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Big Mama Thornton
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Big Mama Thornton | ||
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 Big Mama Thornton album cover
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| Background information | ||
| Birth name | Willie Mae Thornton | |
| Born | December 11, 1926 |
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| Died | July 25, 1984 | |
| Genre(s) | blues | |
| Occupation(s) | Singer | |
Willie Mae ("Big Mama") Thornton (December 11, 1926 – July 25, 1984) was an American Blues and R&B singer. She was the original singer to record the hit song "Hound Dog" in 1953. The song was #1 on the Billboard R&B charts for seven weeks. Three years later, Elvis Presley recorded the Rock 'n' roll version of the song, the single hitting number one on the pop, country and blues chart, coupled with "Don't Be Cruel", for an astonishing 11 weeks.
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Her introduction to music, as with many fellow blues legends, started in the Baptist church. The daughter of a minister, she and her six siblings began to sing at a very early age. While still a child, Willie Mae taught herself to play the drums and harmonica, and by the age of 14, she had run away from home to make her career in secular music.
She joined Sammy Green's "Hot Harlem Revue" and toured throughout the South in the 1940s. While touring Texas in 1948, Thornton left the Revue in favor of the state's growing club scene, which she immersed herself in. It was during this time that she was discovered by Don Robey, a black entrepreneur who owned several clubs and record stores in the Houston area. Impressed by her massive size (6 ft, 350+ lb),formidable multi-instrument abilities, and fiery stage presence, Robey signed her to his Peacock Records label, where he began the task of translating the forceful belter's energy onto record.
Her big hit came, not from Robey's capable pen, but from the young songwriting team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. It was "Hound Dog," which she recorded in 1952 with the Johnny Otis band. Her ferocious rendition of the song (complete with Big Mama's growl and a nasty guitar line by Pete Lewis) held the #1 spot in the Billboard rhythm and blues charts for nine weeks. Unfortunately for Thornton, Elvis Presley's smoother version was a major rock'n'roll hit in 1956 and successfully eclipsed her biggest claim to fame.
Thornton continued to tour the "chitlin' circuit" as fans began to favor newer R&B sounds over blues. For some years, Big Mama suffered in obscurity like most of her fellow bluesmen. Her name gained wider prominence and her career enjoyed a significant resurgence as her song "Ball and Chain" was covered by Janis Joplin, making it a regular number in her repertoire. From that point onward, Thornton would remain a headliner at blues festivals, colleges, and clubs throughout the country and even in Europe. She began recording again, and released albums for the Arhoolie, Mercury, and Vanguard labels. Years of hard drinking and living began to take their toll, however, and by the late 1970s her health (and her trademark girth) had declined greatly. She nevertheless performed until her death in 1984 in Los Angeles, where she was found dead from natural causes in the boarding house room she had been living in. Johnny Otis conducted her funeral services, and she was laid to rest in Inglewood Park Cemetery.
As an influence over the music and musicians which followed her, her importance cannot be overstated. Her name and legacy will forever remain amongst the very greatest of blues legends. Thornton's mighty voice, take-no-guff attitude, and incendiary stage performances influenced generations of blues and rock singers and carried on the tradition of tough "blues mamas" like Bessie Smith, Memphis Minnie, and Ma Rainey. In 2007, the movie "Hunddog" included various characters, including that of Big Mama, and Elvis Presley, as well as their relevant versions of the song.