Within two weeks, "Bear Cat" (Sun 181) was in stores, prompting "Billboard" to describe it on March 28 as "the fastest answer song to hit the market". It became both Thomas' and Sun Records' first hit, More than 5,000 copies were ordered in the first days by distributors, and by mid-April it had charted nationally, eventually reaching number three on the R&B charts. However, as Phillips claimed a writing credit for the song, a copyright-infringement suit ensued that nearly bankrupted Phillips' record label.