Elvis Presley's recording of Hound Dog is #19 on
Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of
All Time

the song was orignally written in 1952 by the
legendary team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller;
two white teenagers who went on to write hits
such as Yakety Yak, Charlie Brown, Poison Ivy and
Jailhouse Rock

Leiber and Stoller originally wrote Hound Dog for
Blues and R&B singer Big Mama Thornton; and for
seven weeks in 1952, her recording of the song
was #1 on the Billboard R&B charts

four years later, Elvis saw Hound Dog performed in
Las Vegas by Freddie Bell and the Bellboys; he was
impressed by the song and their arrangement

within two weeks Elvis added it to his act; and
two months later, he recorded it at RCA Studios
in New York

check out the video below for more on the origin
of Elvis's Hound Dog




the soundtrack of the above video is a brief excerpt
of a program in the NPR's 100 series, which can be
heard here