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", had a bigger impact when performed and recorded by Janis Joplin in the late 1960s.
During her career, she was nominated for the Blues Music Awards six times. In 1984, she was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame. In addition to "Ball 'n' Chain" and "They Call Me Big Mama," Thornton wrote twenty other blues songs. Her "Ball 'n' Chain" is included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame list of the "500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll".
One of Thornton's last albums was Jail for Vanguard Records in 1975. It captured her performances during mid-1970s concerts at two Northwestern U.S. prisons. She was backed by a blues ensemble that featured sustained jams from George "Harmonica" Smith, as well as guitarists Doug Macleod, Bee Houston and Steve Wachsman, drummer Todd Nelson, saxophonist Bill Potter, bassist Bruce Sieverson, and pianist J. D. Nicholson.
Tracklist:
1. Little Red Rooster 6:03
2. Ball 'N' Chain 7:27
3. Jail 5:56
4. Hound Dog 2:47
5. Rock Me Baby 6:52
6. Sheriff O.E. & Me 3:52
7. Oh Happy Day 4:03
Media Info:
Bitrate: 320 kbps
Channels: stereo
Samplerate: 44100
Encoder: LAME 3.98
MPEG-1 layer 3
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you can listen to tunes like these and more 24/7 on 1337x radio - the ministry of piracy
ENJOY!!
**tyvm and all due respect to levin and all those who care enough to share
