CD REVIEWS
The Original Hound Dog Album, Big Mama Thornton, Vanguard, 1964
Yes, Big Mama sang the original "Hound Dog" well before Elvis made it a classic rock & roll hit. Yes, he went on to make millions (although not off of that song as such but as a fresh sex symbol at a time when the youth of my generation were in desperate need of our own icons) while she made about five hundred dollars off of it. But that is not the whole story. Big Mama had a career of her own beyond that song that while not as financially rewarding (due in part to her race but also to her drinking problem) as Elvis's nevertheless placed her in the pantheon of female blue singers like Bessie Smith and Memphis Minnie- no little accomplishment in itself.
That is what is being celebrated here. Other classics in this CD collection include "How Come", "Nightmare", "They Call Me Big Mama" and "I Smell a Rat". Is this her best compilation? No, I believe that the "Ball and Chain" CD is but this has a nice selection. Big Mama belts out the tunes but, as a rule, does not try to overpower them with that big voice. But, big or small, Mama means the electric blues raw and unchained and that ain't no lie.
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