Charlotte wrote

"listen to the Original version of Hound Dog by Big Mama Thornton
and hear just how "white bread' Elvis's version is."

Well, yes, entirely..... and that was why I was surprised by Bert Lloyd's enthusiasm.

I had heard Big Mama Thornton when I was about 14 or 15 when she toured here with the Chris Barber band not that long after the Elvis version came out. Even singing "Hound Dog" with British musicians that she was unfamiliar with, her version came over as clearly superior. Her comments at the time about the version by the rising world superstar that had eclipsed hers were somewhat less than complimentary