The Amazing Adventures of Archibald Esq.

Elvis’ ‘Hound Dog’: The Sound of the Fifties

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Elvis Presley’s ‘Hound Dog’ took 31 takes in the studio, but 11 days later the single appeared in the shops and soon became Elvis’ 4th American No 1 Hit Song. Elvis’s recording sold over 4 million copies in the United States at the time of its release.

The song had been originally recorded by the blues singer Big Mama Thornton in 1953.

Big Mama’s rendition held the top spot on the Billboard rhythm and blues charts for 9 weeks. Awooooof!

For a live album recorded in New York City, John Lennon played “Hound Dog” with his wife, Yoko Ono, in a live recording for an album. Yoko did her best to imitate dog’s barking. Barking, as they say…

But before you start putting the zany Yoko down, it’s perhaps worth remembering that in this Yoko’s not alone. In BBC sessions, Jimi Hendrix barked whilst playing this song. Even a cat can be heard at the end — which again might have been Jimi mewling instead of woofing.

Big Mama Thornton always claimed to have written the song herself, but the credit has gone to songwriters Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller. She died and went to the big Dog in the sky in 1984.

Just like Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis also performed Hound Dog; Lewis barked during a live performance.

And in her turn, Diva Etta James performed perhaps the classiest barks and howls ever heard on her Matriarch of Blues album.

Woof! Woof! Awoof! Just another hound dog! And yes — sometimes I feel like crying all the time…

Archie

Posted 05 Dec 06