: During rehearsal, Thornton rejected the songwriters' initial suggestion to sing it as a ballad, famously telling Leiber, "White boy, don't you be tellin' me how to sing the blues". She transformed the track by adding her own vocal interjections and howling like a dog. Musical Breakdown
: A teenage Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller wrote the song in roughly 12–15 minutes specifically for Thornton. They were inspired by her "badass" personality and "moaning" vocal style.
Thornton's version is distinct from the more famous rock and roll covers:
: Unlike later versions about a literal dog, Thornton's lyrics are a woman's declaration of independence, telling a "cheating, trifling man" to leave.
: The track features a one-minute guitar solo by Pete Lewis where Thornton engages in "blues talk," a call-and-response interaction between her voice and the instrument. Impact and Legacy
: Produced by Johnny Otis, who also played drums under the pseudonym "Kansas City Bill," the recording featured Pete "Guitar" Lewis on guitar and Mario Delagarde on bass.
: It is a classic 12-bar blues with a spare arrangement that focuses on her resonant, "gravelly" vocals rather than the honking saxophones common in R&B at the time.
