This little factoid is too rich to pass up. As noted yesterday in the pot pourri post, the execrable racist Joy Reid had done an interview raging about how everything whites invented had been stolen from black innovators, focusing especially on music. “We black folk gave y’all country music, hip hop, R&B, jazz, rock and roll, they couldn’t even invent that. But they have to call a white man The King. Because they couldn’t make rock and roll. So they have to stamp The King on a man whose main song, was stolen from an overweight black woman,” the former MSNBC star said.
The “overweight black woman” she was referring to was Big Mama Thornton, the original artist to sing “You Ain’t Nothing But a Hound Dog,” which she recorded on August 13, 1952. It was Thornton’s only hit record, selling over 500,000 copies. Elvis, of course, subsequently recorded the song and it became not only an even bigger hit, but his breakthrough record.
Mark Hemingway of The Federalist pointed out on “X” that, as usual, Reid didn’t know what she was talking about. For while Big Mama was black and was the first to sing the song, she didn’t write it. “Hound Dog” was written by the immortal Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who were as white as Elvis.
They wrote or co-wrote over 70 chart hits including many of Elvis’s most famous songs. Among their hits for other artists: “Stand by Me,” “Leader of the Pack,” “On Broadway,” and Peggy Lee’s “Is That All There Is?” Peggy was very white. Lieber and Stoller were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1985 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.
Quoth Hemingway: “Reid is an idiot.” Yes, and she’s a racist idiot who makes anyone who listens to her more ignorant than they were when she started talking.
Ethics Alarms 
Someone once said “If you are obsessed with race to that extent, you should only use things invented by your race “. 😁
I’m relatively convinced that Joy Reid only opens her mouth is to change socks.
Speaking of Leiber and Stoller’s music, I was one of the two guitarists in the combo for the show “Smokey Joe’s Cafe” way back in 2006. In addition to being in the combo, I was the set construction manager.
The Director wanted the overall feel of the set to be similar’ish to what we had recently seen in “Movin’ Out”, which was an inner city alley where scaffolding was in use. As the set construction manager, and in conjunction with a really great lighting designer, we found a way to make it the Director’s vision come to life and still keep it simple and give loads of stage room for all the dancing. Great show, great music, lots of fun!
What is she going to say wheshe finds who wrote Porgy and Bess?
Actually Elvis copied Freddie Bell and the Bellboys version of Hound Dog. Not sure if he ever heard Big Mama’s version.
There were ten covers of the song before Elvis recorded it. Not sure how one would decide which he was “imitating.” Elvis’s style and unique vocals are what made so many of his covers big hits.
That’s the version Elvis said he copied when I seen him in concert in Detroit, Michigan 1957.
I wonder if Ms. Reid would like a book of Uncle Remus stories for Christmas or her birthday.
Pop music publishing and performing is so interesting. It wasn’t until very recently I found out “It Won’t Matter Anymore” was composed by Paul Anka. And I wasn’t aware of this really edgy and aggressive version he recorded:
Bing Videos
All I knew was the incredibly lyrical and poignant Linda Ronstadt rendition where she turns it into a torch song:
Bing Videos
Amazing how a “cover” can essentially rewrite a piece.
This came up long ago on EA. I assumed that Buddy Holly had written the song, and that’s my favorite version. Linda covered Buddy Holly as often as Judy Garland covered Al Jolson.
The Holly version is totally devoid of the profound irony of the Ronstadt found in the lyrics. She knows the other person will still matter, denials notwithstanding. And the “until the end of time” line is a killer. The Holly and even Anka version are just ’50s upbeat, over-produced ditties. When they say it won’t matter, they mean it.
I confess to loving “Up yours” songs, and Buddy’s version is that. It’s a genre that includes such classics (and favorites oof mine) as “Red Rubber Ball” (lyrics by Paul Simon!) and Frankie Lymon’s “Goody Goody.” I appreciate, as always, Linda’s artistry, but I prefer “It doesn’t matter” as it was intended.
Like Jasmine Crockett; Reid’s blatant racializing of everything that oozes from her piehole is merely an act, her schtick, what made her rich and relevant in a creepy kind of way. I doubt she actually believes half of what she says but what alternative does she now have that doesn’t expose herself as the race hustling grifter that she is. This is just another pathetic attempt to slow her inevitable descent into obscurity. It’s not a good look but the woman is still lost. Sad…😪
I’d opine that rock & roll would not have become nearly as popular if the only instruments they had to employ were drums.