Influential musical icon Elvis Presley (1935-1977) covered Willie Mae Thornton’s “Hound Dog” in July 1956 and the blues song became his best-selling recording. He remains the best-selling solo artist in the history of recorded music and was commercially successful in many genres— pop, country, blues, and gospel. Watch The King perform his hit song back in 1972 below!
“Hound Dog” Lyrics
You ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog
Cryin’ all the time
You ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog
Cryin’ all the time
Well, you ain’t never caught a rabbit and you ain’t no friend of mine
Well they said you was high-classed
Well, that was just a lie
Yeah they said you was high-classed
Well, that was just a lie
Well, you ain’t never caught a rabbit and you ain’t no friend of mine
You ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog
Cryin’ all the time
You ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog
Cryin’ all the time
Well, you ain’t never caught a rabbit and you ain’t no friend of mine
Well they said you was high-classed
Well, that was just a lie
Yeah they said you was high-classed
Well, that was just a lie
Well, you ain’t never caught a rabbit and you ain’t no friend of mine
Well they said you was high-classed
Well, that was just a lie
Ya know they said you was high-classed
Well, that was just a lie
Well, you ain’t never caught a rabbit and you ain’t no friend of mine
You ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog
Cryin’ all the time
You ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog
Cryin’ all the time
Well, you ain’t never caught a rabbit you ain’t no friend of mine
Fun Fact: Presley’s original 1956 RCA recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1988.
