The Elvis Presley Song That Hit Bruce Springsteen ‘Like a Thunderbolt’

Every rock star has been influenced by Elvis Presley in some way, even if they never listened to the Memphis singer. Bruce Springsteen has admitted to being an Elvis fanboy. In comparison, his music doesn’t sound like Elvis’, but Springsteen has a flare and energy on stage that matches what made the “Suspicious Minds” singer so great in his glory days. Springsteen said one particular Elvis song made him a fan and hit him “like a thunderbolt.”

Bruce Springsteen said Elvis’ ‘Hound Dog’ had a tremendous impact on him

“Hound Dog” was one of the earliest hits by Elvis Presley that kicked off his speedy rise to fame. The track was first released in 1956 and was a cover of the song by Big Mama Thornton. It was an immediate hit, getting radio play all across the country. The song made its way to New Jersey, where a young Springsteen heard it. 

While appearing on Desert Island Discs on BBC Radio, the “Born to Run” singer selected “Hound Dog” as the Elvis track that showed him there was more to life than his small hometown. It’s one of the songs he can’t live without. 

“When I heard it, it just shot straight through to my brain,” Springsteen shared. “I realized, suddenly, that there was more to life than what I’d been living. I was then in pursuit of something, and there’d been a vision laid out before me. You were dealing with the pure thrust, the pure energy of the music itself. I was so very young, but it still hit me like a thunderbolt.”

Springsteen once tried to sneak into Graceland

Bruce Springsteen took his love of Elvis to another level when he almost broke into Graceland, Elvis’ home in Memphis, TN. On The Graham Norton Show, Springsteen shared the story when he showed up to the house and saw a light on, wondering if the “Heartbreak Hotel” singer was home. 

“It was 1975, and we were in Memphis, and Steven [Van Zandt] and I wanted to go to an all-night diner,” he explained. “So, around 3 am, we got in a taxi. The taxi man said, ‘Yeah, There’s one out by Elvis’ house.’ ‘Elvis’ house? You know where Elvis lives? Take us there right now.’ The taxi driver took us to Graceland, and I got out, and I saw there were some lights on in the house, ‘cause you could see the house wasn’t far up the drive. Gates were locked. Stone wall. I looked at Steve, and I said, ‘Steve, I’m going in.’

The taxi driver warned him not to go in, as they had big dogs, but Springsteen knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

“I jumped over the wall, ran up the drive, got to the front door, and I was just about to knock on the front door when a security guy came out of the bushes,” Springsteen recalled. “He said, ‘Can I help you?’ Very casually. I said, ‘Yes. Is Elvis here?’ He said, ‘Well, Elvis is in Las Vegas.’ I said, ‘Ok, well, can you tell him that, I generally don’t like to do this, but Bruce Springsteen was here. And he may not know who that is but I was just on the cover of Time and Newsweek’… He walked me out, and let me out, and that’s the closest I ever got to Elvis Presley.”

How did ‘Hound Dog’ perform on the charts?

Bruce Springsteen wasn’t the only person who found Elvis Presley through “Hound Dog,” as the song was a massive hit. It reached No. 1 on the U.S. Hot Billboard 100 and is easily the most popular cover of Big Mama Thornton’s song. It also achieved international fame, peaking at No. 2 in the U.K. 

“Hound Dog” is a bit of an oddity as it was initially released as the B-side to “Don’t Be Cruel”. However, when it rose in popularity, it was re-released as an A-side, with the two songs switching roles.