Record Factola

Original Recording of Hound Dog

 

 

FACTOLA: Original recording of Hound Dog was by Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton on August 13, 1952, in Los Angeles and released by Peacock Records in late February 1953.

 

"Hound Dog" is a twelve-bar blues song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Recorded originally by Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton on August 13, 1952, in Los Angeles and released by Peacock Records in late February 1953, "Hound Dog" was Thornton's only hit record, selling over 500,000 copies, spending 14 weeks in the R&B charts, 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 in February 2013.

"Hound Dog" has been recorded more than 250 times. The best-known version is the July 1956 recording by Elvis Presley, which is ranked number 19 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Wikipedia

 

Big Mama Thornton circa 1955-1960 (Courtesy of Wikipedia)

 

 

 

 

The most successful two-sided hit on Billboard’s Top/Hot 100 chart was Elvis Presley’s “Hound Dog”/“Don’t Be Cruel.” One side reached #1 on the chart, the other #2. The two titles spent a combined 55 weeks in the Top 100 in 1956-1957. No other artist in the rock era, not even The Beatles, had a double-sided hit that could challenge the cumulative chart performance of “Hound Dog” and “Don’t Be Cruel.” - Courtesy of the Elvis History Blog

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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