"Hound Dog": Did Elvis get rich stealing from black artists?

Editor's Note: This article was published anonymously on No Depression in 2014 during a time where we allowed user generated blog posts. While No Depression no longer allows user generated blog posts, we are keeping this post live due to the interest and engagement from readers on this topic.

You start getting curious about where rock came from. You figure out that it was heavily influenced by black r'n'b. You notice that white artists were disproportionately represented among the rich and famous. You might go on to conclude that less-talented white artists owed their success to more-talented black artists. That they basically ripped them off. Lots of people have concluded just that.

True?

Hey, there’s never been an artist bigger than Elvis, and his debt to black music is undeniable. And when you learn that his signature hit, “Hound Dog,” was first recorded by a black woman that you never heard of, your case seems to be made. Here's a Blogspot post from 12/3/08 by user "Randa" (no longer available online) making that very point:

'Big Mama Thornton's "Hound Dog"...Before Elvis stole it…'“That's right...Elvis stole the song "Hound Dog" from a Black female blues singer named Big Mama Thornton...ain't that sum shit? White males have stolen every aspect of Black music from the beginning and this is just a lil' taste of how famous one can become off of a stolen song. This woman got no credit for her song for decades!”