Que sera / Hound Dog

[buddy holly]

In the review of Greetings from Germany Johnny Savage wrote;

Funny moments abound here too: a few lines of "Que Sera Sera" slam into "Hound Dog" ("will I be hound dog?") two different times; strangely enough, the great Irish rocker Van Morrison did the same medley in 1971 during a Northern California recording studio jam session (also officially unreleased)!

Don't see why this is strange, The Collins Kids did this quite often as one can see on the terrific Town Hall Party DVD's by Bear Family.



You can also hear this on the Cd Rockin' On TV

[ColinB]

In the review of Greetings from Germany Johnny Savage wrote;

Funny moments abound here too: a few lines of "Que Sera Sera" slam into "Hound Dog" ("will I be hound dog?") two different times; strangely enough, the great Irish rocker Van Morrison did the same medley in 1971 during a Northern California recording studio jam session (also officially unreleased)!

Don't see why this is strange, The Collins Kids did this quite often as one can see on the terrific Town Hall Party DVD's by Bear Family.



You can also hear this on the Cd Rockin' On TV

I'm uncertain about the chronology here.

Are you saying the Collins Kids pre-date Elvis with this ?

[buddy holly]

I'm uncertain about the chronology here.

Are you saying the Collins Kids pre-date Elvis with this ?

I guess so. The recording on Greetings From Germany is supposed to be made between 17 July and 7 August '59. On Town Hall DVD is a Collins Kids version of 20 june 1959. Don't know the date of the track on the Cd. Don't know if the song was done before 20 june 1959 by the Collins Kids (i've seen them live by the way in Hemsby and they were still great).

[ColinB]

I'm uncertain about the chronology here.

Are you saying the Collins Kids pre-date Elvis with this ?

I guess so. The recording on Greetings From Germany is supposed to be made between 17 July and 7 August '59. On Town Hall DVD is a Collins Kids version of 20 june 1959. Don't know the date of the track on the Cd. Don't know if the song was done before 20 june 1959 by the Collins Kids (i've seen them live by the way in Hemsby and they were still great).

Right, thanks !

I'm just wondering if Elvis got the idea from them !

[PStoller]

Reviving an old thread…

I was trying to figure out who did this first myself. As far as I know, Elvis never did it prior to the 1959 tape from Germany, and, as stated above, the Collins Kids popularized it shortly before that. Irish band Gene & The Gents recorded it that way in 1968, which may have influenced Van Morrison to perform it thus in 1971.

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?

[Ben]

Reviving an old thread…

I was trying to figure out who did this first myself. As far as I know, Elvis never did it prior to the 1959 tape from Germany, and, as stated above, the Collins Kids popularized it shortly before that. Irish band Gene & The Gents recorded it that way in 1968, which may have influenced Van Morrison to perform it thus in 1971.

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?

That's Very interesting info, thank you very much.

[drjohncarpenter]

Reviving an old thread…

I was trying to figure out who did this first myself. As far as I know, Elvis never did it prior to the 1959 tape from Germany, and, as stated above, the Collins Kids popularized it shortly before that. Irish band Gene & The Gents recorded it that way in 1968, which may have influenced Van Morrison to perform it thus in 1971.

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?

Great post!

Charlie Gracie had a hit in early 1957 with "Butterfly," rumoured as something Elvis may have done on his April 1957 tour.

Elvis is far more likely to have picked it up from Charlie than the Collins Kids. Van Morrison may have done the same.

[fortyniner]

Reviving an old thread…

I was trying to figure out who did this first myself. As far as I know, Elvis never did it prior to the 1959 tape from Germany, and, as stated above, the Collins Kids popularized it shortly before that. Irish band Gene & The Gents recorded it that way in 1968, which may have influenced Van Morrison to perform it thus in 1971.

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?

Thanks for that information. I take it you're Peter Stoller? I've just finished reading Hound Dog, the L&S autobiography.

Speaking of Hound Dog, have you seen this performance by Johnny Burnette? I wonder what L&S would have thought of it.

[PStoller]

I take it you're Peter Stoller? I've just finished reading Hound Dog, the L&S autobiography.

Speaking of Hound Dog, have you seen this performance by Johnny Burnette? I wonder what L&S would have thought of it.

Yep, that'd be moi. Hope you enjoyed the book.

I suspect L&S would think of the Johnny Burnette performance pretty much what they thought of Elvis': it's too fast and has the wrong lyrics. Plus, unlike Elvis' version, Burnette's hasn't got the redeeming value of having made L&S piles of money, and the mix is pretty bad to boot. That said, it's kinda fun to watch—love the Geritol sign! FYI, it's from the Ted Mack Amateur Hour, broadcast on September 9th, 1956 from Madison Square Garden. A higher quality version is available on the El Toro CD/DVD, Shattered Dreams: The Rise and Fall of the Johnny Burnette R&R Trio.

[drjohncarpenter]

FYI, it's from the Ted Mack Amateur Hour, broadcast on September 9th, 1956 from Madison Square Garden.

It's very possible almost no one, save family members and friends, watched that ABC broadcast of The Original Amateur Hour.

If the trio came on after 8PM, maybe not even them!

On September 9, 1956, Presley made his first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show ...
Elvis was on camera for more than a quarter of the time allotted to all acts.

The show was viewed by a record 60 million people which at the time was 82.6% of the television audience ...
And the largest single audience in television history.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ed_Sullivan_Show#Elvis_Presley

This may also be the only time in history "Hound Dog" was sung live on two separate, Sunday night network TV programs.

The Original Amateur Hour (ABC-TV) = Sunday, 7:30 PM - 8:30 PM
The Ed Sullivan Show (CBS-TV) = Sunday, 8:00 PM - 9:00 PM