Big Mama Thornton has been played on NTS in shows including Diddy Wah, featured first on 31 July 2013. Songs played include Hound Dog, Hound Dog and Sweet Little Angel.

Big Mama Thornton (Willie Mae Thornton, December 11, 1926, Ariton, AL - July 25, 1984, Los Angeles, CA) was an American blues musician.

Her introduction to music, as with most fellow blues legends, started in the Baptist church. The daughter of a minister, she and her six siblings began to sing at a very early age. While still a child, Willie Mae taught herself to play the drums and harmonica, and by the age of…