“You ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog! Cryin’ all the time!”
Can you believe it’s been 62 years since ‘Hound Dog’ by Elvis Presley was one of the biggest songs around the world? It’s hard to go past Elvis’s smooth voice and sexy moves, so much so that decades after it’s release this song is still considered one of the greatest of all time.
While the song remains one of the most recognisable tracks of the twentieth century, it’s was also one of the highest-selling tracks of the 1950s.
In fact, Elvis remains only one of three artists who have sold an excess of three million copies of one single.
During its initial release, over four million copies of the song were sold in the US alone. To this day, it remains Elvis’ best-selling track. Worldwide, it is estimated that somewhere close to 10 million units were purchased!
What many people don’t know is that the song wasn’t originally Presley’s. The song was actually released in 1952 by Willie Mae ‘Big Mama’ Thornton.
It originally sold 500,000 and remains Thornton’s only hit. Fast forward to 1956 and the King of Rock and Roll put his own spin on the record.
Fans around the world couldn’t get enough of the song, so much so that Rolling Stone has listed it at number 19 on its list of the greatest songs of all time.
While the song was a commercial success, Presley himself came under fire for what people of the time thought was “inappropriate dancing”.
The singer would famously thrust his hips around during performances and sent teen girls everywhere into a frenzy.