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You ain't nothin' but a hound dog.....

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  • Member since
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  • From: S.E. South Dakota
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You ain't nothin' but a hound dog.....
Posted by Murphy Siding on Monday, November 12, 2007 10:02 PM
     Truth, or legend?  I read that Elvis Prsley's hit Hound Dog, was in reference to (or inspired by) a derogatory nickname for local freight runs on a Gulf, Mobile & Ohio branchline.

Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.

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Posted by Beach Bill on Tuesday, November 13, 2007 7:31 AM

I'd vote "false".  Elvis' hit was a COVER of a song "Hound Dog" by Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton, first recorded August 13, 1952.  Elvis covered it four years later, and over the years it has been recorded more than 80 times by numerous artists.  The song was written by Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller, and was clearly written to be sung by a woman.  Listening to the original, there is no doubt that she was singing about a "low down" man behaving like a dog. 

Thornton's version of the song is still available, and I drew this response from the Smithsonian Collection entitled "The Blues".

Bill

With reasonable men, I will reason; with humane men I will plead; but to tyrants I will give no quarter, nor waste arguments where they will certainly be lost. William Lloyd Garrison
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Posted by wjstix on Tuesday, November 13, 2007 8:15 AM

"You ain't nuthin' but a hound dog - snoopin' round my door.

You ain't nuthin' but a hound dog - snoopin' round my door.

You can wag your tail - but I ain't gonna feed you no more!!"

I doubt Leiber and Stoller up in Brooklyn knew anything about GM&O freight trains. Smile [:)]

Stix
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Posted by upchuck on Tuesday, November 13, 2007 11:10 AM
Myth Busted...
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  • From: S.E. South Dakota
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Posted by Murphy Siding on Tuesday, November 13, 2007 12:11 PM
 upchuck wrote:
Myth Busted...
  It wouldn't be the first railroad myth that was proved untrue.Wink [;)]

Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.

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