A Hound Dog Tale: Big Mama, Elvis, and the Song That Changed Everything By Ben Wynne

A Review of
A Hound Dog Tale: Big Mama, Elvis, and the Song That Changed Everything
By Ben Wynne
LSU Press
Hardcover; 184 pages

History of the classic hit “Hound Dog” involves way more players than just Elvis

By DeMatt Harkins
Special to the Mississippi Clarion-Ledger

Today, the song “Hound Dog” is associated with one man: Elvis. In his latest musical history, “A Hound Dog Tale,” St. Andrew’s and Millsaps alumnus Ben Wynne details that the enduring classic actually boasts a full cast. It all starts with…

Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller wrote “Hound Dog.” Wynne explains the unlikely R&B legends’ uncanny parallels. Both were white kids born during the spring of 1933 on the East Coast and raised in multicultural social circumstances, leading to fanatical obsessions with black music. 

After meeting as relocated teens in California, they would go on to pen such hits as, “Kansas City,” “Yakety Yak,” “Charlie Brown,” “Poison Ivy,” “Love Potion No. 9,” “Stand By Me,” and “On Broadway.” The pair even authored “Jailhouse Rock.” But Leiber & Stoller did not write “Hound Dog” for Elvis. They custom made the song for…

Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton recorded “Hound Dog” on August 13, 1952. She was riding the wave of a nationally touring R&B review that launched with her at the bottom of the bill and concluded with her as the headliner. When asked, Leiber & Stoller jumped at the chance to come up with a tune befitting her gregarious persona. Created while Thornton waited in the studio, the song depicts a proud woman, no longer interested in suffering foolishness. It was a hit.  

“Hound Dog” ascended to #1 on the Billboard R&B chart, where it remained for seven weeks. While tabulating sales from the early 50’s proves difficult, Wynne estimates it sold between 500,000-1,000,000 copies. The song became such a sensation that a response tune was immediately recorded by…

Rufus Thomas ruled the airwaves of Memphis as a disc jockey for WDIA, the country’s first radio station completely formatted for the black community. Before his string of hits with Stax, Thomas stepped into the studio on March 8, 1953 to record “Bear Cat.” Essentially a note-for-note remake of “Hound Dog” with only slightly altered, role-reversing lyrics, it took off. It proved so successful it attracted legal trouble for…  

Sam Phillips owned fabled Sun Records. During the years preceding his label’s monumental rockabilly breakthroughs, Phillips hungered for traction. He recognized an opportunity, wrote “Bear Cat,” and drafted Thomas to sing it. Response songs were not unusual for the time. Furthermore, as Wynne points out, “Bear Cat” was among several retorts to “Hound Dog.” But others did not reach #3 while the original remained #1. 

Unfortunately, the litigious fallout created a financial hole that Jerry Lee Louis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Elvis could never fill for Phillips. Strangely enough, the King was not up next, though. “Hound Dog” first filtered through…        

Freddie Bell and The Bellboys uprooted from Philadelphia to take up residency at The Sands in Las Vegas. Their set included a lyrically sanitized version of “Hound Dog,” which they had recorded in 1955. As Wynne asserts that they “turn[ed] it from a powerful female statement on male sloth and infidelity into an upbeat tune about a mutt.” An interpretation of this version became a seismic hit for…

Elvis Aaron Presley was born in Tupelo at the beginning of 1935, and bears the moniker, “The King of Rock & Roll.” During his first national tour, Elvis happened upon Freddie Bell and The Bellboys at his Las Vegas hotel. Hearing them play “Hound Dog,” he felt it would go well in his set.

In “A Hound Dog Tale,” Wynne also walks us through the ensuing television ratings battle Elvis created, Leiber & Stoller’s take on their recycled composition, as well as cultural appropriation accusations. His historical editorial may not force you to choose a favorite version, but it certainly challenges the reader to consider all the actors. 

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DeMatt Harkins of Jackson enjoys flipping pancakes and records with his wife and daughter.