WILLIE MAE "BIG MAMA" THORNTON

 BIG MAMA THORNTON

"Hound Dog" +

(she wrote it! well made it her own at least, she lived it (!) for it is claimed by Johnny Otis and simultaneously by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller who were too young to claim the royalties until some youngster, a white truck driver, called Elvis Presley made it a hit!)

Things being a bit thin on the ground ROIO wise we will look back at some blues and hence Rock 'n' Roll classics. Here's this worth a read about the legendary and fearsome voiced Big Mama Thornton

“Big Mama” Thornton was a fiercely independent woman; sometimes described as intimidating because of her physical frame and demeanour. Her personality may well have been a result of nature and nurture, given her difficult childhood and early adult years. In the context of the 1950s for a black female singer to break from the gender stereotype and stand out in a male dominated industry, a no-nonsense disposition was surely essential. In many ways, Thornton was a pioneer. 

 Thornton recorded the 12-bar blues “Hound Dog” under the studio supervision of song-writing duo  Mike Leiber and Jerry Stoller. Mike Stoller was approached by Johnny Otis, who’d been given the task by Don Robey to find a hit for Thornton. When they first met, Leiber and Stoller found her a formidable character:

“In her combat boots and oversize overalls, she was a bit frightening. There was something monstrous about Big Mama, but I wasn’t looking at her that way. We saw her as the perfect instrument for deadly blues that we relished. We knocked the song out in a couple of minutes; it just happened like lightening. We knew as they say in the south, that this dog would hunt. 'Hound Dog' had just the right amount of country-funk that the lady embodied.”

It reached number one in the Billboard R&B charts in 1953 and stayed there for seven weeks. The song was a perfect vehicle for Big Mama’s growling vocal delivery. Half a million copies were sold in the first three months alone. There was little financial reward however; a trend running throughout the most of her career. Even Leiber and Stoller didn’t initially benefit. Johnny Otis put his name to the song as composer and had informed Don Robey that he had power of attorney to sign for Leiber and Stoller, which was untrue. As Leiber and Stoller were underage, their parents signed a new contract with Robey, and a cheque was eventually received for $1,200. It bounced. Things were remedied for the song-writing duo three years later however, when a young white rock ‘n’ roll singer from Memphis recorded the song and “Hound Dog” hit the stratosphere. 

 - Soul Source Magazine 

Photo by LYNN ADLER

Remembering BIG MAMA THORNTON

[December 11, 1926 – July 25, 1984]

Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton only notched one national hit in her lifetime, but it was a true monster. HOUND DOG held down the top slot on Billboard's R&B charts for seven long weeks in 1953. Alas, Elvis Presley's rocking 1956 cover was even bigger, effectively obscuring Thornton's chief claim to immortality.

"That's a damned shame, because Thornton's menacing growl was indeed something special," wrote Bill Dahl for AllMusic.

In 1952, while working with Peacock artist Johnny Otis, she recorded "Hound Dog", the first record produced by its writers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. 

"We wanted her to growl it," Stoller said, which she did. 

Otis played drums, after the original drummer was unable to play an adequate part. 

The record sold more than half a million copies, and went to number one on the R&B chart, helping to bring in the dawn of rock 'n' roll. Although the record made Thornton a star, she saw little of the profits.

Thornton's success with "Hound Dog" was followed three years later by Elvis Presley recording his hit version of the song.

His recording at first annoyed Leiber who wrote, "I have no idea what that rabbit business is all about. The song is not about a dog, it's about a man, a freeloading gigolo."

But Elvis' version sold ten million copies, so today few fans know that "Hound Dog" began as "an anthem of black female power."

"The hefty belter Big Mama Thornton first opened her pipes in church but soon embraced the blues. She toured with Sammy Green's Hot Harlem Revue during the 1940s. Thornton was ensconced on the Houston circuit when Peacock Records boss Don Robey signed her in 1951. She debuted on Peacock with "Partnership Blues" that year, backed by trumpeter Joe Scott's band."

But it was her third Peacock date with Johnny Otis' band that proved the winner. With Pete Lewis laying down some truly nasty guitar behind her, Big Mama shouted "Hound Dog," a tune whose authorship remains a bone of contention to this day (both Otis and the team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller claim responsibility), and soon hit the road a star.

But it was an isolated incident. Though Thornton cut some fine Peacock follow-ups -- "I Smell a Rat," "Stop Hoppin' on Me," "The Fish," "Just like a Dog" -- through 1957, she never again reached the hit parade. Even Elvis was apparently unaware of her; he was handed "Hound Dog" by Freddie Bell, a Vegas lounge rocker. Early-'60s 45s for Irma, Bay-Tone, Kent, and Sotoplay did little to revive her sagging fortunes, but a series of dates for Arhoolie that included her first vinyl rendition of "Ball and Chain" in 1968 and two albums for Mercury in 1969-1970 put her back in circulation (Janis Joplin's overwrought but well-intentioned cover of "Ball and Chain" didn't hurt either). Along with her imposing vocals, Thornton began to emphasize her harmonica skills during the 1960s.

Thornton was a tough cookie. She dressed like a man and took no guff from anyone, even as the pounds fell off her once-ample frame and she became downright scrawny during the last years of her life. 

Medical personnel found her lifeless body in an L.A. rooming house in 1984.

Text found by Colouring The Past on Facebook!

 

Ball and Chain with Buddy Guy's Band

Live in Eugene Oregon 1971