Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton stands on the television studio soundstage, arms swinging in time, and belts out “Hound Dog.” Her resonant voice is assured as she sings the opening double-entendre lines: “You ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog, been snoopin’ round my door / You can wag your tail, but I ain’t gonna feed you no more.” Thornton and her song reached back to the tradition of Gertrude “Ma” Rainey and Bessie Smith, Black women blues singers of the 1920s who sang about love and trouble with forthright verve.