Big Mama Thornton recorded "Hound Dog" as a twelve bar country blues song in 1952. Freddie Bell and the Bellboys rewrote the song and rerecorded it in 1955. Finally, Elvis Presley recorded "Hound Dog" as the B-Side to "Don't Be Cruel" (45 single) in 1956. It was his movements with this song on the Milton Berle TV show (1956) in front of 40 million brought attention in the form of moral outrage. Presley repeated the song with a touch of humor on Steve Allen and later Ed Sullivan shows. Elvis Presley and his group the Jordanaires had a major #1 hit that only got bumped by their own "Love Me Tender". This final version was really sped up and simplified, but became the anthem of rock 'a' billy.

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.

Ya, they said you was high classed,
well, that was just a lie.
Ya, they said you was high classed,
well, that was just a lie.
You ain't never caught a rabbit
and you ain't no friend of mine.