The story of "Hound Dog"

How a 15-minute blues song written in 1952 became the defining anthem of 1950s rock 'n' roll.

On August 12, 1952, R&B bandleader Johnny Otis introduced 19-year-old songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller to Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton. Leiber and Stoller wrote "Hound Dog" in about 12 to 15 minutes specifically to match Thornton's commanding stage presence.

The song was written as a gritty, 12-bar blues narrative about a woman throwing an unfaithful, freeloading man out of her house.  Recorded on August 13, 1952, at Radio Recorders Annex in Los Angeles, the track was released by Peacock Records in February 1953. It spent 14 weeks on the Billboard R&B charts, including 7 weeks at No. 1, selling over 500,000 copies.  

"We saw Big Mama and she knocked me cold. She looked like the biggest, baddest, saltiest chick you would ever see. And she was mean, a 'lady bear,' as they used to call 'em." — Jerry Leiber (interviewed in Rolling Stone, 1990)  

"She was a wonderful blues singer, with a great moaning style. But it was as much her appearance as her blues style that influenced the writing of 'Hound Dog' and the idea that we wanted her to growl it." — Mike Stoller (interviewed in Rolling Stone, 1990)  

Freddie Bell and the Bellboys (1955)

Before Elvis recorded the song, he heard a reworked version performed live in Las Vegas in April 1956 by the white lounge group. Bell's group had modified Thornton’s original lyrics in 1955. They replaced the gritty blues euphemisms about a freeloading man with comical lyrics about an actual dog: "You ain't never caught a rabbit and you ain't no friend of mine. "Elvis adopted this comic lyric structure and upbeat tempo for his live acts, shifting the song away from Thornton’s original Southern blues context.  

Elvis Presley (1956)

On July 2, 1956, Elvis recorded "Hound Dog" at RCA Studios in New York City alongside guitarist Scotty Moore, bassist Bill Black, drummer D.J. Fontana, pianist Gordon Stoker, and backing vocals by The Jordanaires. Elvis pushed the band through 31 takes before settling on the final release. Released by RCA Victor in July 1956 as a double A-side with "Don't Be Cruel," the single made history by reaching No. 1 simultaneously across the Pop, Country, and R&B charts. It spent 11 weeks at No. 1 on the Pop chart, a record that stood for 36 years—and went on to sell over 10 million copies globally.  

 "I have no idea what that rabbit business is all about. The song is not about a dog, it's about a man." — Jerry Leiber (recalculating the lyric changes Elvis inherited from Freddie Bell)

You can find the full lyrics to both Big Mama Thornton’s and Elvis’s versions by searching for the song on Google, or YouTube. Evidently Freddie and The Bellboys did not record the song.