Hump Day History


Willa Mae "Big Mama" Thornton.

She started her professional career at age 14 in 1941.  Ten years later, she signed her first record contract.  She was paired with Johnny Otis, who asked a couple songwriters to write something specifically for Thornton.

Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller got to work.

On this day in 1952, "Hound Dog" was recorded for the first time.


Freddie and the Bellboys performed the song with changed lyrics, and this is the version Elvis saw in Las Vegas in 1956.


Thornton's "Hound Dog" is listed as one of "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll."

It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2013.

It was Big Mama's only hit record, sold over 500,000 copies and spent 14 weeks on the charts - 7 of those at number one.


This is one of my favorite songs that Janis Joplin sings, but Big Mama did it first, and she wrote it.


Though it didn't chart, it is also listed as one of the 500 songs that shaped rock and roll.

The band with her is Buddy Guy's.

Janis had seen Big Mama perform in San Francisco, and had the group transform the song.



 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Vacation Open Thread!

Image
 From Highway 395 overlooking Mono Lake. This year we're driving on past that to check out Mammoth Lakes and Bishop.  A few sites in the area I'd like to see, not to mention the lakes themselves and some hot springs. There's a fire in Yosemite, so we're hoping the winds keep the smoke to the west. I'll be back on the 18th! ❤️
Read more

Science is Fun Fridays!

Image
  Pterosaurs have incredibly lightweight skeletons, so finding one intact is pretty rare. In the Solnhofen Limestones in Germany, paleontologists came across a perfectly preserved hatchling.  And it is tiny, with a wingspan of less than 20 centimeters. "The odds of preserving one are already slim, and finding a fossil that tells you how the animal died is even rarer," reports lead author, Rab Smyth, from the University of Leicester Centre for Paleobiology. The fractures suggest a powerful twisting force, such as a severe storm, that caused catastrophic injuries. It should be noted that several young pterosaur fossils have been found in this area, and now scientists understand why - adults would likely have survived the storm. Here they explain the conditions:
Read more

Venice Film Festival

Image
This week I thought we might check out some fashion along with some background. The festival began in 1932, and includes the Venice Biennale, one of the world's oldest exhibitions of art. The first film to be presented: Helen Hayes was voted best actress, which she followed up with an Oscar. This year: Cate Blanchett, Father Mother Sister Brother Emily Blunt, The Smashing Machine Noomi Rapace, Mother Colman Domingo, Dead Man's Wire Shailene Woodley, Motor City
Read more