Hound Dog (song) - Big Mama Thornton Version

Big Mama Thornton Version

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

Thornton gave this account of how the original was created to Ralph J. Gleason. “They were just a couple of kids, and they had this song written on the back of a paper bag.” She added a few interjections of her own, played around with the rhythm (some of the choruses have thirteen rather than twelve bars), and had the band bark and howl like hound dogs at the end of the song. In fact, she interacts constantly in a call and response fashion during a one minute long guitar "solo" by Pete Lewis. Her vocals include lines such as: "Aw, listen to that ole hound dog howl...OOOOoooow," "Now wag your tail," and "Aw, get it, get it, get it."

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

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

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