Willie Mae Thornton (1926-1984). I first came across 'Big Mama' Thornton in the early seventies when I bought a  copy of  Hound Dog from Moondogs record shop, as is well known Willie Mae recorded the original version of Hound Dog (for which she only ever had one payment of $500), who knows how much Elvis, Colonel Parker, old Uncle Tom Cobbly and all, made from it. Moondogs, in East London was the first shop that I knew of in London importing and selling second hand American records, before that there were only private mail order lists, such as Rockhouse Records. It has always been difficult to get American imports in England, and, for that matter, any real idea of the situation of the music, label's and artists, in the USA, as far as I knew back then Willie Mae Thornton was a little known R&B singer who had probably long since retired in obscurity, very little of her material was available in Great Britain, and that that was was unseen.

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