Hound Dog

Oh, just a couple.

How about Kansas City, Hound Dog, Yakety Yak, How about this song called On Broadway that was not only a hit by the Drifters, it was also a huge hit for George Benson and the iconic Stand By Me.

There are so many others.

We're going to get into those as we talk with Mike Stoller.

Dave Sheldon, signed by Mike Stoller.

I can't tell you what a treasure this is for me.

So, Hound Dog...

The story of you first knowing about what happened, because initially, as you can tell us, you wrote that song as an R&B song for one of the all-time greats, Big Mama Thornton.

Rufus Thomas, Roscoe Gordon, Little Milton, James Cotton, Bobby Bland, Junior Parker.

The label's first hit came in 1953 when Rufus Thomas, a Memphis disc jockey, recorded Bearcat, an answer record to Big Mama Thornton's Hound Dog.

It went to number three on the rhythm and blues chart.

It was also a little too close to the original.

music.

There's one song that I noticed, and it's Hound Dog, but they play the good version.

They play the real version.

They play the Big Mama Thornton version, not the Elvis Presley version.

her hound dog.

Oh, it's so good.

I need to hear this.

Okay.

Elvis didn't write Hound Dog.

That song ain't nothing but a hound dog.

A black woman from Alabama did it first and better.

Oh.

On August 13, 1952, Big Mama Thornton recorded Hound Dog, written just for her, by Lieber and Stoller.

It sat at number one on the R&B charts for seven weeks.

Four years later, Elvis covered it into history.

I don't wanna leave you.

Song number four was Hound Dog by Elvis Presley.

You ain't nothin' but a hound dog, cryin' all the time.

You ain't nothin' but a hound dog.

Song number five was The Bad Touch by The Bloodhound Gang.

You and me, baby, ain't nothing but mammals, so let's do it like they do on the Discovery Channel.

[upbeat music] In the 1950s, America was tuning into their television sets when a young performer from Memphis appeared, redefining pop music.

On June 5th, 1956, Elvis Presley appeared on the Milton Berle Show, broadcast across the nation, performing his new single Hound Dog.

Well, I said you would cry.

Hound Dog was the big breakthrough for Elvis.

It was a Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller song that had been the biggest selling R&B record of 1953 in the original version by Big Mama Thornton.

But the rhythm and blues world was a corner of segregated America that had no reach into the mainstream culture.

But this guy would not have Rundgren's same instincts towards making a Dolls record sound like a Dolls live show.

Well, after asking Gerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, those are the guys who wrote fucking Hound Dog, if they wanted to produce the next Dolls record, Thau was guided towards a former business partner of Leiber and Stoller's, who was an expert in what else but '60s girl groups.

This girl group genius was in semi-retirement, but to put it bluntly, he needed the fucking money.

He had, however, been the songwriting and production power behind one of The Dolls' favorite girl groups.

Oh, this is fun.

Listen to this, right? "It plays Viva Las Vegas for soft boils, Jail House Rock for slightly less soft, and Hound Dog for the perfect hard-boiled egg.

Swap with me, and you will never cook disappointing eggs again.

Respect, guys.