Songfacts®:

• "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." >>

  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." >>

  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.
• In 1970, Cat Stevens released a very different song called "Hard Headed Woman." In Stevens' song, he's looking for a hard headed woman because he thinks that's what he needs.
• The "Queen of Rockabilly," Wanda Jackson, put her own spin on "Hard Headed Woman" with a live rendition on her 1958 album Live at Town Hall Party. This version showcases Jackson's signature growling vocal fry. With a hint of playful sarcasm, Jackson, who dated Presley in the mid-1950s, introduces the song by saying: "If you like love songs, well, we think this is one of the most beautiful love songs that's ever been written."