Que Sera Sera / Hound Dog

[MysteryTrain]

One of the songs sang by Elvis in Germany, reportedly in November 1959, was a medley of "Que Sera Sera / Hound Dog." It was short and some of the lyrics were "when I was a just a little pup, I asked my mommy what will I be, will I be hound dog, will I be mutt, she told me tenderly . . ." after which Elvis broke into rousing version of "Hound Dog."

I'm curious as to the origins of this medley. According to a Bear Family DVD of selections from the TV show "Town Hall Party," on June 20, 1959, more than 4 months before Elvis' version, Larry Collins of the Collins Kids sang a similar and longer medley of "Que Sera Sera / Hound Dog." Did it originate with Larry Collins or was Larry covering another version?

Surely Elvis was not watching "Town Hall Party" in Germany in 1959.

Collins DVD 3.jpg

Larry Collins' version can be heard on You Tube:

MT

[pmp]

One of the songs sang by Elvis in Germany, reportedly in November 1959, was a medley of "Que Sera Sera / Hound Dog." It was short and some of the lyrics were "when I was a just a little pup, I asked my mommy what will I be, will I be hound dog, will I be mutt, she told me tenderly . . ." after which Elvis broke into rousing version of "Hound Dog."

I'm curious as to the origins of this medley. According to a Bear Family DVD of selections from the TV show "Town Hall Party," on June 20, 1959, more than 4 months before Elvis' version, Larry Collins of the Collins Kids sang a similar and longer medley of "Que Sera Sera / Hound Dog." Did it originate with Larry Collins or was Larry covering another version?

Surely Elvis was not watching "Town Hall Party" in Germany in 1959.

Collins DVD 3.jpg

Larry Collins' version can be heard on You Tube:

MT

Nice spot!

[JamieAKelley]

That's awesome!! Thanks for sharing!

[Ciscoking]

Some fans are just...experts. wow..

[stevelecher]

I thought he made it up and thought it was clever. I guess he covered it?

[MysteryTrain]

In Larry Collins' version, the host, after Larry is a verse into the song, says "sing it like Tex" following by Larry ripping into "Hound Dog." It occurred to me that perhaps Tex Ritter first sang the altered lyrics to "Que Sera Sera," but I couldn't find any reference to either "Que Sera Sera" or "Hound Dog" in his discography. The Collins Kids - Larry and Lorri Collins - also appeared on Tex Ritter's TV show "Ranch Party" in the '50s.

For those unfamiliar with The Collins Kids, both Larry and Lorrie appeared in separate episodes of the Ozzie and Harriet TV show. Lorrie played Rick Nelson's girlfriend in the show and dated him in real life. Ricky Nelson and Lorrie Collins sang "Just Because" in the episode entitled "The Picture In Ricky's Notebook (1958)." They also performed in duet on a rare version of "Never Be Anyone Else But You."

MT

[Ryan73]

Ha, what a great find! Thanks for sharing this!!

[MikeFromHolland]

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Cool. Have put the link to this tread in Songs In The Spotlight.

https://www.elvis-collectors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=76&t=93084



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[MysteryTrain]

From Wikipedia I learned that the Armed Forces Television Service broadcast kinescopes of Town Hall Party throughout the world, so it's possible Elvis did see Town Hall Party while in the army in Germany.

"From 10:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. PT on Saturday nights, Los Angeles television station KTTV carried the live Town Hall Party series. By September 1953 the show was "a regional NBC TV'er," and "the longest c.&w. West Coast TV'er, with net plans in the works. The Armed Forces Television Service made 16mm kinescopes of the shows and broadcast them on stations throughout the world, from Greenland to Saudi Arabia to the Canal Zone. As the show expanded, new talent joined the cast - with Lefty Frizzell, Skeets McDonald, Dortha Wright, and The Collins Kids being among the most popular. Guest stars were plentiful. Eddie Dean, Smiley Burnette, Jimmy Wakely, Sons of the Pioneers, Johnny Cash, Jim Reeves and many other big names made guest appearances on the program, with Gene Autry breaking all attendance records during a 1954 performance."

Larry Collins wrote and co-wrote many songs including "Delta Dawn" and "You're The Reason God Made Oklahoma" so it not impossible that he improvised the altered lyrics to "Que Sera Sera."

MT

[buddy holly]

For those unfamiliar with The Collins Kids, both Larry and Lorrie appeared in separate episodes of the Ozzie and Harriet TV show. Lorrie played Rick Nelson's girlfriend in the show and dated him in real life. Ricky Nelson and Lorrie Collins sang "Just Because" in the episode entitled "The Picture In Ricky's Notebook (1958)." They also performed in duet on a rare version of "Never Be Anyone Else But You."

MT

I’ve seen them perform live. For the first time at the Hemsby Rock & Roll weekender. Lorrie died august last year but Larry is still alive and well. He’s on Facebook and shares lots of interesting memories of all those classic artists he used to know. Their music was great and also their act was very appealing to look at. Lorrie lookin pretty and Larry boppin’ around while playing great guitar and having fun. Joe Maphis was like his mentor.

[Keith]

One of the songs sang by Elvis in Germany, reportedly in November 1959, was a medley of "Que Sera Sera / Hound Dog." It was short and some of the lyrics were "when I was a just a little pup, I asked my mommy what will I be, will I be hound dog, will I be mutt, she told me tenderly . . ." after which Elvis broke into rousing version of "Hound Dog."

I'm curious as to the origins of this medley. According to a Bear Family DVD of selections from the TV show "Town Hall Party," on June 20, 1959, more than 4 months before Elvis' version, Larry Collins of the Collins Kids sang a similar and longer medley of "Que Sera Sera / Hound Dog." Did it originate with Larry Collins or was Larry covering another version?

Surely Elvis was not watching "Town Hall Party" in Germany in 1959.

Collins DVD 3.jpg

Larry Collins' version can be heard on You Tube:

MT

The latest releases to contain the German home recordings tapes (A Date With Elvis and For LP Fans Only FTDs) date them as being from December 21-31 1958, and not November 1959?

That would actually make Elvis' version six months before this TV show.

Keith

[MysteryTrain]

[The latest releases to contain the German home recordings tapes (A Date With Elvis and For LP Fans Only FTDs) date them as being from December 21-31 1958, and not November 1959?

That would actually make Elvis' version six months before this TV show.

Keith[/quote]

It would seem highly unlikely that Larry Collins would have heard Elvis' home recording. So that may mean that there might be a version with altered verses of "Que Sera Sera" that predates both Elvis' and Larry's versions.

MT

[mike edwards66]

It would seem highly unlikely that Larry Collins would have heard Elvis' home recording. So that may mean that there might be a version with altered verses of "Que Sera Sera" that predates both Elvis' and Larry's versions.

Que sera / Hound Dog
https://www.elvis-collectors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=38564

. . . However, the first medley of "Que Sera, Sera" and "Hound Dog" that I've found is by Charlie Gracie, who can be heard performing it on Live At The Stockton Globe from August 26, 1957—nearly two years before the Collins Kids did it (and who knows how long Gracie had been performing it before it was recorded). So, it would seem that it was Gracie's idea, and both Elvis and the Collins Kids nicked it from him. Does anyone here know anything different?

[MysteryTrain]

Thanks Mike for the information on Charlie Gracie's medley of "Que Sera Sera / Hound Dog." It appears Charlie linked the two songs no later than August 1957, before either The Collins Kids" or Elvis linked them.

Here is Charlie's live version:

I note that Charlie made no reference to dogs or dog breeds in his version of "Que Sera Sera" leaving the question of who altered the lyrics.

MT

[colonel snow]

During the home recordings in december 1958 (Germany) Elvis sung a portion of this song.
The original version was recorded on 24-02-56 by Doris Day (Columbia 40704).


colonel snow

[drjohncarpenter]

Thanks Mike for the information on Charlie Gracie's medley of "Que Sera Sera / Hound Dog." It appears Charlie linked the two songs no later than August 1957, before either The Collins Kids" or Elvis linked them.

Here is Charlie's live version:



I note that Charlie made no reference to dogs or dog breeds in his version of "Que Sera Sera" leaving the question of who altered the lyrics.

MT

The video is gone, but you can hear an excerpt of Charlie Gracie's intro here:
https://www.bear-family.com/gracie-charlie-live-at-stockton-globe-1957-cd.html

I'm certain Gracie is not the original source of using the song as an ironic introduction to "Hound Dog." No one heard that 1957 concert until it was issued decades later. The singer did not apparently release it on 45 or LP. And the Collins Kids? Well, just no.

What needs to be considered is that Doris Day's "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)" was near the top of the pop charts in the summer of 1956 alongside "Hound Dog," reaching #2 (Billboard) and #3 (Cash Box) while "Hound Dog" went #1 on both.





Doris Day "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)" (Columbia 40704, May 26, 1956)



The following spring it won the "Best Song" Oscar from the Alfred Hitchcock thriller “The Man Who Knew Too Much,” which co-starred Doris and James Stewart. It became Day's "signature" song.

As "Hound Dog" represented the new vanguard, it was ripe for criticism and parody. I'm certain someone linked the two songs to underscore the absurdity of Day's "classy" number with Presley's "noisy" rock 'n' roll. It may've been done on TV or in a film, but I've yet to find it.

Maybe someday.

Elvis' 1959 home demo shows him having fun with the song including some of the lyrics, which I think he just ad-libbed on the spot. The linkage has been done by other acts since, including Canadian singer Bobby Curtola and, most notably, Van Morrison in live shows he gave circa 1970-1971. They are below.



Van Morrison - April 1970






Van Morrison - August 1971






Van Morrison - September 1971






Bobby Curtola - February 1974