I got the chance, back in the late 60's to hear Big Mama Thornton in concert at the Boston Tea Party. She gave a not so short intro before doing Hound Dog. She said her song was stolen & was pissed that she didn't get the credit due her. Her disliking of Elvis & his part of not giving her any credit was quite a source of anger that I believe that if Elvis were in the city as the same time as her he wouldn't have survived her wrath. If I remember correctly the way Big Mama sang Hound Dog there was no mistaking it for what Elvis sang. Nina Simone was another pisssed off singer who recieved no credit for one her songs that became a big hit for the Animals. There seemed to be a wide spread practice back then that if a singer wouldn't credit themselves for a song they would, at the same time, intentionaly not give credit to the author & lead the public, by an act of omission, to belive that the song was their's. The lesser of two wrongs?

Barry