Happy! – Dec 11 (Big Mama Thornton)

Subject: Happy! – Dec 11 (Big Mama Thornton)
From: Abby Sale
Date: 11 Dec 05 - 10:16 AM


Happy Birthday!

Blues and rhythm & blues singer Big Mama (Willie Mae) Thornton

was born 12/11/1926 in Montgomery, AL
(d.7/25/1984)

First to record "Hound Dog," on 8/13/1952. It's a great, wild blues version. Unfortunately, it was eclipsed by some other commercial cover of it a few years later. [thanx blueflamecafe.com, mostly gone, sadly]

AMC gives: "Thornton's menacing growl was indeed something special. The hefty belter first opened her pipes in church but soon embraced the blues.…But it was her third Peacock date with Johnny Otis's band that proved the winner. With Pete Lewis laying down some truly nasty guitar behind her, Big Mama shouted "Hound Dog," a tune whose authorship remains a bone of contention to this day (both Otis and the team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller claim responsibility) and soon hit the road a star…. Thornton was a tough cookie. She dressed like a man and took no guff from anyone, even as the pounds fell off her once-ample frame and she became downright scrawny during the last years of her life. Medical personnel found her lifeless body in an L.A. rooming house in 1984."

Clips at Amazon.com

Copyright © 2005, Abby Sale - all rights reserved
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Subject: RE: Happy! – Dec 11 (Big Mama Thornton)
From: Azizi
Date: 11 Dec 05 - 10:33 AM

"Unfortunately, it was eclipsed by some other commercial cover of it a few years later."

I think that comment refers to that blues suede shoes wearin guy whose first name rhymes with "pelvis".

Subject: RE: Happy! – Dec 11 (Big Mama Thornton)
From: number 6
Date: 11 Dec 05 - 11:05 AM

The late Big Mamma Willie Mae Thorton ... there have been very few female female singers who could parallel her. Her favourite drink was milk and gin ... she certainly walked the walk.

sIx

Subject: RE: Happy! – Dec 11 (Big Mama Thornton)
From: Barry Finn
Date: 11 Dec 05 - 02:15 PM

I saw her perform at the Boston Tea Party dring the mid or late 60's. Her intro to Hound Dog Blues was a scathing discription of that "other" guy who stole HER song & wouldn't even credit her for it. The same way with Nina Simone felt towards Eric Burton. She was big & truly a powerhouse, an outstanding blues woman.

Barry