One of Elvis Presley's early crossover hits was "Hound Dog." It came out soon after he left Sun Record Co. for RCA Victor, and it was one of the songs that made him a superstar.
Here's Big Mama Thornton's "Hound Dog." I'll admit the video isn't very exciting -- it just shows a 78rpm record going round and round. But Big Mama's version of the song, recorded in 1952, is good jump blues about to take off into R&B and -- eventually -- rock'n roll. There's something sly and suggestive about it, too, that I can't quite put my finger on.
A clip from a TV show of the 50s shows Elvis' cover of the song. To my ear at least, his version is harder driving, and some of the sexual innuendo has been edited out of the song. Released in 1956, it's considered one of the first big hits in the brand new genre of rock.
You may prefer one version or the other, depending on your taste. They're both fine performances of one of the all-time great hit songs. And hearing them both will give you more of a feeling of how blues crossed over and became rock.
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