"A hard headed woman's been a thorn in the side of a man."
This song finds Elvis using famous biblical figures to back up his assertion about uppity women: Adam and Samson kept a firm hand with Eve and Delilah, but Jezebel led the more lenient King Ahab astray.
It's all very tongue-in-cheek, of course: Elvis was always respectful and appreciative of the women in his life.
"Hard Headed Woman" was recorded on the RCA label backed by "Don't Ask Me Why," and written by the black songwriter Claude Demetrius; it was his biggest hit, although Mr. Presley went on to even bigger an greater things.
Demetrius also co-wrote the similarly themed Fats Domino song "Ain't That Just Like A Woman" and another hit for Presley: "I Was The One."
This short song, running to less than 2 minutes, was a #1 hit for Elvis Presley in his native USA, but in 1958 it was banned from airplay in the UK by that self-appointed guardian of public morals the BBC. The Beeb's Puritanical attitude over such matters is why it became known as Auntie.
Deep Purple fans may recognize this as one of several songs from this era alluded to in their song "Speed King."
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Suggestion credit: Alexander Baron - London, England, for above 3
Songwriters Bob Carlisle and Randy Thomas took inspiration from this, but flipped the genders, for Dolly Parton's 1989 hit single "Why'd You Come in Here Lookin' Like That." That song's line, "I'm a softhearted woman, he's a hardheaded man" is an inversion of the line, "Well a hard headed woman, a soft hearted man."
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Suggestion credit: Bob - Kingwood, TX
Like Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl," this is another famous track that drops the hyphen from its compound adjective (it should be "Hard-Headed Woman"). Check out other Songs with Bad Grammar in the Title.
Jennifur Sun from RamonaThose Dixie Land band members playing behind him on this song could reallly SWING.
Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn September 11th 1958, Elvis, a Private in the U.S. Army, was assigned to the 3rd Armored Division in West Germany*... On that day "Hard Headed Woman" was at #56 on the Billboard's Top 100 chart; earlier in the year on July 15th, 1958 it peaked at #1 {for 2 weeks} on Billboard's Best Sellers chart... It reached #2 {for 2 weeks} on Billboard's R&B singles chart... * He departed for Germany on September 22nd from Brooklyn, NY aboard the USS General Randall.
Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn August 28th 1958, Elvis' movie "King Creole" premiered in London, England... {See next post below}...
Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn July 2nd 1958, Elvis' fourth movie, 'King Creole', opened in theaters across the U.S.A. and Canada... Two songs featured in the film made Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart; "Hard Headed Woman" would peak at #1 (for 2 weeks) while the B-side, "Don't Ask Me Why", would reached #25 on the chart... And it was exactly two years earlier on July 2nd, 1956 Elvis would record "Don't Be Cruel" and "Hound Dog" at the RCA Studios in New York City (it was also the first time he recorded with the Jordanaires as his back-up group)... R.I.P. to The King (1935 - 1977).
