I personally would have preferred this if it were part of a quiz to teach kids
to identify and describe misandry and anti-White racism. Might as well add in
intersectionality as well while we're at it.
KidsPost
Blues singer ‘Big Mama’ Thornton had a hit with ‘Hound Dog.’ Then Elvis came
along.
After the “king of rock-and-roll” recorded a version, Thornton’s original was
largely forgotten.
By Haben KelatiFeb. 24, 2021 at 8:00 a.m. ESTImagine you have a good idea, but
someone copies it and gets more credit. That’s basically what happened to
rhythm-and-blues singer Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton with her song “Hound
Dog.” If you know the song, you might only know “King of Rock-and-Roll” Elvis
Presley’s version. But before the song helped Elvis’s career skyrocket, it was
a big hit for Thornton.Thornton, who was born in Ariton, Alabama, in 1926,
signed with Peacock Records in 1951. She stood out when compared with other
female singers. Nearly six feet tall and 200 pounds, she got the nickname “Big
Mama.”“She had this tough exterior, and she had this very powerful voice which
made her also seem very tough,” says Maureen Mahon, a music professor at New
York University.She often performed while wearing a suit jacket and tie with
cowboy boots.“Sometimes she would wear a dress or gown, but she also liked to
wear what people would refer to as men’s clothes,” Mahon says. Mahon says
Thornton had an aggressive power when performing while staying true to the
emotions of a song.“She could convey many emotions and different kinds of
feelings through her vocals. That’s a really important part of blues singing,”
Mahon says.Watching Thornton sing inspired Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller to
write “Hound Dog” for her in 1952. Thornton recorded it with a growl
emphasizing the frustration that the song lyrics suggest — coping with a
boyfriend who is also dating someone else.Thornton had moderate success with
the song in 1953. It reached Number 1 on the Billboard rhythm-and-blues chart.
Several musicians recorded their own versions, but none had much success until
Elvis.The 21-year-old performer had heard a version of the song in early 1956
with some of the words changed. (It was about a dog, not a man.) Elvis decided
to record it. His recording climbed to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart
and stayed there for 11 weeks. The song is seen as an important beginning of
rock-and-roll, especially in its use of the guitar as the key instrument,
according to Mahon.Mahon says Elvis’s cool stage presence, which captivated
audiences, can be traced to Thornton’s influence.“I think he was getting that
attitude from a singer like Big Mama Thornton, who was projecting that in her
song,” she says. Elvis was able to get his version to wider audiences than
Thornton, in part because he was a White man, according to Gayle Wald,
professor of American studies and English literature at George Washington
University. He had hit songs by 1956, but he also had access to larger,
mainstream markets.“Popular music history is filled with examples of Black
women being pushed to the margins,” Wald says.Wald points to the start of the
blues as an example. “The first [vocal] blues songs that were ever recorded [in
the 1910s], were recorded by White singers. It wasn’t until 1920, when Mamie
Smith put out ‘Crazy Blues,’ that a Black woman actually was on record singing
a blues song. Even though blues was an African American art form.”“[Thornton]
belongs in that story. . . . Because of the way race works in the United
States, Elvis got accolades” for “Hound Dog,” Wald says. “He received exposure
and celebrity and praise for it.”Thornton’s influence on Elvis and American
popular music as a whole is an important part of her legacy. Although her work
may have been forgotten by some, researchers such as Mahon and Wald continue to
study and elevate her music and its impact.“I think we’re making a lot of
progress,” Wald says. “The Internet has made it easier to let people know about
artists from the past.”
