Katana VentraIP

Hound Dog (song)

"Hound Dog" is a twelve-bar blues song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Recorded originally by Big Mama Thornton on August 13, 1952, in Los Angeles and released by Peacock Records in late February 1953, "Hound Dog" was Thornton's only hit record, selling over 500,000 copies, spending 14 weeks in the R&B charts, including seven weeks at number one. Thornton's recording of "Hound Dog" is listed as one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll", ranked at 318 in the 2021 iteration of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time[2] and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in February 2013.

"Hound Dog"

"Night Mare"[1]

February 1953 (1953-02)

August 13, 1952

Radio Recorders Annex, Los Angeles

Blues

2:52

Peacock

Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller

Johnny Otis

"Hound Dog" has been recorded more than 250 times. The best-known version is the July 1956 recording by Elvis Presley,[3] which ranked number 19 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2004, but was excluded from the revised list in 2021 in favor of Thornton's version; it is also one of the best-selling singles of all time. Presley's version, which sold about 10 million copies globally, was his best-selling song and "an emblem of the rock 'n' roll revolution". It was simultaneously number one on the US pop, country, and R&B charts in 1956, and it topped the pop chart for 11 weeks—a record that stood for 36 years. Presley's 1956 RCA recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1988, and it is listed as one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll".


"Hound Dog" has been at the center of controversies and several lawsuits, including disputes over authorship, royalties, and copyright infringement by the many answer songs released by such artists as Rufus Thomas and Roy Brown. From the 1970s onward, the song has been featured in numerous films, including Grease, Forrest Gump, Lilo & Stitch, A Few Good Men, Hounddog, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and Nowhere Boy.

#36 Rolling Stone Fifty Essential Recordings From The Fifties (1990)

[67]

Thornton's recording of "Hound Dog" is listed as one of the 's "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll"[68]

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

In 2017, Thornton's recording of "Hound Dog" was selected for preservation in the by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or artistically significant."[69]

National Recording Registry

The original version was ranked No. 318 on the 2021 edition of "Top 500 Songs of All Time" by Rolling Stone Magazine.

[70]

"Hound Dog"

"Move Me Baby'[155]

1955 (1955)

Philadelphia, 1955

Rock and roll

2:45

Teen

Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller

"Don't Be Cruel"

July 13, 1956 (1956-07-13)

July 2, 1956

RCA Victor, New York City

Rock and roll

2:15

RCA Victor

Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller

Elvis Presley (uncredited), Stephen H. Sholes

(in German, as "Heut Geh' Ich Nicht Nach Hause") (1957);[282] (Today I'm Not Going Home)

Ralf Bendix

Die Rock and Rollers with the Orchestra (in German, as "Das Ist Rock And Roll") (lyrics: Fini Busch) (1957);

Johannes Fehring

(in Mexican Spanish, as "Sabueso") (1960: Discos Audiomex).[283] (Hound)

Dyno Y Los Solitarios

Los Rogers (in Spanish, as "El Twist Del Perro") (1961); (Dog Twist)

(in French, as "Un Vieux Chien de Chasse") on his album To Elvis from Nashville (1977: Philips) (An Old Hound)

Lucky Blondo

(in Brazilian Portuguese, as "Hot-Dog") (1984)

Angela Ro Ro

(in Bernese German as "Souhung") on their album Elvis (June 15, 1990: Black Cat at Sound Service)

Züri West

Aurelio Morata (in Spanish, as "Perra Boba") Tributo Al Rey (1997: Picap)

"Mr. Hound Dog's in Town" recorded on March 18 by Blues shouter for King Records (45–4627).[110][111][112] While it had the same melody and many of the same lyrics as the original, Brown is credited as the sole writer.[113]

Roy Brown

"(You Ain't Nothin' But A Female) Hound Dog" (King 45–1212) recorded by Vocalist Charlie Gore and guitarist Louis Innis on March 22 for King Records on March 22.[116] This song was credited to Innis, Lois Mann (a pseudonym of King Records owner Syd Nathan, the latter his wife's maiden name),[117] and Johnny Otis.[118]

[115]

"Rattlesnake" recorded by blues guitarist for Chess Records' Checker subsidiary[14] with Little Walter on blues harp.[120]

John Brim

"Real Gone Hound Dog" (Combo 25), "an obscure 'answer' record to 'Hound Dog'", recorded by Chuck Higgins and His Mellotones' with a vocal by Higgins' brother "Daddy Cleanhead" for Jake Porter's Combo Records. The composition was credited to Higgins and Porter (as V. Haven).[126]

[125]

The song was included in the 1996 stage musical, Hound Dog: A Hip hOpera", a musical send-up that was written, and produced by , that ran for three months at Hollywood's Hudson Theatre, receiving five LA Weekly Theatre Award nominations, including Musical of the Year.[344][345]

Jeff Rake

The missile's name is inspired by Presley's version of the song. The missiles were air-launched supersonic missiles designed to destroy heavily defended ground targets. Almost 700 AGM-28s were built.[346][347][348]

AGM-28 Hound Dog

with Kansas City Bill and Orchestra "Hound Dog" / "Night Mare" (US: February 1953; Peacock 1612) (UK: 1954; Vogue V 2284) (Sweden, 1954; Karusell K 66) (France, 1954: Vogue V 3328) Song is credited to Leiber-Stroller [sic]-Otis.

[349]

with Kansas City Bill and Orchestra "Hound Dog" / "Rock-a-Bye Baby" (US: August 1956; Peacock 5–1612)

with Kansas City Bill and Orchestra "Hound Dog" / "Rock-a-Bye Baby" (Aust & NZ: 1956; Prestige PSP-1004) Song is credited to Robey-Thornton-Leiber-Stoller.

[63]

The Big Ones From Duke and Peacock Records (US: 1967; Peacock Records PLP-2000) Various Artists

"Hound Dog" / "Let's Go Get Started" (1969: Mercury Records 72981)

She's Back (1970: Back Beat Records BLP-68) Reissued: (1974: ABC/Back Beat BBLX-68).

Hound Dog: The Peacock Recordings (1992: Peacock MCAD-10668)

List of best-selling singles

List of best-selling singles in the United States

List of number-one singles of 1956 (U.S.)

List of number-one rhythm and blues hits of 1956

Burroughs, Alison Joy. .

"Alice Walker's 'Nineteen Fifty-Five'"

Chilton, Martin. , The Telegraph (August 23, 2011).

"Hound Dog: 10 facts about Elvis Presley's hit song"

Cooper, B. Lee and Wayne S. Haney, Response Recordings: An Answer Song Discography, 1950–1990, Scarecrow Press, 1990.

Corliss, Richard. . Time (August 24, 2011).

"Remembering Jerry Leiber, the ‘Hound Dog’ Poet of Rock ‘n’ Roll"

Du Verger, Jean. , Revue Ecolle 2 (March 19, 2012).

"From Musical Revolution to Countercultural Music: The Poet and the King"

Fink, Robert. . American Music 16:2 (University of Illinois Press, Summer 1998):135–179.

"Elvis Everywhere: Musicology and Popular Music Studies at the Twilight of the Canon"

Gart, Galen and Roy C. Ames, Duke/Peacock Records: An Illustrated History with Discography. Big Nickel Publications, 1990.

Gritten, Dave. , The Telegraph (August 23, 2011).

"Jerry Leiber tribute"

Lillistam, Lars. (1988) "Musical Acculturation: 'Hound Dog' From Blues to Swedish Rock'n'Roll. In Hennion, ed. 1789–1989: Musique, Histoire, Democratie, Vol. III. 1988.

Moonoogian, George A. "Ain't Nothin' But a Hound Dog." Whiskey, Women and … 14 (June 1984):4–10.

Moonoogian, George A. "The Answer Record in R&B." Record Exchanger 22 (1976):24–25, 28.

Myers, Marc. , The Wall Street Journal (February 28, 2013).

"The House That 'Hound Dog' Built"

Nazareth, Peter. "Elvis as Anthology", in Vernon Chadwick, ed., In Search of Elvis: Music, Race, Art, Religion. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1997.

Nazareth, Peter. . Journal of the African Literature Association 1:2 (Summer/Fall 2007):150–162.

"Nineteen Fifty-Five": Alice, Elvis And The Black Matrix"

Norton, Cherry. . The Independent. London, England: January 24, 2000.

"`Hound Dog' – the Song That Did Most to Leave World All Shook Up"

"Soundaffects", Soundaffects (September 24, 2008).

"Elvis, Hound Dog and questions of intended meaning"

Spörke, Michael. McFarland Inc. ISBN 978-0-7864-7759-3 (July 22, 2014)

"Big Mama Thornton: The Life and Music."

St. Pierre, Roger. "Big Mama Thornton: The Hound Dog Howler Who Inspired Janis". (January 1, 1972).

New Musical Express

Wynne, Ben. LSU Press. ISBN 978-0-8071-8114-0 (February 7, 2024)

"A Hound Dog Tale: Big Mama, Elvis, and the Song That Changed Everything."

"Leiber & Stoller Discography"