WILLIE MAE (BIG MAMA) THORNTON
In a white-male dominated world, this brown skin mama was rocking her pearls as a rhythm and blues singer magically in the music industry. Ms. Thornton was born in Alabama as Willie Mae Thornton. The stentorian strength of Willie Mae God-given vocals gave birth to her music name, Big Mama Thornton. In black churches where Ms. Thornton's musical foundation came from, they would say women like Willie Mae can sang not sing, if they had a voice like hers. They said 'sang' and they meant it! Ms. Willie Mae Thornton also played the drums and the harmonica. When you think about Willie Mae Thornton, there are definitely some Big Mama Thornton vocals in the Jennifer Hudsons of the world. We can't forget about our Syleena Johnsons of the world either. Black women songstress got some of Thornton's vocal ingredients in them. Big Mama Thornton was such a major influence in the music industry to a lot of black women. She also rubbed off on other people. Particularly in the white community, like Elvis Presley. The Era of the 1950s and 1960s wouldn't be the same without Ms. Thornton purpose and destiny to sang like she did. Some of you reading this right now have little girls and boys with distinctive voices just like Big Mama Thornton, who are born to share some of their gifts with the world! Go ahead. This year's Women's History Month is dedicated to Big Mama Thornton. I have listened to some of her other songs, and I LOVE IT! I wish I had been introduced to her sooner. I am learning about her right along with some of you! Big Mama Thornton rocked that mic so hard.
If you really want to know who the queen of rock 'n roll is, it's a black woman by the name of Big Mama Thornton. Hound Dog is a song that was originally written for Big Mama Thornton to sing by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. The song did very well, and it blew up Leiber and Stoller careers. The song, Hound Dog sold 2 million copies! Big Mama Thornton was only 25 with a hit song on her resume. Big Mama Thornton was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1984 after she died at the age of 57. The unsurprising sad part was, Big Mama Thornton only received a check for $500. Yes! Where did all that money go? Mama Thornton definitely is the number one reason why black folks should own everything they do in the music industry and lawyer up. Ensure that you have an attorney who is looking out for you, that you can really trust. They say Mr. Presley stole the song Hound Dog and made lots of money. When you hear the song, you think about Elvis, not a black openly gay woman who shouldn't be in the background. Elvis Presley made the song very famous. I don't know if Mr. Elvis Presley asked for permission to redo the song or not. I wasn't there but it is documented that black folks have had plenty of their originality copied and stolen by their colonizers throughout the inception of time. If you want some evidence just look through the chronicles or our American Black History. It should fill you up with plenty of proof. They love our music and culture but not our freedom and equality!
