Willie Mae Thornton (December 11, 1926 – July 25, 1984 

Elvis Presley’s “Hound Dog” (1956) is one of the biggest and
most instantly recognizable pop songs in history. It’s a song
so closely associated with the King of Rock and Roll, in fact,
that many may mistakenly assume that it was a Presley original.
In fact, the story of the song that gave Elvis his longest-running
#1 hit (11 weeks) in the summer of 1956 began four years earlier,
when “Hound Dog” was recorded for the very first time by the
rhythm-and-blues singer Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton in
Los Angeles, California. According to Maureen Mahon, a music
professor at New York University,"the song is seen as an
important beginning of rock-and-roll, especially in its use of
the guitar as the key instrument".

Thornton was found dead at age 57 by medical personnel in a
Los Angeles boarding house on July 25, 1984. She died of heart
and liver disorders due to her longstanding alcohol abuse.

Tony Martin (Alvin Morris) (December 25, 1913 – July 27, 2012)

Martin’s career spanned over seven decades, and he scored dozens
of hits between the late-1930s and mid-1950s with songs such as
"Walk Hand in Hand", "I Love Paris", "Stranger in Paradise" and
"I Get Ideas".

In 1958, he became the highest paid performer in Las Vegas, signing
a five-year deal at the Desert Inn, earning $25,000 a week.

In an unlikely pairing, Martin recorded for the Motown Records label
in the mid-1960s, scoring a minor hit with the record "Talkin’ To Your Picture".

   
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Samuel Gooden (September 2, 1934 – August 4, 2022)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Sam Gooden, one of the original members
of the Chicago soul group The Impressions and a member of the
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, has died.

His daughter, Gina Griffin, said Gooden died Thursday, a month shy
of his 88th birthday, in his hometown of Chattanooga, Tennessee, surrounded by his family.

The Impressions formed in the 1950s after Gooden and brothers
Richard and Arthur Brooks met Curtis Mayfield and Jerry Butler
in Chicago.

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Singer Tony Bennett (Anthony Dominick Benedetto) is
96 today.