Re-releases By July 1956, "the rock 'n roll age was upon the world, and as the new sensation Elvis Presley recorded "Hound Dog" to international acclaim, Peacock re-released Willa Mae Thornton's original" by August 18, 1956, backing it with "Rock-a-Bye Baby" (Peacock 5–1612), but it failed to chart. In Australia and New Zealand, Prestige Records (founded in Auckland by 17 year-old Phil Warren and Bruce Henderson) released the same record on licence in 1956 (Prestige PSP-1004), but the composition is credited to Robey-Thornton-Leiber-Stoller. By early 1957 "Willa Mae Thornton is seen as one who is out of the rock / pop mainstream and so her affiliation with Peacock Records ends... Thornton continues to make personal appearances and is always remembered for her original version of "Hound Dog" which gets a spate of airplay during the summer of 1958 which leads to another re-release of the original." On October 7, 1965, Thornton's live performance of "Hound Dog" with Eddie Boyd and Buddy Guy at American Folk Blues Festival '65 in Hamburg, Germany, is recorded and released subsequently by Fontana Records on an album American Folk Blues Festival '65 (Fontana 681 529 TL) with other artists. Awards and accolades In February 2013, Thornton's recording of "Hound Dog" was inducted into Grammy Hall of Fame. It has also received the following accolades: #2 Acclaimed Music: The Top Songs From 1953 #18 Women Who Rock – The Top 25 Girl-Power Anthems #36 Rolling Stone Fifty Essential Recordings From The Fifties (1990) #65 Acclaimed Music: The Top 200 Songs from the 1950s #675 Acclaimed Music: All Time Top 3000 Thornton's recording of "Hound Dog" is listed as one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll" In 2017, Thornton's recording of "Hound Dog" was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or artistically significant." The original version was ranked No. 318 on the 2021 edition of "Top 500 Songs of All Time" by Rolling Stone Magazine. Responses (1953–1955) Cover versions Thornton's "Hound Dog" was so popular that it spawned at least ten cover versions of the original before Elvis Presley recorded it in July 1956. One of the earliest covers of Thornton's original was that of Little Esther, who recorded an R&B cover on March 11, 1953 (b/w "Sweet Lips") on Federal Records (Federal 12126) that was released