "Hound Dog" emerged subsequently. These include "Found God", a self-acknowledged parody of Presley's version by popular Christian band
ApologetiX ApologetiX is an American Christian parody band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The band was founded in 1990, and since then, has played in almost all 50 states, released 40 studio albums, and built up a fan club that includes over 65,000 peopl ...
, which, using the original tune, opens with: "I ain't nothin' but I found God/It took quite a long time".


Litigation

Over the years "Hound Dog" "has been the subject of an inordinate number of lawsuits", and "would eventually become one of the most litigated songs in recorded music history".


''Lion Music Publishing Company v. Sun Records'' (1953)


Background

On September 9, 1952, the copyright application for "Hound Dog" was lodged. On the application the words & music are attributed to Don Deadric Robey & Willie Mae Thornton, with the copyright claimants listed as: "Murphy L. Robey (W) & Willie Mae Thornton (A). It was renewed subsequently on May 13, 1980, with the same details. By the end of 1953 at least six "answer songs" that responded to 'Big Mama' Thornton's original version of "Hound Dog" were released. According to Peacock Records's Don Robey, these songs were "bastardizations" of the original and reduced its sales potential. These included: * "Mr. Hound Dog's in Town" recorded on March 18 by Blues shouter Roy Brown for King Records (45–4627). While it had the same melody and many of the same lyrics as the original, Brown is credited as the sole writer. * "(You Ain't Nothin' But A Female) Hound Dog" (King 45–1212) recorded by Vocalist Charlie Gore and guitarist Louis Innis on March 22 for King Records on March 22. This song was credited to Innis, Lois Mann (a pseudonym of King Records owner
Syd Nathan Sydney Nathan (April 27, 1904 – March 5, 1968) was an American music business executive who founded King Records, a leading independent record label, in 1943. He contributed to the development of country & western music, rhythm and blues a ...
, the latter his wife's maiden name), and Johnny Otis. * "Rattlesnake" recorded by blues guitarist
John Brim John Charles Brim (April 10, 1922 – October 1, 2003) was an American Chicago blues guitarist, songwriter, and singer. He wrote and recorded the song "Ice Cream Man" which was later covered by the rock band Van Halen for their first album, and ...
for Chess Records' Checker subsidiary with
Little Walter Marion Walter Jacobs (May 1, 1930 – February 15, 1968), known as Little Walter, was an American blues musician, singer, and songwriter, whose revolutionary approach to the harmonica had a strong impact on succeeding generations, earning hi ...
on
blues harp The Richter-tuned harmonica, or 10-hole harmonica (in Asia) or blues harp (in America), is the most widely known type of harmonica. It is a variety of diatonic harmonica, with ten holes which offer the player 19 notes (10 holes times a draw and ...
. * "Real Gone Hound Dog" (Combo 25), "an obscure 'answer' record to 'Hound Dog'", recorded by
Chuck Higgins Charles Williams Higgins (April 17, 1924 – September 14, 1999) was an American saxophonist. Higgins relocated from his birthplace of Gary, Indiana to Los Angeles in his teens, where he played trumpet and went to school at the Los Angeles Con ...
and His Mellotones' with a vocal by Higgins' brother " Daddy Cleanhead" for
Jake Porter Jake Vernon Haven Porter (August 3, 1916 – March 25, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter and record producer. Born in Oakland, California, Porter started playing violin at age seven and switched to cornet at nine. He played locally in the ...
's Combo Records. The composition was credited to Higgins and Porter (as V. Haven). However, the most popular of the answer songs to "Hound Dog" was "Bear Cat (The Answer To Hound Dog)" (Sun 181) recorded by Memphis disc jockey Rufus Thomas (adopting the nickname, "Rufus 'Hound Dog' Thomas") at
Sun Studios Sun Studio is a recording studio opened by rock-and-roll pioneer Sam Phillips at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee, on January 3, 1950. It was originally called Memphis Recording Service, sharing the same building with the Sun Records label ...
at 706 Union Avenue, Memphis.on March 8, 1953, just two weeks after Thornton's original version was released, and even before a review of "Hound Dog" had been published in ''Billboard'', While retaining the same melody as "Hound Dog", Sun founder
Sam Phillips Samuel Cornelius Phillips (January 5, 1923 – July 30, 2003) was an American record producer. He was the founder of Sun Records and Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, where he produced recordings by Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, ...
wrote new lyrics, in which he altered the gender of the singer, who bemoaned that his woman was a "bear cat", a Jazz Age slang term for "a hot-blooded or fiery girl". The record's spare electric guitar work by
Memphis blues The Memphis blues is a style of blues music created from the 1910s to the 1930s by musicians in the Memphis area, such as Frank Stokes, Sleepy John Estes, Furry Lewis and Memphis Minnie. The style was popular in vaudeville and medicine shows a ...
man
Joe Hill Louis Joe Hill Louis (September 23, 1921 – August 5, 1957), born Lester Hill, was an American singer, guitarist, harmonica player and one-man band. He was one of a small number of one-man blues bands (along with fellow Memphis bluesman Doctor Ross) ...
was greatly influenced by that of Pete Lewis on the original. According to James M. Salem: By the end of March, "Bear Cat" was in stores, prompting ''Billboard'' to describe it as "the fastest answer song to hit the market". It became both Thomas' and
Sun Records Sun Records is an American independent record label founded by producer Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee in February 1952. Sun was the first label to record Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny ...
' first hit, eventually reaching number three on the R&B charts. However, as Phillips claimed a writing credit for the song, a copyright-infringement suit ensued that nearly bankrupted Phillips' record label. On March 28, ''Billboard'' reported that, "In an effort to combat what has become a rampant practice by small labels—the rushing out of answers which are similar in melody and/or theme to ditties which have become smash hits—many pubbers are now retaining attorneys. Common practice, of course is to regard the answer as an original. Currently publishers are putting up a fight to protect their originals from unauthorised or infringing answers." In that same issue, Robey told ''Billboard'' he had notified the Harry Fox publishing agency "to issue Sun a license on 'Bear Cat' in order that Robey might collect a royalty". On April 4, 1953, Robey wrote to Phillips that, "unless contracts are signed and in the office of Mr. Harris Fox by Wednesday, April 8, 1953, I will be forced to take immediate steps with Court Actions", hoping "this will not cause any unfriendly relations, but please remember that I have to pay when I intrude upon the rights of others, and certainly must protect my own rights." On April 11 Bob Rolontz reported in ''Billboard'': "The answers to r&b tunes, which have become prolific with the many replies to such smash hits as 'I Don't Know', 'Mama' and 'Hound Dog' are being given a serious scrutiny by the original copyright holders of the tunes on the original hit waxings. It appears they do not think too highly of writing an answer to a hit unless a license is obtained and permission to write a parody is given by the publisher." On the prior page, Peacock Records placed an advertisement promoting Thornton's release as "The Original Version of 'Hound Dog'", warning: "Beware of Imitations – Follow the Leader for Good Results" before reminding the reader: "The Original – The Best". Two pages later, Intro Records touted the version by Tommy Duncan and the Miller Bros. as "Best of them all!!!"


Proceedings

Their requests for payment having been ignored, Robey and two other music publishers initiated unprecedented legal proceedings in April against the record companies that released these competing songs, alleging copyright infringement. As a result, Chess Records withdrew Brim's "Rattlesnake" from sale. In the Memphis courts, Lion Publishing Co. sought royalties and treble damages, claiming "Bear Cat" was "a dead steal". In May, Phillips responded: "There's a lot of difference in the words. As for the tune, there's practically no melody, but a rhythm pattern", adding that it is hard to differentiate between any two 12-bar blues songs. By June 1953 in a "precedent-setting" decision the Court ruled against Phillips, and upheld the charges of plagiarism, finding the tune and some of the lyrics of "Bear Cat" to be identical to those of "Hound Dog"."King Hops Into 'Hound' Hassle", ''The Billboard'' (August 1, 1953) p. 15. Phillips was ordered to pay 2% of all of the profits of "Bear Cat" plus court costs.James M. Salem, ''The Late, Great Johnny Ace and the Transition from R & B to Rock 'n' Roll' (University of Illinois Press, 2001) p. 85.'' As this amounted to $35,000 compensation, Phillips was reduced to near bankruptcy, ultimately forcing him to sell Elvis Presley's Sun contract to RCA for $35,000 to raise the funds to settle his debts. On June 4, 1953, '' Jet'' reported that: :"The Sun Record Company of Memphis agreed to pay $2,080 to a Texas Recording firm because its blues tune, ''Bear Cat'', is too similar to ''Hound Dog''. Lion Publishing Company of Houston, Tex., won the out-of-court settlement after contending in a court suit that ''Bear Cat'' was a "conscious imitation" of their own recording with "only minor variations." Sam C. Phillips of Sun Record agreed to pay ''Hound Dog'' owners two cents per record for 79,000 waxings of ''Bear Cat'' already sold and two cents a record for future sales. On July 8 Robey wrote to Phillips again, thanking him "kindly for your co-operation in this matter", but Phillips still refused to purchase a
mechanical license In copyright law, a mechanical license is a license from the holder of a copyright of a composition or musical work, to another party to create a "cover song", reproduce, or sample a portion of the original composition. It applies to copyrighted ...
for Thomas' "Bear Cat". Robey then instructed his company lawyer Irving Marcus to sue Phillips and Sun Records,Rebecca Kobrin, ed., ''Chosen Capital: The Jewish Encounter with American Capitalism'' (Rutgers University Press, 2012) p. 151. hoping to use this as a
test case In software engineering, a test case is a specification of the inputs, execution conditions, testing procedure, and expected results that define a single test to be executed to achieve a particular software testing objective, such as to exercise ...
to determine the legal status of all answer songs. While earlier pressings of Sun 181 bore the caption "(The Answer To Hound Dog)" above the A-side title, as a result of the legal action this was removed from all later pressings. In the 1980s, Sam Phillips conceded: "I should have known better. The melody was exactly the same as theirs, but we claimed the credit for writing the damn thing".


''King Records vs Lion Publishing Co.'' and ''Lion Publishing Co. vs King Records & Valjo Music'' (1953)

In late July 1953 Syd Nathan, president of King Records, took Robey and his Lion Publishing Company to court. The August 1, 1953 ''BillBoard'' reported: "Lion usicitself was in court defending the contention of in Cincinnati that he had an interest in the song 'Hound Dog' and should have a fifty per cent share of its success." Nathan claimed that Valjo Music, one of King Records' publishing affiliates, had legal rights to the song as Johnny Otis, who claimed to be a co-author, was under exclusive contract to them at the time. An article entitled "New Howl Goes Up Over 'Hound Dog' Infringement" in ''The Pittsburgh Courier'' of August 8, 1953 reported: :You ain't nothin' but a hound dog" is becoming a battle cry faster than a pup can clean a bone. "Hound Dog" has been howling on the juke boxes for several months and all this time the record has been hounded by imitations and sundry other misfortunes. One thing is sure: this is the most profitable hound dog since
Eliza ELIZA is an early natural language processing computer program created from 1964 to 1966 at the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory by Joseph Weizenbaum. Created to demonstrate the superficiality of communication between humans and machines, ...
slid across the ice. This is the latest episode: King Records joined the pack this week in the legal hassle over who's gonna get the profits from the current rhythm Dog." ... Valjo, meanwhile, is complaining that one of the writers of the tune, Johnny Otis, was under exclusive contract to them when he wrote the tune in collaboration with others and they are claiming 50 per cent of the publisher's share of the tune. At any rate, on it goes and the big problem now seems to be, how much Is that "Hound Dog" In the juke box worth?"New Howl Goes Up Over 'Hound Dog' Infringement", ''The Pittsburgh Courier'' (August 8, 1953) p. 18. In response, Robey counter-sued both King Records and Valjo Music over Roy Brown's answer record, and also over
Little Esther Esther Phillips (born Esther Mae Jones; December 23, 1935 – August 7, 1984) was an American singer, best known for her R&B vocals.Santelli, Robert (2001). ''The Big Book of Blues: A Biographical Encyclopedia''. Penguin Books. p. 376. . She ...
's cover record (King 12126). When the dust settled, the publishing for "Hound Dog" (in all variations) remained with Lion, and writing credit with Leiber and Stoller. In April, 1954, ''Billboards Rolontz summed up the events thusly: "The year 1953 saw an important precedent set in regard to answer tunes … since the 'Hound Dog' decision, few record firms have attempted to 'answer' smash hits by other companies by using same tune with different lyrics."


''Valjo Music Publishing Corporation v. Elvis Presley Music'' (1956–1957)

The most protracted lawsuit involving "Hound Dog" was ''Valjo Music Publishing Corporation v. Elvis Presley Music'' that was initiated in the
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (in case citations, S.D.N.Y.) is a federal trial court whose geographic jurisdiction encompasses eight counties of New York State. Two of these are in New York City: New ...
in October 1956, after the commercial success of Elvis Presley's version of the song, and concluded in December 1957. It would be the first "legal spat" for Presley's publishing company, Elvis Presley Music.


Background

Leiber and Stoller were introduced to Otis in July 1952 by
Federal Records Federal Records was an American record label founded in 1950 as a subsidiary of Syd Nathan's King Records and based in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was run by famed record producer Ralph Bass and was mainly devoted to Rhythm & Blues releases. The compa ...
'
Ralph Bass Ralph Basso Jr. (May 1, 1911 – March 5, 1997), known as Ralph Bass,The birth surname of Ralph Bass's paternal grandfather, who was born in Italy, was DuBasso. was an American rhythm-and-blues record producer and talent scout for several indepen ...
when Otis needed songs for artists he was recording for Federal,UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
"VALJO MUSIC PUBL. CORP. v. ELVIS PRESLEY MUSIC"
(December 4, 1957).
including
Little Esther Esther Phillips (born Esther Mae Jones; December 23, 1935 – August 7, 1984) was an American singer, best known for her R&B vocals.Santelli, Robert (2001). ''The Big Book of Blues: A Biographical Encyclopedia''. Penguin Books. p. 376. . She ...
,
Little Willie Littlefield Willie Littlefield, Jr., billed as Little Willie Littlefield (September 16, 1931 – June 23, 2013), was an American R&B and boogie-woogie pianist and singer whose early recordings "formed a vital link between boogie-woogie and rock and roll". ...
, and Bobby Nunn of
The Robins The Robins were a successful and influential American R&B group of the late 1940s and 1950s, one of the earliest such vocal groups who established the basic pattern for the doo-wop sound. They were founded by Ty Terrell, and twin brothers Bi ...
. In exchange for Otis using their songs, Leiber and Stoller gave Otis a one-third interest in those songs and assigned the publishing to Otis' company, Valjo Music Publishing Company. Similarly, on August 30, 1952, Leiber and Stoller signed a contract with Spin Music Inc.—another publishing company in which Otis held an interest—assigning it certain rights to "Hound Dog" and some other songs in exchange for royalties to be divided equally between Leiber, Stoller, and Otis.Library of Congress. Copyright Office, ''Decisions of the United States Courts Involving Copyright, 1957–1958: Copyright Office Bulletin No. 31. Reprint 1972'' (1972):639–641. When the song was copyrighted initially on September 9, 1952, words and music were credited to Don Deadric Robey and Willie Mae Thornton, with Lion Publishing Co. identified as the registered publisher. However, on March 26, 1953, it was credited to Leiber, Stoller, and Otis; and Valjo Music—not Spin—was the registered publisher. According to the findings of the court in ''Valjo Music Publishing Corporation v. Elvis Presley Music'': "Thereafter Otis, in apparent disregard of the contracts both with Spin Music Inc. and plaintiff, arranged to have 'Hound Dog' published by Lion Music Publishing Company of Houston, Texas, and released by its affiliate Peacock Records. Otis executed a writer-publisher contract on October 10, 1952, with Lion Music Publishing Company in which Leiber, Otis and Stoller were described as the writers of 'Hound Dog.'" Thus, Otis received a co-writing credit with Leiber and Stoller on Thornton's Peacock Records release and on all of the 1953 cover versions. The court also noted: "Otis signed not only his name but also signed—or perhaps forged—the names of Stoller and Leiber to it. The president or proprietor of Lion Music Publishing Company noted the similarity of the handwriting of the signatures and made contact with Leiber and Stoller who advised him that Otis had no authority to sign their names to the agreement and that Otis was not a co-author of the song, although he was entitled to receive one-third of the royalties. Lion then arranged for a contract with Leiber and Stoller alone for the publishing rights." In order for Leiber and Stoller to execute the contract with Lion—"which, because we were underage, had to be signed by our mothers"—a court appointed Mary Stein (for Leiber) and Adelyn Stoller (for Stoller) as their legal guardians in late April 1953. The contract assigned the publishing for "Hound Dog" to Lion. Otis' credit was omitted from all subsequent records. Following on the popularity of Elvis' live and televised performances of "Hound Dog", Elvis Presley Music made the acquisition of half the publishing for the song from Lion Music a precondition to issuing a recording, to which Robey assented.


Proceedings

In October 1956, the success of Presley's version (sales at that time exceeded 2 million copies) prompted Valjo to sue Leiber and Stoller and Elvis Presley Music (an affiliate of Hill & Range Songs) for an accounting of profits and for damages and to have Otis restored as co-writer and recover damages for lost royalties. In ''Valjo Music Publishing Corporation v. Elvis Presley Music'', Otis as
plaintiff A plaintiff ( Π in legal shorthand) is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an ''action'') before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy. If this search is successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of t ...
alleged that he was the co-author of "Hound Dog" along with two defendants, Leiber and Stoller. The defendants denied that Otis wrote any part of the song. On August 26, 1956, Otis signed a release of any claims to the song in exchange for $750. In court, Otis claimed that he had done so because he had learned that the defendants were legally infants at the time of the original contracts in 1952, and would, therefore, disaffirm any contract that they had with him. This made no sense to the United States Southern District of Court of New York: "Otis was a man who had many years experience in the music business. He must have realized that even though Leiber and Stoller were infants they could not disaffirm his co-authorship of a song, if in fact he had been a co-author." Further, while Leiber and Stoller acknowledged that they had given Otis one-third of the mechanical rights for the original Thornton recording, they denied giving him one-third authorship credit. On December 4, 1957, Federal Court Judge Archie O. Dawson dismissed Valjo's claim in the New York Federal Court, on the basis that Otis was "unworthy of belief", that he admitted forging Leiber and Stoller's signatures on a declaration to third-party publisher Lion Music, that Leiber and Stoller were underage at the time, and that Otis had signed a release to any claims for $750. As the evidence would not sustain Valjo's contention that Otis had collaborated in the writing of "Hound Dog", the Court voided Leiber and Stoller's contract, ordered Otis to pay the legal costs of the defendants, and awarded 46.25% of the song to Leiber and Stoller, with Lion Music receiving 28.75% and Elvis Presley Music receiving the final 25%. Despite the Court's findings, Otis continued to claim that he wrote the third verse and rewrote some of the lyrics in the second verse—including adding "You made me feel so bad. You make me weep and moan. You ain't looking for a woman. You're looking for a home"—and edited out what he described later as "derogatory crap".George Lipsitz, ''Midnight at the Barrelhouse: The Johnny Otis Story'' (University of Minnesota Press, 2010) p. 43. In 2000, Otis claimed: "Leiber and Stoller brought me the song, 'Hound Dog,'" Otis recalls, of the time he produced Big Mama Thornton's recording of what was to become an R&B, and then rock 'n' roll, classic. "Parts of it weren't really acceptable. I didn't like that reference to chicken and watermelon, said 'Let's get that crap out of there.'... This came out and was a big smash, and everything was all right. I had half the publishing rights and one third of the song-writing. Then Elvis Presley made it a mega hit, and they got greedy. They sued me in court. They won, they beat me out of it. I could have sent my kids to college, like they sent theirs," Otis said. "But, oh well, if I dwell on that I get quite unhappy, so we try to move on." However, Leiber and Stoller maintained consistently and emphatically that Otis was "''not'' a writer of the song" (emphasis theirs). As he had provided lyrics for the version of "Hound Dog" recorded by Presley, Freddie Bell "sued to get some of the composer royalties because he had changed the words and indeed the song, and he would have made millions as the songwriter of Elvis' version: but he lost because he did not ask Leiber & Stoller for permission" to make those changes.
Broadcast Music, Incorporated Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) is a performance rights organization in the United States. It collects blanket license fees from businesses that use music, entitling those businesses to play or sync any songs from BMI's repertoire of over 20.6 mill ...
(BMI) is the performing rights organization for "Hound Dog" (BMI Work #94632, ISWC # T-905246869-6), while Sony/ATV SONGS LLC owns the publishing rights.


In popular culture

* The song was included in the 1996 stage musical, ''Hound Dog: A Hip hOpera"'', a musical send-up that was written, and produced by
Jeff Rake Jeffrey Paul Rake is an American television producer and writer. He is known for his work on ''Boston Legal'' and creating the NBC shows ''Manifest'', '' The Mysteries of Laura'' and ''Miss Match''. Biography Rake was born in Philadelphia and ...
, that ran for three months at Hollywood's Hudson Theatre, receiving five '' LA Weekly'' Theatre Award nominations, including Musical of the Year. * The
AGM-28 Hound Dog The North American Aviation AGM-28 Hound Dog was a supersonic, turbojet-propelled, nuclear armed, air-launched cruise missile developed in 1959 for the United States Air Force. It was primarily designed to be capable of attacking Soviet gr ...
missile's name is inspired by Presley's version of the song. The missiles were air-launched supersonic missiles designed to destroy heavily defended ground targets. Almost 700 AGM-28s were built.


Discography


Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton

* with Kansas City Bill and Orchestra "Hound Dog" / "Night Mare" (US: February 1953; Peacock 1612) (UK: 1954; Vogue V 2284) (Sweden, 1954; Karusell K 66) (France, 1954: Vogue V 3328) Song is credited to Leiber--Otis. * with Kansas City Bill and Orchestra "Hound Dog" / "Rock-a-Bye Baby" (US: August 1956; Peacock 5–1612) * with Kansas City Bill and Orchestra "Hound Dog" / "Rock-a-Bye Baby" (Aust & NZ: 1956; Prestige PSP-1004) Song is credited to Robey-Thornton-Leiber-Stoller. * ''The Big Ones From Duke and Peacock Records'' (US: 1967; Peacock Records PLP-2000) Various Artists * "Hound Dog" / "Let's Go Get Started" (1969: Mercury Records 72981) * ''She's Back'' (1970: Back Beat Records BLP-68) Reissued: (1974: ABC/Back Beat BBLX-68). * ''Hound Dog: The Peacock Recordings'' (1992: Peacock MCAD-10668)


Freddie Bell and the Bellboys

* "Hound Dog" (Leibler-Stoller) (2:45) / "Move Me Baby"(1955: Teen 101). This version is slower and includes "arf arf" sounds. * (2:20) (Leiber-Stoller-* "Hound Dog" (Leiber-Stoller-Otis) (2:20) ''Rock'n'Roll Vol. 1'' (UK: 1956: Barclay 14159 EP) (France: Mercury 14159) * "Hound Dog" (Leiber-Stoller-Otis) (2:20) / "Big Bad Wolf" (1957: Mercury Records 45152) (Australia: July 1957; Mercury 45152) * "Hound Dog"''Rock 'N' Roll Vol. 2'' (Sweden: 1957; Mercury EP-1-3502) (Norway: 1957; Mercury EP MN5) * "Hound Dog"(Leiber-Stoller)''Rock´n Roll All Flavors'' (1957: Mercury MG 20289)


Elvis Presley

* ''Elvis: The First Live Recordings'' These are recordings from the
Louisiana Hayride ''Louisiana Hayride'' was a radio and later television country music show broadcast from the Shreveport Municipal Memorial Auditorium in Shreveport, Louisiana, that during its heyday from 1948 to 1960 helped to launch the careers of some of the ...
radio show from 1955 and 1956. (1982: Music Works PB 3601) * "Hound Dog" / "Don't Be Cruel" (Recorded: July 2, 1956; Released: July 13, 1956: RCA Victor 47–6604) (Canada: July 13, 1956; RCA Victor 20–6604) (Germany: August 4, 1956; RCA 20–6604; 47–6604) (UK: September 1956; HMV POP 249) (Belgium: September 1956; 47–6604) (Australia: 1956; RCA 10186) (Italy, 1956: RCA Italiana 45N 0515) "Perro De Caza (Hound Dog)" (Spain: 1957; RCA 3–10052) (Japan: August 1962; Victor SS-1297)


Cover versions


Thornton version

*
Little Esther Esther Phillips (born Esther Mae Jones; December 23, 1935 – August 7, 1984) was an American singer, best known for her R&B vocals.Santelli, Robert (2001). ''The Big Book of Blues: A Biographical Encyclopedia''. Penguin Books. p. 376. . She ...
(Recorded: March 11, 1953; Released: April 1953: Federal 12126) * Jack Turner and His Granger County Gang (Recorded: March 20, 1953; Released: April 4, 1953: RCA Victor 47–5267), who was actually Henry D. Haynes on vocals, with his
Homer and Jethro Homer and Jethro were the stage names of American country music duo Henry D. "Homer" Haynes (1920–1971) and Kenneth C. "Jethro" Burns (1920–1989), popular from the 1940s through the 1960s on radio and television for their satirical versio ...
partner Kenneth C. Burns on mandolin, with
Chet Atkins Chester Burton Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001), known as "Mr. Guitar" and "The Country Gentleman", was an American musician who, along with Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson, helped create the Nashville sound, the country music ...
on lead guitar, Charles Green on bass, and
Jerry Byrd Gerald Lester Byrd (March 9, 1920 – April 11, 2005) was an American musician who played the lap steel guitar in country and Hawaiian music, as well as a singer-songwriter and the head of a music publishing firm. He appeared on numerous radio ...
on steel guitar. * :de:Billy Starr (Recorded: November 1952; released: April 4, 1953: 78pm: IF-452; Imperial 45–8186) * Betsy Gay (Recorded: March 18, 1953; Released: April 11, 1953: Intro Records 45–6070) (w/
Joe Maphis Otis Wilson "Joe" Maphis (May 12, 1921 – June 27, 1986), was an American country music guitarist. He married singer Rose Lee Maphis in 1953 and they performed together, later referred to as "Mr & Mrs Country Music". One of the flashiest co ...
and Merle Travis). * Eddie Hazlewood (April 11, 1953: Intro Records 45–6069) * Tommy Duncan and the Miller Bros. (April 18, 1953: Intro Records 45–6071) * Cleve Jackson
ackson Cleveland Toombs Tulia Ackson (born 23 November 1976) is the Speaker of the National Assembly of Tanzania, in office since 2022. She was appointed as a Member of Parliament by President John Magufuli. Early life Ackson was born on 23 November 1976 in Buly ...
and His Hound Dogs (1953: Herald H-1015) on Various Artists, ''Chicago Rock'' (Netherlands: 1974; Redita st series108) Various Artists ''Boppin' Hillbilly, Vol. 5'' (Netherlands: 1989; White Label WLP2805) * The Cozy Cole All Stars (William Randolph Cole) "Hound Dog Special" (Recorded: February 24, 1954: MGM 11794) "A of Willie Mae Thornton's" version. (instrumental) * The Dirty Blues Band ''Dirty Blues Band'' (1967: Bluesway 6010) (1968: Bluesway 45–61016) Modified Thornton version *
James Booker James Carroll Booker III (December 17, 1939 – November 8, 1983) was a New Orleans rhythm and blues keyboardist born in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Booker's unique style combined rhythm and blues with jazz standards. Musician Dr. J ...
''Classified'' (1982: Demon) *
Susan Tedeschi Susan Tedeschi (; born November 9, 1970) is an American singer and guitarist. A multiple Grammy Award nominee, she is a member of the Tedeschi Trucks Band, a conglomeration of her band, her husband Derek Trucks’ and other musicians. Early l ...
'' Better Days'' (1995) * Etta James ''
Matriarch of the Blues ''Matriarch of the Blues'' is the twenty-fourth studio album by Etta James, released in December 2000 through the record label Private Music. The album's title reflects James' nickname as "matriarch of the blues". Marking James' return to blues f ...
'' (2000: Private Music) * Robert Palmer ''
Drive Drive or The Drive may refer to: Motoring * Driving, the act of controlling a vehicle * Road trip, a journey on roads Roadways Roadways called "drives" may include: * Driveway, a private road for local access to structures, abbreviated "drive" ...
'' (2003) *
Macy Gray Natalie Renée McIntyre (born September 6, 1967), known by her stage name Macy Gray, is an American R&B and soul singer and actress. She is known for her distinctive raspy voice and a singing style heavily influenced by Billie Holiday. Gray ha ...
Various Artists ''Lightning In a Bottle: A One Night History of the Blues'' (Recorded live at Radio City Music Hall in New York City; 2004 DVD directed by
Antoine Fuqua Antoine Fuqua (born May 30, 1965) is an American filmmaker, known for his work in the action and thriller genres. He was originally known as a director of music videos, and made his film debut in 1998 with ''The Replacement Killers''. His critica ...
)


Presley version

*
Gene Vincent Vincent Eugene Craddock (February 11, 1935 – October 12, 1971), known as Gene Vincent, was an American musician who pioneered the styles of rockabilly and rock and roll. His 1956 top ten hit with his backing band the Blue Caps, " Be-Bop-a-Lula ...
and His Blue Caps (Recorded: 1956; Released: 2004; Norton 45–114) ''The Capitol Years '56–'63'' (Recorded 1956; Released: 1987: Charly Records BOX 108) *
Hoosier Hot Shots The Hoosier Hot Shots were an American quartet of musicians who entertained on stage, screen, radio, and records from the mid-1930s into the 1970s. The group formed in Indiana where they performed on local radio before moving to Chicago and a n ...
''Hoosier Hot Shots'' (Recorded & released: 1957;
Tops Records Tops Records was a Los Angeles-based record label owned by Tops Music Enterprises, both founded in 1947 by Carl L. Doshay and Sam Dickerman. After a prolific and profitable run, Tops merged with PRI Records in 1958, which in turn, sold to a group ...
L1541)). Novelty version. *
Jerry Lee Lewis Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as " rock & roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis ma ...
''Whole Lotta' Shakin' Goin' On'' (recorded at Sun Studios February 14, 1958) ''Whole Lotta' Shakin' Goin' On: Where Rock Began'' (1977: Gusto GT-103) (1992: Dragon Street 7822) ''The Greatest Live Show On Earth'' (Recorded live in Birmingham, Alabama, on July 1, 1964; December 1964, #71: Smash Records MGS 27056/SRS 67056) *
Chubby Checker Chubby Checker (born Ernest Evans; October 3, 1941) is an American rock and roll singer and dancer. He is widely known for popularizing many dance styles, including The Twist dance style, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard & The Midnight ...
''For Twisters Only'' (Recorded 1960; Released: December 1961, #8: Parkway P-7002) ''Your Twist Party'' (December 1961, #2; Parkway P-7007) * Dickie Valentine (UK: 1962) ''Live In Concert'' (UK: June 12, 2012; Record label: Master Classics Records) Comedy version featuring Valentine singing the song, then reciting it as Mr Magoo and Edward G. Robinson *
Pat Boone Patrick Charles Eugene Boone (born June 1, 1934) is an American singer and actor. He was a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He sold more than 45 million records, had 38 Top 40 hits, and appeared in mo ...
''Sings Guess Who?'' (September 1963: Dot Records DLP-3501/25501) * Sammy Davis, Jr. (Recorded: 1963 at the Coconut Grove) (part of a medley) *
Betty Everett Betty Jean Everett (November 23, 1939 – August 19, 2001) was an American soul singer and pianist, best known for her biggest hit single, the million-selling " Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)", and her duet " Let It Be Me" with Jerry Butle ...
''You're No Good'' (Retitled: ''It's in His Kiss (Shoop Shoop)'') (December 1963: Vee-Jay Records VJS-1077) ''I Need You So'' (1968: Sunset Records SUS-5220) * Little Richard ''Little Richard Is Back…And There's a Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On!'' (June 1964: Vee-Jay Records VJS-1107) *
The Surfaris The Surfaris are an American surf rock band formed in Glendora, California, United States, in 1962. They are best known for two songs that hit the charts in the Los Angeles area, and nationally by May 1963: "Surfer Joe" and " Wipe Out", which ...
''Fun City, U.S.A.'' (US: 1964; Decca 4560)(UK: 1964; Brunswick) * The
Everly Brothers The Everly Brothers were an American rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close harmony singing. Consisting of Isaac Donald "Don" Everly (February 1, 1937 – August 21, 2021) and Phillip "Phil" Everly (January 19, 193 ...
''Rock 'n Soul'' album (Recorded December 1, 1964; Released March 1965: Warner Bros. W/WS 1578) *
Junior Wells Junior Wells (born Amos Wells Blakemore Jr., December 9, 1934January 15, 1998) was an American singer, harmonica player, and recording artist. He is best known for his signature song " Messin' with the Kid" and his 1965 album '' Hoodoo Man Blues ...
''Hoodoo Man Blues'' (September 22, 1965: Delmark Records DS 9613) * The Mothers of Invention Tis the Season to Be Jelly – Live in Sweden'' (Recorded September 30, 1967) in ''Beat the Boots'' set (July 1991: Rhino/Foo-eee label R2 70542) * Jimi Hendrix on the ''BBC Sessions (The Jimi Hendrix Experience album)'' (Recorded: 1967; Released: 1998) *
Vanilla Fudge Vanilla Fudge is an American rock band known predominantly for their slow extended heavy rock arrangements of contemporary hit songs, such as their hit cover of The Supremes' " You Keep Me Hangin' On". The band's original line–up—vocalist ...
''The Beat Goes On (Vanilla Fudge album), The Beat Goes On'' (February 1968; Atco Records 33-237) *
Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...
''Live at Pacific High Recording, Pacific High Studios'' (1971) Bootleg * Conway Twitty ''Conway Twitty Sings the Blues'' (1972: MGM Records SE-4837) * Jimi Hendrix & Little Richard on the album ''Friends from the Beginning - Little Richard and Jimi Hendrix, Friends From The Beginning'' (1972) *
John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
Performed by Lennon and the Plastic Ono Elephant's Memory Band on August 30, 1972, at Madison Square Garden, New York City, from one of his last charity concerts. Released on ''Live in New York'' (US: January 24, 1986: UK: February 24, 1986: Parlophone PCS 7301) * John Entwistle ''Rigor Mortis Sets In'' (Recorded: 1973; Released: 1973 on Track Records) * Scorpions (Band), Scorpions ''Tokyo Tapes (album), Tokyo Tapes'' (Recorded: 1978; Released: 1978 on RCA Records) * Carl Perkins (UK: 1985; Magnum Force MFLP-2.039) * Eric Clapton (Germany: 1989; Reprise 5439-19719-7) ''Journeyman (album), Journeyman'' (November 1989: Duck Records 7599-2 6074–1) (1990: Warner Bros. 19848) * Tiny Tim : ''Tiny Tim Rock'' (1993; Regular Records D 31093) * David Grisman,
John Hartford John Cowan Hartford (December 30, 1937 – June 4, 2001) was an American folk, country, and bluegrass composer and musician known for his mastery of the fiddle and banjo, as well as for his witty lyrics, unique vocal style, and extensive kn ...
, and
Mike Seeger Mike Seeger (August 15, 1933August 7, 2009) was an American folk musician and folklorist. He was a distinctive singer and an accomplished musician who played autoharp, banjo, fiddle, dulcimer, guitar, mouth harp, mandolin, dobro, jaw harp, a ...
"Hound Dawg" on '' Retrograss'' (1999: Acoustic Disc) Nominated for Grammy in the Traditional Folk Album category in 2000. *
James Taylor James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, havi ...
''Covers (James Taylor album), Covers'' (2008)


Answers and parodies

* Charlie Gore & Louis Innis "(You Ain't Nothin but a Female) Hound Dog" (March 22, 1953: King 3587) *
Homer and Jethro Homer and Jethro were the stage names of American country music duo Henry D. "Homer" Haynes (1920–1971) and Kenneth C. "Jethro" Burns (1920–1989), popular from the 1940s through the 1960s on radio and television for their satirical versio ...
"(How Much Is) That Hound Dog In The Window?" (
Bob Merrill Henry Robert Merrill Levan (May 17, 1921 – February 17, 1998) was an American songwriter, theatrical composer, lyricist, and screenwriter. He was one of the most successful songwriters of the 1950s on the US and UK single charts. He wrote ...
) (March 1953: RCA Victor 47–5280) * Roy Brown and His Mighty, Mighty Men "Mr. Hound Dog's in Town" (March 1953: King Records 45–4627) *
John Brim John Charles Brim (April 10, 1922 – October 1, 2003) was an American Chicago blues guitarist, songwriter, and singer. He wrote and recorded the song "Ice Cream Man" which was later covered by the rock band Van Halen for their first album, and ...
"Rattlesnake" (1953: Checker 769) *
Chuck Higgins Charles Williams Higgins (April 17, 1924 – September 14, 1999) was an American saxophonist. Higgins relocated from his birthplace of Gary, Indiana to Los Angeles in his teens, where he played trumpet and went to school at the Los Angeles Con ...
and His Mellotones (vocal by " Daddy Cleanhead") "Real Gone Hound Dog" (written by C. Higgins & Jake Porter, V. Haven) (1953: Combo 25) *
Smiley Lewis A smiley, sometimes referred to as a smiley face, is a basic ideogram that represents a smiling face. Since the 1950s it has become part of popular culture worldwide, used either as a standalone ideogram, or as a form of communication, such a ...
"Play Girl" ( D. Bartholomew) (1953: Imperial 45–5234) * Rufus Thomas, Rufus "Hound Dog" Thomas, Jr. "Bear Cat (The Answer To Hound Dog)" (March 1953: Sun Records 181) * Unknown (attributed to Rosco Gordon) "(You Ain't Nuttin' But a) Juicehead" (Probably March 1953: unreleased demo recorded at Sun Records) On Various Artists ''"706 Blues": A Collection of Rare Memphis Blues'' (Netherlands, 1974: Redita LP-111) On Various Artists (Netherlands 1988: ''Keep On Rolling'' (Redita 131) Various Artists ''Sun Records: The Blues Years 1950–1958'' (1996: Charly CDSUNBOX 7) * Juanita Moore and the Eugene Jackson Trio "Call Me a Hound Dog" (Robert Geddins) on Various Artists ''Toast of the Coast: 1950s R&B from Dolphin's of Hollywood, Vol. 2'' (Recorded ca. 1953; Released: UK: March 10, 2009: Ace) * Frank "Dual Trumpeter" Motley & His Crew (with vocal by
Curley Bridges Curley Wilson Bridges (February 7, 1934 – November 27, 2014) was an American electric blues, rock and roll, and rhythm and blues singer, pianist and songwriter. Life and career Bridges was born in Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina. His father, G ...
) "New Hound Dog" (1954: Big Town 116) * Big "Tiny" Kennedy [Jesse Kennedy, Jr.] and His Orchestra "Country Boy" (Tiny Kennedy) (October 1955: Groove 4G-0106) Re-released 2011: Juke Box Jam JBJ 1025) *
Homer and Jethro Homer and Jethro were the stage names of American country music duo Henry D. "Homer" Haynes (1920–1971) and Kenneth C. "Jethro" Burns (1920–1989), popular from the 1940s through the 1960s on radio and television for their satirical versio ...
"Houn' Dawg" (November 10, 1956: RCA Victor 20–6706; 47–6706) * Lalo "Pancho Lopez" Guerrero "Pound Dog" (1956: L&M LM1002) * Cliff Johnson "Go 'Way Hound Dog (Let Me Sing My Blues)" (1956: Columbia 4-40865; Australia: 1957; Coronet Records KW-022) *
Mickey Katz Meyer Myron "Mickey" Katz (June 15, 1909 – April 30, 1985) was an American musician and comedian. He was the father of actor Joel Grey and paternal grandfather of actress Jennifer Grey. Early life Meyer Myron Katz was born on Sawtell Court in ...
and His Orchestra "You're A Doity Dog (Hound Dog)" (January 1957; Capitol F3607) (Germany: 1957; Capitol F 80 411) * Johnny Madera "Too Many Hound Dogs" (Bob Crewe, Frank Slay) (November 1960: Swan Records 4063) * The Raging Storms "Hound Dog [Twist]" (Fred Kelly) December 1961: Warwick Records (United States), Warwick Records M677; Trans Atlas M677''Billboard'' (27 January 1962):23. * El Vez and The Memphis Mariachis (as "(You Ain't Nothin' But A) Chihuahua") (1991) ''Son of a Lad From Spain?'' (December 14, 1999: Sympathy 4 the R.I.)


See also

* List of best-selling singles * List of best-selling singles in the United States * List of number-one singles of 1956 (U.S.) * List of number-one rhythm and blues hits (United States)#1956, List of number-one rhythm and blues hits of 1956


References


Further reading

*Burroughs, Alison Joy
"Alice Walker's 'Nineteen Fifty-Five'"
* Chilton, Martin

''The Telegraph'' (August 23, 2011). * Cooper, B. Lee and Wayne S. Haney, ''Response Recordings: An Answer Song Discography, 1950–1990'', Scarecrow Press, 1990. * Corliss, Richard
"Remembering Jerry Leiber, the ‘Hound Dog’ Poet of Rock ‘n’ Roll"
''Time'' (August 24, 2011). * Du Verger, Jean
"From Musical Revolution to Countercultural Music: The Poet and the King"
''Revue Ecolle'' 2 (March 19, 2012). * Fink, Robert
"Elvis Everywhere: Musicology and Popular Music Studies at the Twilight of the Canon"
''American Music'' 16:2 (University of Illinois Press, Summer 1998):135–179. * Gart, Galen and Roy C. Ames, ''Duke/Peacock Records: An Illustrated History with Discography''. Big Nickel Publications, 1990. * Gritten, Dave

''The Telegraph'' (August 23, 2011). * Lillistam, Lars. (1988) "Musical Acculturation: 'Hound Dog' From Blues to Swedish Rock'n'Roll. In Hennion, ed. ''1789–1989: Musique, Histoire, Democratie, Vol. III''. 1988. * Moonoogian, George A. "Ain't Nothin' But a Hound Dog." ''Whiskey, Women and … '' 14 (June 1984):4–10. * Moonoogian, George A. "The Answer Record in R&B." ''Record Exchanger'' 22 (1976):24–25, 28. * Myers, Marc
"The House That 'Hound Dog' Built"
''The Wall Street Journal'' (February 28, 2013). * Nazareth, Peter. "Elvis as Anthology", in Vernon Chadwick, ed., ''In Search of Elvis: Music, Race, Art, Religion.'' Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1997. * Nazareth, Peter
"Nineteen Fifty-Five": Alice, Elvis And The Black Matrix"
''Journal of the African Literature Association'' 1:2 (Summer/Fall 2007):150–162. * Norton, Cherry
"`Hound Dog' – the Song That Did Most to Leave World All Shook Up"
''The Independent''. London, England: January 24, 2000. * "Soundaffects"
"Elvis, Hound Dog and questions of intended meaning"
''Soundaffects'' (September 24, 2008). * Spörke, Michael
"Big Mama Thornton: The Life and Music."
McFarland Inc. (July 22, 2014) * St. Pierre, Roger. "Big Mama Thornton: The Hound Dog Howler Who Inspired Janis". ''New Musical Express'' (January 1, 1972).


External links


"Leiber & Stoller Discography"
{{authority control 1953 songs 1953 singles 1955 singles 1956 singles Big Mama Thornton songs Billy "Crash" Craddock songs Crossover (music) Elvis Presley songs Etta James songs Jerry Lee Lewis songs Little Richard songs The Easybeats songs Sherbet (band) songs Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients Number-one singles in the United States Songs involved in plagiarism controversies Songs written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller Song recordings produced by Stephen H. Sholes 1973 singles Infinity Records singles RCA Victor singles Song recordings produced by Richard Batchens Songs about dogs United States National Recording Registry recordings