Elvis singing Hound Dog...

[franny]

Elvis singing Hound Dog - "I had a bad feeling" says Jerry Leiber: One half of the legendary Leiber-Stoller songwriting team, Jerry Leiber, had this to say about Elvis' version of Hound Dog in the entertaining book release, Hound Dog The Leiber and Stoller Autobiography:
As for the fact that Elvis had recorded "Hound Dog", well, I had different feelings. The first feeling is one that washes over any songwriter when he learns he has a hit: He hears the cash register ring and the Sale! sign come up. That's a good feeling. But when I heard Elvis's version, I had a bad feeling. I didn't like the way he did it. Elvis - or somebody - changed the lyrics. I had written:

You ain't nothing but a hound dog
Quit snooping 'round my door You can wag your tail
But I ain't gonna feed you no more
http://www.elvisinfonet.com/image-files/vinyl_hounddog_50thanniv.jpg
But Elvis sang:

You ain't nothing but a hound dog
Crying all the time
You ain't never caught a rabbit
And you ain't no friend of mine
To this day 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. Elvis's version makes no sense to me, and, even more irritatingly, it is not the song that Mike and I wrote. Of course, the fact that it sold more than seven million copies took the sting out of what seemed to be a capricious change of lyrics. But, lick for lick, there's no comparison between the Presley version and the Big Mama [Thornton] original. Elvis played with the song; Big Mama nailed it.

Elvis knew Big Mama's version, but that wasn't the one that got him to do it. He had heard it sung by a lounge act at the Sands Hotel in Vegas - Freddie Bell and the Bellboys. Apparently he liked the rhumba feel to the rhythm and told his boys to work up an arrangement. So Elvis was really covering a cover.

http://rcm-images.amazon.com/images/I/51SeIFupi+L._SL110_.jpg (http://www.amazon.com/dp/1416559388?tag=elvisinfornet-20&camp=213381&creative=390973&linkCode=as4&creativeASIN=1416559388&adid=1PHMH3VAM6YJ8J8KMR6N&)

[JDD]

The fact that it sold at all either way baffles me . I think Hound Dog is a terrible song . Its the worst IMO of all of his number one hits .

I don't like Big Momma Thortons version either.

[EnigmaticSun]

I bet a dog was supposed to catch a rabbit for the hunt, or in other words: it serves as a metaphor for some person who is not successful at what (s)he is supposed to be doing.

Human beings don't have much tail left, so it would prove difficult to wag it anyway.

[Diane]

I bet a dog was supposed to catch a rabbit for the hunt, or in other words: it serves as a metaphor for some person who is not successful at what (s)he is supposed to be doing.

This is the way I interpreted the song as well.(y) Not one of my favorites though.

Diane

[SleepyJack]

I absolutely and unashamedly LOVE "Hound Dog"!.... Elvis` version was never about the lyrics,it was all there in the sound and the attitude.....right from the opening "You aint`....." war had been declared on all the middle of the road,crooning and formality that had gone before. Although I do like Big Mamas` version it doesn`t blow the cobwebs off the ceiling like Elvis does.

[Lisarose]

The only thing I don't like about HoundDog, is that during Elvis Week in August or January, I know I'lll hear it about 100 times, as if it's the only song Elvis ever did!

I love Hound dog, and even tho he was only playing around I love the bluesy version he starts off doing.

YouTube - Elvis Presley Hound Dog

[SleepyJack]

One of those little Elvis -wishes I have would be a slowed-down,bluesy version during one of the sit-down shows in `68.

[debtdbruno]

It made them plenty of money, so they should quit griping about it.
I'd have mever heard Big Mamas version if I hadn't heard Elvis sing it.............

[rocknroll]

It's quite possibly the greatest rock and roll performance ever put on record. It had everything - blistering pace, shouted out vocals, hard machine gun like drumming and the guitar solos everyone already knows about.

Leiber and Stoller have been *****ing about Elvis' version for 53 years. It's past time they get over it.

[Jungleroom76]

Leiber and Stoller have been *****ing about Elvis' version for 53 years. It's past time they get over it.


It made them plenty of money, so they should quit griping about it.

Exactly right Deb and rocknroll!!! (y)

Considering Elvis was probably the main artist who put Leiber & Stoller on the map in terms of songwriting duos, I would think that they would make mention of their feelings about Elvis' version of the song one time and then drop it instead of rehashing it for the past 50+ years!!! (n)

Or...if they were smart and didn't want to distance themselves from Elvis fans, they would have just kept their feelings to themselves and enjoyed the success that Elvis' version of HOUND DOG brought them!

And...considering they have such harsh feelings for Elvis' version, that certainly didn't stop them from cashing those royalty checks all these years... :hmm:

TCB!
Mike

[Brian]

Exactly right Deb and rocknroll!!! (y)

Considering Elvis was probably the main artist who put Leiber & Stoller on the map in terms of songwriting duos, I would think that they would make mention of their feelings about Elvis' version of the song one time and then drop it instead of rehashing it for the past 50+ years!!! (n)

Or...if they were smart and didn't want to distance themselves from Elvis fans, they would have just kept their feelings to themselves and enjoyed the success that Elvis' version of HOUND DOG brought them!

And...considering they have such harsh feelings for Elvis' version, that certainly didn't stop them from cashing those royalty checks all these years... :hmm:

TCB!
Mike

Leiber & Stoller were R&B and blues purists so it's understandable that they would like Big Mama Thorton's version better.
If you are a songwriter and some singer comes along and changes your song around to the point where it's completely different to what you originally wrote you might not like that
Also if that cover version becomes the most well known and obscures the original version that's got to sting.
That's what happened with Elvis Presley and Hound dog

[shelley.m.]

Not one of my favorites either but it will always be associated with Elvis.

[franny]

The fact that it sold at all either way baffles me . I think Hound Dog is a terrible song . Its the worst IMO of all of his number one hits .

I don't like Big Momma Thortons version either.

I'm not crazy about this song, either.

franny

[molokai123]

not really one of my fav's but i do like the live 69 and 72 versions!

[elvispresleytheking]

Elvis singing Hound Dog - "I had a bad feeling" says Jerry Leiber: One half of the legendary Leiber-Stoller songwriting team, Jerry Leiber, had this to say about Elvis' version of Hound Dog in the entertaining book release, Hound Dog The Leiber and Stoller Autobiography:
As for the fact that Elvis had recorded "Hound Dog", well, I had different feelings. The first feeling is one that washes over any songwriter when he learns he has a hit: He hears the cash register ring and the Sale! sign come up. That's a good feeling. But when I heard Elvis's version, I had a bad feeling. I didn't like the way he did it. Elvis - or somebody - changed the lyrics. I had written:

You ain't nothing but a hound dog
Quit snooping 'round my door You can wag your tail
But I ain't gonna feed you no more
http://www.elvisinfonet.com/image-files/vinyl_hounddog_50thanniv.jpg
But Elvis sang:

You ain't nothing but a hound dog
Crying all the time
You ain't never caught a rabbit
And you ain't no friend of mine
To this day 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. Elvis's version makes no sense to me, and, even more irritatingly, it is not the song that Mike and I wrote. Of course, the fact that it sold more than seven million copies took the sting out of what seemed to be a capricious change of lyrics. But, lick for lick, there's no comparison between the Presley version and the Big Mama [Thornton] original. Elvis played with the song; Big Mama nailed it.

Elvis knew Big Mama's version, but that wasn't the one that got him to do it. He had heard it sung by a lounge act at the Sands Hotel in Vegas - Freddie Bell and the Bellboys. Apparently he liked the rhumba feel to the rhythm and told his boys to work up an arrangement. So Elvis was really covering a cover.

http://rcm-images.amazon.com/images/I/51SeIFupi+L._SL110_.jpg (http://www.amazon.com/dp/1416559388?tag=elvisinfornet-20&camp=213381&creative=390973&linkCode=as4&creativeASIN=1416559388&adid=1PHMH3VAM6YJ8J8KMR6N&)

"Hound Dog" is my least favorite Top 10 hit of Elvis'. His version just has no meaning to it, and he really just goofed around with it. The B-Side, "DOn't Be Cruel," was much better. In fact, it bothers me when I hear someone say that they are a HUGE Elvis fan and that their favorite song is "Hound DOg."

[Jungleroom76]

Leiber & Stoller were R&B and blues purists so it's understandable that they would like Big Mama Thorton's version better.
If you are a songwriter and some singer comes along and changes your song around to the point where it's completely different to what you originally wrote you might not like that
Also if that cover version becomes the most well known and obscures the original version that's got to sting.
That's what happened with Elvis Presley and Hound dog

I'm certainly not disputing that it does leave a bad taste in their mouth that Elvis made such dramatic changes to the original lyrics...but still, there is such a thing as artistic liberty and for whatever reason, Elvis just thought that the lyrics he sang were better suited for him than the original Thorton version. :hmm:

But in any case, the fact that Elvis recorded HOUND DOG probably opened the door for Leiber & Stoller to become one of the most prolific songwriting duos in music history! So despite their displeasure over Elvis' artistic liberties with the song, I would think that they would still be grateful for Elvis opening doors in their careers that might otherwise not have been opened for them....instead of still holding disdain toward Elvis over this more than 50 years later!!! (n)

TCB!
Mike

[navechesalpa]

Not one of my favorites.I like other song.

[Brian]

I'm certainly not disputing that it does leave a bad taste in their mouth that Elvis made such dramatic changes to the original lyrics...but still, there is such a thing as artistic liberty and for whatever reason, Elvis just thought that the lyrics he sang were better suited for him than the original Thorton version. :hmm:

But in any case, the fact that Elvis recorded HOUND DOG probably opened the door for Leiber & Stoller to become one of the most prolific songwriting duos in music history! So despite their displeasure over Elvis' artistic liberties with the song, I would think that they would still be grateful for Elvis opening doors in their careers that might otherwise not have been opened for them....instead of still holding disdain toward Elvis over this more than 50 years later!!! (n)

TCB!
Mike

I think they are appreciative and complimentary towards Elvis' interpretations of their songs and all he did for them.
I've heard them praise Elvis as a singer and as a person, and as far as I know the only recording that they really have complained about is Hound dog.

on a small sidenote I've always felt that other than some songs from Jailhouse Rock and King Creole Leiber & Stoller wrote their best songs for other artists.
I would've loved it if Elvis had been given first crack at Kansas City instead Wilbert Harris got the big hit with it.
Also some songs that L&S wrote for the Coasters and the Drifters were very good better than songs like Love me, Loving You and Don't.
Not that Love me, Loving you, and Don't were bad songs it's just that I thought a lot of the songs L&S wrote for the other artists they produced were better.

[rickb]

So, did Elvis change the lyrics? Maybe he should have had joint authorship

[Brian]

So, did Elvis change the lyrics? Maybe he should have had joint authorship

Yes, the original has wag your tail and don't snoop around my door.

No, Elvis doesn't deserve co-writers credit
if everytime a singer changed the words and tempo of a song and made that song more popular that they got a writers credit for it
That would cause all kinds of problems in the song publishing industry and all hell would break loose because the original writers of the songs wouldn't stand for it.

[Jungleroom76]

I think they are appreciative and complimentary towards Elvis' interpretations of their songs and all he did for them.
I've heard them praise Elvis as a singer and as a person, and as far as I know the only recording that they really have complained about is Hound dog.

Well at least they didn't have any complaints about Elvis' other recordings of their songs... (y)


on a small sidenote I've always felt that other than some songs from Jailhouse Rock and King Creole Leiber & Stoller wrote their best songs for other artists.
I would've loved it if Elvis had been given first crack at Kansas City instead Wilbert Harris got the big hit with it.
Also some songs that L&S wrote for the Coasters and the Drifters were very good better than songs like Love me, Loving You and Don't.
Not that Love me, Loving you, and Don't were bad songs it's just that I thought a lot of the songs L&S wrote for the other artists they produced were better.

Really?? I've always thought that L&S songs were some of the best that Elvis recorded! LOVE ME and DON'T have to be two of Elvis' best ballads, in my opinion!! :hmm:

I agree though that it would have been cool for Elvis to take a chance at some of L&S' other songs! (y)

TCB!
Mike

[Genie]

The fact that it sold at all either way baffles me . I think Hound Dog is a terrible song . Its the worst IMO of all of his number one hits .

I don't like Big Momma Thortons version either.


:lol:

I absolutely loved watching him sing this song, it goes over much better than just listening to it.. but I have always liked it. It's lyics made repetitive nonsense but the man singing it, could pull it off just wonderful! I used to say to people, "Who cares really except his fans"

[Lisarose]

Elvis - or somebody - changed the lyrics. I had written:
Well according to Paul Simpson of Elvis.com.au, those lyrics were changed by Freddie Bell and the Bell Boys. Elvis heard their uptempo song and did a cover of that.
http://www.elvis.com.au/presley/elvis_first_great_protest_song.shtml

I'm getting pretty interested in this book, now. I wonder what all they have to say about "Love Me"!

[Brian]

Well according to Paul Simpson of Elvis.com.au, those lyrics were changed by Freddie Bell and the Bell Boys. Elvis heard their uptempo song and did a cover of that.
http://www.elvis.com.au/presley/elvis_first_great_protest_song.shtml

I'm getting pretty interested in this book, now. I wonder what all they have to say about "Love Me"!

Elvis version is very different from Freddie Bell's

It is true though that Elvis got the lyric change from him.