This is the story of Elvis and why he selected the song "Hound Dog" to be one of his earliest recordings. A double-sided hit, with Don't Be Cruel on the flip side, it ended up being Presley's biggest hit ever. From 1955-1988, Billboard listed it as the top single of all time. The 1956 release was number one for 11 weeks and on the charts for 28 weeks.
Elvis was not a song writer. He was from the era before the artists started writing their own material. Elvis, like Sinatra, was content to record songs written by others. Hound Dog was penned by the songwriting team of Leiber and Stoller. They were Caucasian, but they wrote many songs that were popular with the R&B fans and R&B artists. The pair had, previously, written Kansas City, a big hit. Another of their songs -- Hound Dog -- had been recorded by Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton. Her original version of the song topped the R&B charts in 1953. From a historical perspective, we are lucky to have video of this original version of what was to become one of the most famous songs ever
Elvis decided to record Hound Dog when he was playing Vegas in 1955. The young entertainer was checking out other acts on the strip, some of those acts were as big or bigger than he was at the time. Presley and the band went to see an act at the Sands Hotel. The group was called The Bellboys. They were into covers that were spoofs -- amusing takes on popular songs. The Bellboys had targeted Hound Dog by Big Mama Thornton. Scotty Moore, a member of Elvis' band later said that they took the arrangement, exactly as performed by the Bellboys. The Presley band looked upon the song as comic relief. The future superstar first performed Hound Dog on the Milton Berle TV show and the rest of the story is music history.
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14 Comments on Stories Behind The Music -- Elvis and the Hound
SEP
22
2008
An interesting note regarding singles (45 rpm records) that may be lost on younger people. Record companies tried to pair up a (hopefully) popular recording on the A-side with a not so popular recording on the B-side. Sometimes both recordings would be hits. Two hits for the price of one record.
Rich,
That is for sure correct. It was rare, maybe 10 percent of the time, that both sides were popular. Even with Elvis, often just one side. The Beatles and the Stones had a high percentage of double sided hits.
Rebecca,
This is kind of like an extension of my years in broadcasting. I really enjoy, with online video, having the capability of going in and telling these stories. I have many more to come. Glad there are groups here at AR that these will fit into.
Steven, I've heard Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thorton's version several times on XM Radio. It was nice to see it on video. You're right, Elvis never did write any of his recordings, but you will see on many of his records that he is given credit as a co-writer. From what I've heard, Colonel Tom Parker insisted that Elvis be included as a co-writer. I think it had something to do with additional royalties. I guess if you wanted Elvis to record one of your songs, you included him as a co-writer. Keep me honest, this is something I've heard.
Michael, You got that right. Some of the largest earnings from the records come from the royalties. Money comes in forever if you write a big song. Think Satisfaction or a tune like that. From what I have read that was a trick Barry Gordy at Motown used. He would put, on the flip side of the hit, some song written by a relative. In the early days, the fees were split equally between the sides, hit or not. Silly but it made lots of money for the person credited on the flip.
Steve, thankee, thankee, thankee, for bringing back Elvis. His version was a definte improvement over the other one!! And those legs! And those legs moving!! I became a teenager again for a little while. Didja notice how much he looks like a Greek God statue???
I am getting a kick out of these story behind the music posts. I have always found these stories fascinating but had not realized until recently that almost every story I wish to tell can be told through you tube videos. It is really quite amazing, something that cannot be done with either a sound recording or a book. You can tell the story, then have the artist jump out of the page. If only one could do that with a real book. I had no clue that you tube had such an amazing collection of old things. I am working on several of these, really like creating these, so hope you do too.
I always liked the R&B Elvis better than the later Elvis, maybe because I like the music, maybe because Elvis was better at it. At any rate I have a substantial collection of first release Elvis singles. My first purchase was for my 8th birthday. Jailhouse Rock. I continued to collect into my mid-teens then lost interest in his music as it moprhed into more "modern" type music.
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An interesting note regarding singles (45 rpm records) that may be lost on younger people. Record companies tried to pair up a (hopefully) popular recording on the A-side with a not so popular recording on the B-side. Sometimes both recordings would be hits. Two hits for the price of one record.