Great topic. ..... 'Hound Dog' is indeed a pretty iconic rock 'n' roll song, athough it apparently wasn't meant as such originally. Elvis' version on the Milton Berle show is pretty spectacular to watch even today. The audience reactions are rather interesting too, as it almost seems like they quite don't know
how to react to EP's "vulgar" bumps and grinds... ...the audience on the second Ed Sullivan show some five months later gives a very different reaction to Elvis' wild moves...
I also like Thornton's original, so it's cool to hear on the '68 comback special when Elvis does a slight lyric alteration to his version, and adds the "snoopin' 'round my door" line in there... ..... As an 'end' note, as great as the song is, at the same time it's easy to see why Elvis wasn't too motivated to sing it properly after '70... he must've done it a million times in the 50s already, and let's face it, the lyrics aren't all that great... but on the other hand, maybe that's where some of the magic of Elvis' original version lies...