When I was a child in the early 50s my father was a disc jockey. The stations only played the white versions of the records so he brought the black ones home to me for my little record player. I was raised with her version more than elvis. There were many black artists who never got air play at all. I love that I can find at least some today on you tube.
She was called big mama due to being 6 ft and 450 pounds, Thornton was found dead at age 57, by medical personnel in a Los Angeles boarding house, on July 25, 1984 She died of heart and liver disorders, due to her longstanding alcohol abuse, She had lost 355 pounds (161 kg) in a short time, as a result of illness her weight dropping, from 450 to 95 pounds (204 to 43 kg) R.I.P.
Elvis Presley did not "steal" this song from Big Mama. The song was written by Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller. She paid them for it (or, actually, Johnny Otis paid them to write a song for her). RCA also paid them for recording rights before Presley recorded it for RCA. If anyone got shafted on the Presley recording, it was Otis, who is credited as a co-writer on Big Mama's recording, but not on the Presley recording. But that is another story altogether.
The idea Thornton is "unsung" due to being Black is debateable. She might have been obscured when Rock'n'Roll took off, but in the same way Grand Ole Opry /Bluegrass artists Bill Monroe was also. Blues/Country were kicked to the curb. In the same way Rock'n'Roll artists were when the Beatles & Motown took off. Both Black Blues & "white" Country were nich genres played on Roots R&B radio & Grand Ole Opry(for eg) neither not promoted Nationwide let alone Worldwide. Rock'n'Roll was promoted & exported(pretty much) Globally. Can you name Black RnR artists that were household names ? YES, we all can. Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Bo Diddley, Frankie Lymon, Ruth Brown, The Platters, Jackie Wilson . They all left the Blues artists like Mama Thornton behind as they're stars rose to fame in movies ,tours, & mainstream promotion. Presley didn't "steal" Hound Dog, Thornton didn't own the rights ,publishing , co/songwriting ,nothing. Lieber & Stoller did. They could/Should have given Her some share to keep the record earning a bit for Her, but ,they didn't. Presley heard Freddie Bell perform the son ,in Vegas, in 1956 ,4 yrs after Thornton had already had an R&B hit with it. Mama Thornton's vocals were incredible. She inspired generations even though She was Black & Female, obviously both went against Her at that time in History. Presley's record was more MUSICALLY interesting as well as having a good vocal ,but it was not based off or "stolen" from Thornton's version. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-buAS_P0ly3g.html Musical analysis applied(at last) (6” 10 & 6”40) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-8ar987nJ-dI.html
And so did the other 249 people that have recorded it haha! But yeah, she’s not the songwriter. If Elvis ripped off anybody it was most likely Freddy bell’s version. The words are different. This version is old school rnb the other is rock and roll. Little Richard did this song before Elvis too, if I remember. Janis Joplin covered a big mama tune, and took her on tour with her. Most mainstream artists use outside songwriters, if they’re with major labels. Max martin, Bruno mars, etc, they write for all kinds of people. Intellectual property rights have been a thing since about 1790 and is worth learning about. Something listeners prolly wouldn’t do. People love controversy though. Extra business.
