This
song is a twelve-bar blues, which was first recorded in 1952, and released
in March 1953, by Big Mama Thornton.It was recorded 5 times in 1953 alone, 26 times between then and
1964 and countless times since.The original lyrics were re-written by Freddie Bell at the request
of Bernie Lowe and the new version led to both a tour and a gig in Las
Vegas for Freddie Bell and the Bellboys.The best-known and most successful
recording was made by Elvis Presley in 1956 and took 31 takes to perfect
it.It reached the No.1 spot
on the Billboard Pop, Country and R&B Charts as well as No. 2 in the UK
Top 40 charts, but his appearance on the Milton Berle Show created around
800,000 complaints from the watchers due to him gyrating on stage.Jimi Hendrix also recorded it in
the late 1960s for the BBC Sessions but it wasn't released until 1998.Jerry Leiber is said to have stated
to Rolling Stone in 1987 that the
first line actually means "You ain't nothin' but a motherf*cker."
