Who wrote the music and lyrics to the Elvis Presley song “Hound Dog”?
Those of us who remember the public hysteria over the musical phenomenon of Elvis Presley back in 1956, will probably assume that the seminal rock and roll singer not only sang his hit “Hound Dog”, but also penned it. No, the original song was composed by the team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, and was first recorded by “Big Mama” Thornton in 1952. Elvis’ version, which sits at #19 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 greatest rock and roll songs, was actually the most popular of a variety of versions done in a range of styles, including country and western. Versions of the song were done after Elvis’, by quite a few artists, including Jimi Hendrix. The URL provided is to the excellent Wikipedia article.
Hound Dog” is a twelve-bar blues written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and originally recorded by Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton in 1952. Other early versions illustrate the differences among blues, country, and rock and roll in the mid 1950s. The 1956 remake by Elvis Presley is the best known version. This is the version that is #19 on Rolling Stone’s list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Hound Dog was written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and was made famous by Elvis Presley. Hound Dog was first recorded by Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton in 1952 and was produced by Leiber and Stoller. Versions were recorded in 1953 by country artists like Billy Starr, Tommy Duncan, Eddie Hazelwood, Jack Turner and Cleve Jackson. In 1955 Bernie Lowe of Teen Records asked Freddie Bell of Freddie Bell and the Bellboys to rework the lyrics. The line “Snoopin’ round my door” was replaced with “cryin’ all the time”, and “You can wag your tail, but I ain’t gonna feed you no more” was replaced by “You ain’t never caught a rabbit, and you ain’t no friend of mine.” In 1956 Elvis added the song (with the newer lyrics) to his live performances including a nation wide television audience on The Milton Berle Show on June 5, 1956. He recorded the song in July of that year.
Those of us who remember the public hysteria over the musical phenomenon of Elvis Presley back in 1956, will probably assume that the seminal rock and roll singer not only sang his hit “Hound Dog”, but also penned it. No, the original song was composed by the team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, and was first recorded by “Big Mama” Thornton in 1952. Elvis’ version, which sits at #19 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 greatest rock and roll songs, was actually the most popular of a variety of versions done in a range of styles, including country and western. Versions of the song were done after Elvis’, by quite a few artists, including Jimi Hendrix. The URL provided is to the excellent Wikipedia article. Sources: http://en.wikipedia.
