“Hound Dog – Don’t Be Cruel”
Edited 12-Jul-1956
Single, RCA Studios New York
1. HOUND DOG
2. DON’T BE CRUEL
Reference: 20/47-6604
Side A: Don’t Be Cruel
Recording: July 2, 1956, RCA studios in New York Author: Otis Blackwell & Elvis Presley
Side B: Hound Dog
Recording: July 2, 1956, RCA studios in New York Author: Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller
Publication date: July 13, 1956
Information
Elvis’s first single considered a double A-side, and currently listed as a multi-platinum record.
In a marathon recording session in New York of the only three songs were recorded (the two that made up the single in addition to Any Way You Want Me (That’s How I Will Be), it was take number 28 that would be chosen for the master.
Elvis was very demanding with his interpretations, which would result in a grueling recording session but with fabulous results. The chosen take for Hound Dog was take 31, which means there were almost sixty alternate takes of these two classics that unfortunately have never appeared.
Don’t Be Cruel entered the charts on August 1 directly at number twenty-eight, peaking at number one on September 5 and staying there for no less than seven consecutive weeks. It left the charts on January 30, 1957 after 27 weeks on the Billboard Top 100. On Country and Rhythm and Blues charts it would also reach number one. It is currently considered the 92nd best song of all time and in 2002 it was included in the Grammy Hall Of Fame.
Hound Dog entered the charts on July 25, 1956 directly at number twenty-four. It peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Top 100 charts on August 22, and did so for three non-consecutive weeks. His permanence in charts was 28 non-consecutive weeks. On the Country and Rhythm and Blues charts they did reach number one. Elvis performed it on June 5 of that year 56 on Milton Berle’s television program, causing the foundations of the most puritanical sectors of American society to shake. To many, Elvis had become little less than the antichrist.
Information provided by Club Elvis Spain http://www.clubelvis.org
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