Johnny Otis told us [songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller] to come down to his garage in the back of his house, where he used to rehearse. He wanted us to listen to his people and see if we could write some tunes for them. We saw Big Mama and she knocked me cold! She looked like the biggest, baddest, saltyist chick you would ever see. And she was mean - a 'lady bear' as they used to call 'em. She must have been 350 pounds and she had all these scars all over her face. I had to write a song for her that basically said 'Go f*** yourself!' - Jerry Leiber ("Rolling Stone" interview 1990).