You aint nothing but a hound dog (Big Mama Thornton) and other versions

You aint nothing but a hound dog (Big Mama Thornton)

Did you know that Big Mamma Thornton sung the song before Elvis made it famous? Mostly connect the song to Elvis but had no idea that Big Mama Thornton, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller created this extremely blues type of song back in the early 50s. It should be noted that the two writers were white guys.

I really like Big Mama's version of the song the best because it isn't watered down like some of the more “Mainstream” versions.

The song grew in popularity and country musicians started doing their take on the song. Keep in mind during this time Country music and Blues still had similar roots.

Billy Starr version

Do you hear the blues roots in this version? I do.

Jack Turner version

I actually have to laugh at this version.

Freddie Bell and Bellboys version

Probably the most white-washed version of the song has to be Freddie Bell and Bellboys version of the song. They sped up the beat and took out many of the dirtier bluesy sounds. The repeating of “Hound Dog, Hound Dog” gives the song a happier sound than other versions. It was believed Big Mama's version was “Too Black” for white America and this was what we got. People complain that modern music is dull and white-washed for the mainstream, but they've been doing this sort of thing for years.

Elvis Presley version Album version

Actually, this album version is a mixture of the Country and Blues roots. Presley takes the revised lyrics from Freddie Bell and Bellboys version, but keeps his blues voice in this version. Many racists attacked Elvis, especially for this record, for sounding “too black”. He wouldn't get TV gigs if didn't “whiten” the song up a bit. Listening to this version, you can tell he took out the bluesy tone whenever he did it on TV. While not as good as Big Mama's version, it still is better than the Freddie Bell and Bellboys version.