R&B; Struts Its Stuff on MCA’s ‘Duke-Peacock’s Greatest Hits’

“You ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog . . .” is the opening line from one of Elvis Presley’s biggest hits from the ‘50s, but the vocal on the “Hound Dog” that opens MCA Records’ just-released “Duke-Peacock’s Greatest Hits” album clearly isn’t Presley’s.

Instead of the rock star’s youthful intensity, the voice here sounds older, gruffer and more bluesy.

It’s the voice of Willie Mae (Big Mama) Thornton--and it was this 1953 version that both introduced the Jerry Leiber-Mike Stoller song and helped establish Don Robey’s Houston-based Duke and Peacock labels as one of the nation’s most noteworthy R&B; forces.

Robey had been in the record business for years before the Thornton hit, entering the R&B; Top 10 as early as 1949 with Gatemouth Brown’s “My Time Is Expensive”--and that recording is found on “The Best of Duke-Peacock Blues,” a companion release from MCA.

But it was “Hound Dog,” along with some hits by Johnny Ace, that gave Duke and Peacock a lasting identity.

Among the other highlights in the “Greatest Hits” package:

* Johnny Ace’s “Pledging My Love.” This was one of the most celebrated and affecting singles of the ‘50s--partly because of the quality of the record and partly because of the circumstances surrounding its posthumous release. A Memphis native whose real name was John Marshall Alexander Jr., Ace shot and killed himself backstage at a Houston concert on Christmas Eve in 1954 during what observers described as a game of Russian roulette. The publicity and emotion in the R&B; world following the death no doubt contributed to the single’s 10-week reign on top of the R&B; charts.

* Junior Parker’s “Next Time You See Me.” A Top 10 R&B; single in 1957, this was the first hit for Parker after moving to Duke Records from Sam Phillips’ Sun Records. Though he enjoyed his greatest success at Duke, Parker is perhaps best known today as the writer of “Mystery Train,” which Presley recorded while also a member of Phillips’ Sun roster.

* Bobby Bland’s “Farther Up the Road.” Kicking off a string of almost two dozen Duke hits by Robey’s best-selling artist, this mid-tempo blues tune also broke into the pop Top 50 in 1957.

* Roy Head & the Traits’ “Treat Her Right.” Released on Robey’s Back Beat label, this classic, horn-driven 1965 rocker reached No. 2 on the national pop charts, the highest position of any Robey recording.

Though his labels enjoyed their greatest success in the ‘50s and ‘60s, Robey--who had owned a gaming parlor-supper club and record store in Houston before entering the record business--turned out records into the ‘70s, reaching No. 6 on the pop charts in 1974 with Carl Carlton’s “Everlasting Love,” which is also included in the “Greatest Hits” package.

Besides the “Greatest Hits” and “Best of . . . Blues” albums, MCA has also just released single disc tributes to Duke-Peacock artists O. V. Wright (whose “Eight Men, Four Women” is included on the “Greatest Hits” album) and Junior Parker, plus a two-disc salute to Bobby Bland.