2024 and im still digging Big Mamma!!! Since the 70's when some of my good SOUL BROTHER friends turned me onto Her!!! Unbelievable voice!!!! She was so underatted its pathetic!!!❤❤❤❤❤❤

I just love this woman ❤❤❤

Love the blues - especially when they sound like this - woman with a strong, penetrating voice!

Best version of this song EVER!!!!❤❤❤❤

Thank you

How can anyone not like this! Unbelievable!!

woh this is amazing she was real a gift on earth thank you so much big mama for ever we keep it alive.

that range... the true ruler of rock.

I saw her do this in 1971 at the Paramount in Portland. She opened for Paul Butterfield.

@user-mr9uy9gj5l

5 жыл бұрын

I haven't thought of Paul Butterfield for a little while. It's getting late, but now I have listen to some PBBB before heading off to bed. We had some great music back then.

@acapellapatrick

2 жыл бұрын

Sounds like a fabulous show.

I was about 6 when my sister took me to the Fillmore when she was performing there and I was fascinated by her. She made the stage shake when she stomped her foot.

@dominikbach6896

3 жыл бұрын

Lol she was amazing

LOOKING BACK AT: BIG MAMA THORNTON Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton (December 11, 1926 - July 25, 1984) was an American rhythm and blues singer and songwriter. She was the first to record Leiber and Stoller's "Hound Dog" in 1952, which became her biggest hit. It spent seven weeks at number one on the Billboard R&B charts in 1953 and sold almost two million copies. However, her success was overshadowed three years later, when Elvis Presley recorded his more popular rendition of "Hound Dog". Similarly, Thornton's "Ball 'n' Chain" (written in 1961 but not released until 1968) had a bigger impact when performed and recorded by Janis Joplin in the late 1960s. LIFE AND TIME Willie Mae Thornton (1926-1984) was an influential African American blues singer and songwriter whose career extended from the 1940s to the early 1980s. She was called "Big Mama" for both her size and her robust, powerful voice. She is best known for her gutsy 1952 rhythm and blues recording of "Hound Dog," later covered by Elvis Presley, and for her original song "Ball and Chain," made famous by Janis Joplin. Thornton's compositions include more than 20 blues songs.Willie Mae Thornton was born December 11, 1926, on the rural outskirts of Montgomery. She was one of six siblings. Her father was a minister and her mother sang in the church choir. Willie Mae grew up singing in church and learned drums and harmonica, perhaps from a brother who was an outstanding player, later known as "Harp" Thornton.Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton Willie Mae's mother died when she was 14, and she took a job cleaning a local saloon and soon was substituting for the regular singer. Accounts of how she attracted the notice of Atlanta music promoter Sammy Green vary. In one version, he heard her win first prize in a local amateur contest; in another she helped his artists move a piano up the club stairs. In any event, in 1941 Thornton joined Green's Georgia-based show, The Hot Harlem Revue, and remained with him for seven years. Billed as the "New Bessie Smith," she sang and danced throughout the southeastern United States. She later acknowledged the influence of artists heard during this time, including Smith, Ma Rainey, Junior Parker, and Memphis Minnie.In 1948, Thornton left the Revue and settled in Houston, where she would contribute to the development of the "Texas blues" style. In this period, she worked with two producers: bandleader Johnny Otis and, most significant, a flamboyant black entrepreneur named Don Robey. Robey reportedly heard Thornton in Houston's El Dorado Ballroom and was impressed with her ability to play multiple instruments, rare for a female singer. He signed her to a five-year contract with his Peacock Records Label. (This independent studio, later called Duke-Peacock, was known for gritty rhythm and blues and gospel and was an important influence on soul music and rock and featured artists such as Marie Adams, Johnny Ace, and a young Little Richard.) Thornton's open lesbianism caused some tension with Robey, but he produced her first recordings and set up a regular performance schedule for her in his Houston club, The Bronze Peacock, and on the southern performance trail known as the "Chitlin' Circuit." This string of clubs and venues covered the eastern and southern United States and were considered safe for African American musicians to play in. They ranged from the Cotton Club in New York's Harlem neighborhood to local juke joints in Mississippi. Thornton spent much of the early 1950s on the road or recording for Robey or Johnny Otis when in Houston or Los Angeles.In 1952, Thornton traveled to New York City with the Otis Show to play the famed Apollo Theatre, where she initially served as the opening act for R&B artists "Little" Esther Phillips and Mel Walker but soon was promoted to headliner. She first earned the nickname "Big Mama" at this time. In August, at a recording session in southwest Los Angeles, she was approached by the young songwriting team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller-soon to become rock & roll legends. They offered her a 12-bar blues vocal called "Hound Dog," which she liked and paired on a single with her own "They Call Me Big Mama" on the B-side. Her exuberant "Hound Dog," laden with open sexual references, whoops, and barks, was released nationwide in 1953 and soon topped the R&B charts. Despite its sale of two million copies, Thornton received only $500. In contrast, Elvis Presley's 1956 version, heavily refined for mainstream audiences, brought him both fame and considerable financial reward. This is perhaps the most notorious example of the inequity that often existed when a black original was covered by a white artist. Rhythm & blues were soon eclipsed by the growth of rock & roll, and Thornton's career slowed in the mid-1950s, although she was only in her thirties. Her agreements with both Robey and Otis expired, and in the late 1950s, she moved to San Francisco to perform with her old friend Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, a former Duke-Peacock artist. She had no contract or regular band and endured a number of difficult years. Fortunately, traditional blues were revived by the mid-1960s through the enthusiastic interest of artists such as Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, and the Rolling Stones, and the Bay Area became a center of blues activity. Although she still did not have regular support, Thornton always was invited to the Monterey Jazz Festival and in 1965 toured Europe with the American Folk Blues Festival, an unusual honor for a female artist.In the late 1960s, she made several seminal recordings for Chris Strachwitz, producer of Arhoolie Records, including Big Mama Thornton: In Europe (1966), backed by Buddy Guy, Walter Horton, and Freddy Below; Big Mama Thornton with the Chicago Blues Band (1966), with Muddy Waters, Sam "Lightnin'" Hopkins, and Otis Spann; and Ball & Chain (1968), a compilation of original work by Thornton, Hopkins, and Larry Williams. Rock artists took note of these powerful recordings. The title song of Ball & Chain became a signature song for Thornton's great admirer Janis Joplin, and in September 1968 Thornton appeared at the Sky River Rock Festival with a lineup that included the Grateful Dead, James Cotton, and Santana. Willie Mae Thornton Performs in New York CityThe 1970s brought more documentation of her work: Saved (Pentagram Records), She's Back (Backbeat), and Jail and Sassy Mama! (Vanguard). Also at this time, however, years of heavy drinking began to affect Thornton's health. She had to be led to the bandstand at the 1979 San Francisco Blues Festival, and despite illness gave a stunning performance. She survived a serious auto accident and rallied to perform at the 1983 Newport Jazz Festival with Muddy Waters, B. B. King, and Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, resulting in a live recording, The Blues-A Real Summit Meeting (Buddha Records). Thornton's final compilation, Quit Snoopin' Round My Door, was released posthumously by Ace Records (U.K.). Willie Mae Thornton died of a heart attack in Los Angeles on July 25, 1984, at the age of 57. The funeral was led by her old friend, now Reverend Johnny Otis, and many artists paid tribute. She was buried in Inglewood Park Cemetery in Los Angeles. That same year, she was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame. Show less

Love this!

This is where Janis got the song. And where Elvis learned hound dog. Who would've known!!!

@keithschenck3910

7 жыл бұрын

way too many peoples know how to be influenced by others art form and to actually benefit financially seldom is monies exchanged only pay homage to those who gave more than they got back for the gift of the art itself

@nobodysXghost

4 жыл бұрын

you're saying two of the greatest white artists were inspired by a black woman? why we need intersectionality... it wasnt just black men but black women

@iVenge

3 жыл бұрын

Big Mama wrote this one; _Hound Dog_ was written by Lieber and Stoller, who hated Presley’s version.

Excellent guitar player!

@bridgebean8284

3 жыл бұрын

I could be wrong, but it sounds like Buddy Guy to me. I always enjoy when he backs her vocals

@nancybrown8991

Жыл бұрын

Seriously! Who is it??

❤ simply the best ❤

my kinda woman r.i.p.

@juanjose-nu1ip

7 жыл бұрын

Estas al revés loco, fijate aque a ver si no te caes y te haces daño.

willie mae thorton big mamma

@ivery5000 Big Moma Rough Ready RIP💐💐💐💐💐💐

♥♥♥

TOLL !

2:40. I felt that.

@teeoh9192

Жыл бұрын

Me too! She does it twice & those are my favorite parts of the song! 😁🔥🔥🔥🔥❤️❤️❤️

Ti strappa l anima

❤❤❤❤🤗😁😎🙏✨✨✨🤘💎

2:42 is when I understood how women are SUPPOSED TO sound, when doing blues like this! I had an import CD with this EXACT version 20 years ago, but it got stolen! Is there ANY way to find a better audio quality version of this? As much as I appreciate this posting, I feel like I'm not FEELING it the way I want to, no matter the volume. Sorry, for sounding like a spoiled brat.

MEOW!!!!!!

She doesn't need to say that she's the original. Janis said she heard her song in a bar and she asked her to sing and record it. Thanks to Janis this song became famous. Otherwise it's still in a box because BMT recorded it but didn't release it. She made it her own way, far from the traditional blues like BMT version. The same with Bobby Mcgee, thanks to Janis it became a hit. It's Janis who heard the song by Kris Kristofferson. Tainted love by Soft cell was a global hit, it was a cover of the song from the 60s completely unknown. After the success, Gloria Jones who created the song released it again but it stayed obscure. A song belongs to a singer or a band and to a moment in space.

@rabokarabekian409

4 жыл бұрын

So only commercially successful performances are important? BMT is the real deal, not a $ deal.

This is where Janis got the song. And where Elvis learned hound dog. Who would've known!!!

@mr.e1220

3 жыл бұрын

White is bland...they always have to borrow from melanated people for flavor. #facts...but, I like them as neighbors way better. Also facts.