Fox And The Hound Songs

[Landerico Benson]

Whether they're sing about loving their dog or losing their dog, adventuring with their dog or missing their dog, country artists have made songs about dogs into a sub-genre all its own. These are songs you can turn to when you want to laugh, cry or just think about your furry BFF.

Legendary Vocals presents: Songs of Folk by The Hound + The Fox.

This album features the incredible talents of The Hound + The Fox, a folk duo known for their unique and upbeat sound. Each track is a journey through a diverse mix of traditional and contemporary folk songs, with the duo's powerful and emotive performances bringing the songs to life. Their unique vocals blend beautifully with their backing musicians, creating a truly magical and unforgettable experience that'll have you singing along and tapping your feet. Don't miss out on the opportunity to own this incredible collection of songs!

All the songs and lyrics you discover will be kept in your own personal history to revisit whenever the mood strikes. You can also build playlists, explore music across genres, and find new favorites.

"Hound Dog" is a twelve-bar blues song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Recorded originally by Big Mama Thornton on August 13, 1952, in Los Angeles and released by Peacock Records in late February 1953, "Hound Dog" was Thornton's only hit record, selling over 500,000 copies, spending 14 weeks in the R&B charts, including seven weeks at number one. Thornton's recording of "Hound Dog" is listed as one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll", ranked at 318 in the 2021 iteration of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time[2] and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in February 2013.

"Hound Dog" has been at the center of controversies and several lawsuits, including disputes over authorship, royalties, and copyright infringement by the many answer songs released by such artists as Rufus Thomas and Roy Brown. From the 1970s onward, the song has been featured in numerous films.

Thornton's recording of "Hound Dog" is credited with "helping to spur the evolution of black R&B into rock music".[9] Brandeis University professor Stephen J. Whitefield, in his 2001 book In Search of American Jewish Culture, regards "Hound Dog" as a marker of "the success of race-mixing in music a year before the desegregation of public schools was mandated" in Brown v. Board of Education.[19] Leiber regarded the original recording by the 350-pound "blues belter" Big Mama Thornton as his favorite version,[17][20] while Stoller said, "If I had to name my favorite recordings, I'd say they are Big Mama Thornton's 'Hound Dog' and Peggy Lee's 'Is That All There Is?'"[21]

In 1992, Leiber and Stoller recalled that during the rehearsal, Thornton sang the song as a ballad. Leiber said that this was not the way they planned and sang it for her, with Stoller on piano, as an example of the concept. Thornton agreed to try their recommendation.[22]

According to Maureen Mahon, a music professor at New York University, Thornton's version is "an important [part of the] beginning of rock-and-roll, especially in its use of the guitar as the key instrument".[23]

Thornton recorded "Hound Dog" at Radio Recorders Annex[24] in Los Angeles on August 13, 1952, the day after its composition. It subsequently became her biggest hit. According to Hound Dog: The Leiber and Stoller Autobiography, Thornton's "Hound Dog" was the first record that Leiber and Stoller produced themselves, taking over from bandleader Johnny Otis. Said Stoller:

We were worried because the drummer wasn't getting the feel that Johnny had created in rehearsal. "Johnny," Jerry said, "can't you play drums on the record? No one can nail that groove like you." "Who's gonna run the session?" he asked. Silence. "You two?" he asked. "The kids are gonna run a recording session?" "Sure," I said. "The kids wrote it. Let the kids do it."Johnny smiled and said, 'Why not?'"[24]

Otis played drums on the recording,[25] replacing Ledard "Kansas City" Bell. As Otis was still signed exclusively to Federal Records, a subsidiary of Syd Nathan's King Records as "Kansas City Bill"[26] or perhaps with Mercury Records at this time,[27][28] Otis used the pseudonym "Kansas City Bill" (after his drummer "Kansas City" Bell) on this record. Therefore, Otis, Louisiana blues guitarist Pete "Guitar" Lewis, and Puerto Rican bass player Mario Delagarde[29] (some sources say erroneously it was Albert Winston) are listed as "Kansas City Bill & Orchestra" on the Peacock record labels.[30][31]

During the rehearsal, Leiber objected to Thornton's vocal approach, as she was crooning the lyrics rather than belting them out.[32] Although intimidated by her size and facial scarring, Leiber protested, to which Thornton responded with an icy glare and told him, "'White boy, don't you be tellin' me how to sing the blues.'"[33] After this exchange, Leiber sang the song himself to demonstrate how they wanted it done.[15] After that, according to Stoller's later recollection, Thornton understood the bawdy style they were looking for.[24]

Thornton recorded two takes of the song, and the second take was released.[6][38] Habanera and mambo elements can be found in this recording.[39] Puerto Rican bass player Mario Delagarde is credited with adding "a jazz-based rhythm".[26] Influenced by African-American musical cultures,[40] its "sounds range from the gravelly beginning of several phrases, to her spoken and howled interpolations, and the ending with dog sounds from the band."[40] According to musicologist Robert Fink, Thornton's delivery has flexible phrasing making use of micro-inflections and syncopations. Each has a focal accent which is never repeated.[41] According to Maureen Mahon:

Thornton's "Hound Dog" differed from most of the rhythm and blues records of the era in its spare arrangement. There are none of the honking saxophone solos or pounding piano flourishes that marked the R&B sound. Instead, supported by guitar, bass and drums, her resonant vocals dominate the foreground, conveying her haughty relief at being through with a trifling man. Thornton maintains a confident attitude, bringing the blues tradition of outspoken women into the R&B context and helping to set the style for rock and roll by putting sexuality and play with gender expectations in the foreground.[42]

On September 9, 1952, the copyright application for "Hound Dog" was lodged. On the application the words and music are attributed to Thornton and recording executive Don Robey, with the copyright claimants listed as: "Murphy L. Robey (W) & Willie Mae Thornton (A)." It was renewed subsequently on May 13, 1980, with the same details.[43]

In late February 1953, "Hound Dog" was released by Peacock (Peacock 1612),[6][38] with the song credited erroneously on the label to Leiber-Stroller [sic]-Otis.[44] Thornton recalled later that she learned her record was in circulation while she was on her way to a performance with the Johnny Otis Orchestra during this tour in Dayton, Ohio. "I was going to the theater and I just turned the radio on in the car and the man said, 'Here's a record that's going nationwide: 'Hound Dog' by Willie Mae Thornton.' I said, 'That's me!' [laughs] I hadn't heard the record in so long. So when we get to the theater they was blasting it. You could hear it from the theater, from the loudspeaker. They were just playing 'Hound Dog' all over the theater. So I goes up in the operating room, I say, 'Do you mind playing that again?' 'Cause I hadn't heard the record in so long I forgot the words myself. So I stood there while he was playing it, listening to it. So that evening I sang it on the show, and everybody went for it. 'Hound Dog' just took off like a jet."[45]

On March 7, 1953, "Hound Dog" was advertised in Billboard, and reviewed positively on March 14, 1953, as a new record to watch, described as "a wild and exciting rhumba blues" with "infectious backing that rocks all the way".[46] According to Johnny Ace biographer James M Salem, "The rawness of the sound combined with the overt sexuality of the lyric made 'Hound Dog' an immediate smash hit in urban black America from late March to the middle of July 1953."[47] "Hound Dog" takes off immediately and looks like a national hit record. Rufus Thomas quickly records an answer song called "Bear Cat" on Sun 181. Thornton's record is such a big seller that Peacock Records has three new pressing plants running full-time to try and keep up with demand.[48] Debuting in the charts on March 28, 1953,[26] it spent fourteen weeks on the Billboard Rhythm and Blues charts,[49] seven of them at number one.[50] By April 30, 1953, Cash Box magazine listed the song as "the nation's top-selling blues record", and it topped the charts in New York, Chicago, New Orleans, San Francisco, Newark, Memphis, Dallas, Cincinnati, St. Louis, and Los Angeles.[51] "By mid summer, it is obvious that "Hound Dog" will be the biggest seller in the history of Peacock Records."[48] The song was named as the Best Rhythm and Blues song of 1953 by Cash Box magazine,[6] and was ranked number three on Billboard's Best Selling Rhythm & Blues Chart for 1953.[52]

Thornton's "Hound Dog" was so popular that it spawned at least ten cover versions of the original before Elvis Presley recorded it in July 1956.[42] One of the earliest covers of Thornton's original was that of Little Esther, who recorded an R&B cover on March 11, 1953 (b/w "Sweet Lips") on Federal Records (Federal 12126) that was released by April. While Federal's trade ads touted this release as the greatest record ever made by Little Esther,[71] in its review on April 11, 1953, Billboard opined: "It fails to build the same excitement of the original."[72]

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