I’m a big fan of gender-reversing songs, men singing songs intended for women and vice versa. Sometimes the song is improved or twisted in the reversal. It’s one thing to hear the sorrows of a woman’s life as a prostitute in “The House of the Rising Sun”. It's something else to hear Eric Burdon sing about his life being ruined there. So, he’s addicted to prostitutes? Or sin in general? What’s going on?We tend to think of “Hound Dog” as an Elvis staple, but it makes a lot more sense when Big Mama Thornton sings it. She recorded "Hound Dog" in 1952, four years before the King. In Thornton's original version, the narrator is cutting off the “hound dog” that’s been using her for money. Elvis' version has different lyrics, which he sings more as sexy yelps than as words that tell a story. "You ain't never caught a rabbit, so you ain't no friend of mine?" Does that mean anything? Is he talking to a literal dog? The answer: no one cares.This live clip of Thornton from 1965 is shot on a set that reflects the kind of neighborhood where the song’s events might take place. Even Thornton’s entrance, putting down her bag, feels like theater. I wish they still shot live performance footage in sets like this. And there’s some acting in Thornton’s performance as well. I love how she furrows her brow, unsmiling, in character, like she’s spitting at somebody. She dances with her head, like she’s nodding at the points she’s making.She invests this fun music with an unexpected seriousness. Also, watch for the way Buddy Guy ends his guitar solo at 1:47. He goes so wild that his solo physically knocks him backwards. He’s got the best shoulders in showbiz, expressively hunched, one always higher than the other.
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