1. "Well they said you was high-classed
Well, that was just a lie"
This lyric sample was taken from an Elvis Presley song that Billboard ranked as the 21st most popular hit of 1956 based on various chart based statistics. What song was it?
From Quiz The Top Hits of 1956 - Vol 2
Answer:
Hound Dog
"Hound Dog" was written in 1952 by a pair of 19 year olds, Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller, at the behest of bandleader Johnny Otis who wanted a song to showcase the talents of the band's singer, Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton. It took them about a dozen minutes to compose and upon its release, became a smash hit on the R&B chart, Number One for seven weeks. Ironically, Lieber and Stoller would go on to compose several Presley hits. When they composed this one, they had never heard of him... no one had!
Although Elvis Presley was aware of Thornton's record, the version he was most attracted to was the one he heard in a Las Vegas lounge as performed by Freddie Bell and the Bellboys. He incorporated his own rendition into his act, singing it live on the Milton Berle and Steve Allen TV shows. Audience reaction was so overwhelmingly positive that the RCA label insisted that he record it despite his reluctance to do so. With this song, "Heartbreak Hotel" and "Don't Be Cruel", Elvis literally carried the R&R genre on his back during its formative years in the mid-1950s.
"Hound Dog" was accorded B-side status when it was released as the flip to "Don't Be Cruel", perhaps because of Presley's reticence to record it. At the time, as the A-side, "Don't Be Cruel" seemed to be garnering most of the acclaim in terms of recognition and charting honors. I think that over time, "Hound Dog" is now regarded as Presley's signature song between the two.