Elvis and the Badger

Great Moments in Rock & Roll History:

You Ain't Nothin' But a Badger?

Concept art for the ill-fated You Ain't Nothin' But a Badger record sleeve is the only remaining evidence of a narrowly averted Rock & Roll disaster. On the eve of the release, after 27 takes, songsters Lieber and Stoler rewrote the original lyrics substituting a hound dog for the badger and making the lyrics a little less encyclopedic. The reworked single was released with Don't be Cruel and the record stayed at #1 for eleven weeks.

The original lyrics?

You ain't nothin' but a badger

Tunneling after ground dwelling rodents all the time.

You ain't nothin' but a badger

Your name possibly derived from the badge like marks on your head.

You're the state animal of Wisconsin

And the namesake of Pittsburgh Penguins hockey coach "Badger Bob" Johnson

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