Thornton originally recorded her song “Ball ‘n’ Chain” for Bay-Tone Records in the early 1960s, “and though the label chose not to release the song, they did hold on to the copyright, which meant that Thornton missed out on the publishing royalties when Janis Joplin recorded the song later in the decade.”Īs her career began to fade in the late 1950s and early 1960s, she left Houston and relocated to the San Francisco Bay area, “playing clubs in San Francisco and L.A. Thornton continued to record for Peacock until 1957 and performed in R&B package tours with Junior Parker and Esther Phillips. On Christmas Day 1954 in a Houston, Texas theatre she witnessed fellow performer Johnny Ace, also signed to Duke and Peacock record labels, accidentally shoot and kill himself while playing with a.

Even Elvis was apparently unaware of her he was handed “Hound Dog” by Freddie Bell, a Vegas lounge rocker. Even though Thornton cut some fine Peacock follow-ups - “I Smell a Rat,” “Stop Hoppin’ on Me,” “The Fish,” “Just like a Dog” - through 1957, she never again reached the hit parade. The record made her a star for a while, but she saw little of the profits. The record went to number one on the R&B chart. It was actually the first recording ever produced by Leiber and Stoller. Otis played drums after the original drummer was unable to play an particular part. Songwriters Leiber and Stoller, were present at the recording, with Leiber demonstrating the song in the vocal style they had envisioned. With Pete Lewis laying down some truly nasty guitar behind her, Big Mama shouted “Hound Dog,” a tune whose authorship remains a bone of contention to this day (both Otis and the team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller have claimed authorship), and soon hit the road a star. Also in 1952,it was her third Peacock date with Johnny Otis’ band that proved the winner. She signed a recording contract with Peacock Records in 1951 and performed at the Apollo Theater in 1952. “A new kind of popular blues was coming out of the clubs in Texas and Los Angeles, full of brass horns, jumpy rhythms, and wisecracking lyrics.” Thornton’s career began to take off when she moved to Houston in 1948. Her musical education started in the church but continued through her observation of the rhythm-and-blues singers Bessie Smith and Memphis Minnie, whom she deeply admired. In 1940 she left home and, with the help of Diamond Teeth Mary, joined Sammy Greens Hot Harlem Revue and was soon billed as the “New Bessie Smith”.

Her mother died young, and Willie Mae left school and got a job washing and cleaning spittoons in a local tavern. She and her six siblings began to sing at early ages. She was introduced to music in a Baptist church, where her father was a minister and her mother a singer. J– Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton was born on Decemin Ariton, Alabama.

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