Leiber and Stoller | |
|---|---|
 Mike Stoller (left) and Jerry Leiber (right) flankingElvis Presley on the cover of Leiber and Stoller's joint autobiography,Hound Dog | |
| Background information | |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Songwriter and record producer duo (Leiber – Lyricist Stoller –composer) |
| Years active | 1950–2011 |
| Labels | Spark Records |
| Jerry Leiber | |
| Birth Name | Jerome Leiber[1] |
| Born | (1933-04-15)April 15, 1933 Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. |
| Died | August 22, 2011(2011-08-22) (aged 78) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Mike Stoller | |
| Birth name | Michael Stoller |
| Born | (1933-03-13)March 13, 1933 (age 92) Queens, New York, U.S. |
Leiber and Stoller were an American songwriting and record-production duo, consisting of lyricistJerome Leiber (/ˈliːbər/; April 25, 1933 – August 22, 2011)[1] and composerMichael Stoller[2] (born March 13, 1933).[3] As well as manyR&B andpop hits, they wrote numerous standards forBroadway.[citation needed]
Leiber and Stoller found success as the writers of suchcrossover hit songs as "Hound Dog" (1952) and "Kansas City" (1952). Later in the 1950s, particularly through their work withthe Coasters, they created a string of ground-breaking hits—including "Young Blood" (1957), "Searchin'" (1957), "Yakety Yak" (1958), "Poison Ivy" (1959), and "Charlie Brown" (1959) — that used the humorous vernacular of teenagers sung in a style that was openly theatrical rather than personal.[4]
Leiber and Stoller wrote hits forElvis Presley, including "Love Me" (1956), "Jailhouse Rock" (1957), "Loving You", "Don't", and "King Creole".[5] They also collaborated with other writers on such songs as "On Broadway", written withBarry Mann andCynthia Weil; "Stand By Me", written withBen E. King;[6] "Young Blood", written withDoc Pomus; and "Spanish Harlem", co-written by Leiber andPhil Spector. They were sometimes credited under the pseudonymElmo Glick. In 1964, they launchedRed Bird Records withGeorge Goldner and, focusing on the "girl group" sound, released some of the notable songs of theBrill Building period.[7]
In all, Leiber and Stoller wrote or co-wrotemore than 70 chart hits. They were inducted into theSongwriters Hall of Fame in 1985 and theRock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.[8]
Both born toJewish families, Leiber came fromBaltimore, Maryland,[3] and Stoller fromQueens, New York,[9] but they met inLos Angeles, California, in 1950, where Stoller was afreshman atLos Angeles City College while Leiber was a senior atFairfax High. Stoller had graduated fromBelmont High School. After school, Stoller played piano and Leiber worked in Norty's, a record store on Fairfax Avenue,[10][11] and when they met, they found they shared a love ofblues andrhythm and blues.[3] In 1950,Jimmy Witherspoon recorded and performed their first commercial song, "Real Ugly Woman".[12] Stoller's name at birth was Michael Stoller, but he later changed it legally to "Mike".[citation needed]
Their first hit composition was "Hard Times", recorded byCharles Brown, which was a rhythm and blues hit in 1952.[3] "Kansas City", first recorded in 1952 (as "K. C. Loving") by rhythm & blues singerLittle Willie Littlefield, became a No. 1 pop hit in 1959 forWilbert Harrison.[3] In 1952, the partners wrote "Hound Dog" for blues singerBig Mama Thornton,[13] which became a hit for her in 1953.[3] The 1956 Elvis Presley rock and roll version, which was a takeoff of the adaptation that Presley picked up fromFreddie Bell's lounge act in Las Vegas,[14] was an even bigger hit.[15] Presley's showstopping mock-burlesque version of "Hound Dog", playfully bumping and grinding on theMilton Berle Show, created such public outcry and controversy that onThe Steve Allen Show they slowed down his act, with an amused Presley in a tuxedo and blue suede shoes singing his hit to abasset hound. Allen pronounced Presley "a good sport", and the Leiber-Stoller song would be forever linked to Presley. Leiber and Stoller would afterwards write some songs for Presley as well.[6]
Leiber and Stoller's later songs often had lyrics more appropriate forpop music, and their combination of rhythm and blues with pop lyrics revolutionized pop, rock and roll, and punk rock.
They formedSpark Records in 1954 with their mentor,Lester Sill.[3] Their songs from this period include "Smokey Joe's Cafe" and "Riot in Cell Block #9", both recorded bythe Robins.[16]
The label was later bought byAtlantic Records[when?], which hired Leiber and Stoller in an innovative deal that allowed them to produce for other labels.[3] This, in effect, made them the first independent record producers.[16] At Atlantic, they revitalized the careers ofthe Drifters and wrote a number of hits forthe Coasters, a spin-off of the Robins.[3] Their songs from this period include "Charlie Brown", "Searchin'", "Yakety Yak",[17] "Stand By Me" (written withBen E. King), and "On Broadway" (written withBarry Mann andCynthia Weil). For the Coasters alone, they wrote 24 songs that appeared in the US charts.
In 1955, Leiber and Stoller produced a recording of their song "Black Denim Trousers and Motorcycle Boots" with a white vocal group, the Cheers.[16] Soon after, the song was recorded byÉdith Piaf in a French translation titled, "L'Homme à la Moto". The European royalties from another Cheers record, "Bazoom (I Need Your Lovin')", funded a 1956 trip to Europe for Stoller and his first wife, Meryl, on which they met Piaf. Their return to New York was aboard the ill-fatedSSAndrea Doria, which was rammed and sunk by the Swedish linerMSStockholm. The Stollers had to finish the journey to New York aboard another ship, theCape Ann. After their rescue, Leiber greeted Stoller at the dock with the news that "Hound Dog" had become a hit for Elvis Presley.[14] Stoller's reply was, "Elvis who?" They would go on to write more hits for Presley, including the title songs for three of his movies—Loving You,Jailhouse Rock,[18] andKing Creole—as well as the rock and roll Christmas song, "Santa Claus Is Back in Town", for Presley's first Christmas album.
On March 9, 1958, Leiber and Stoller appeared together on the TV panel quiz showWhat's My Line? as rock and roll composers of "Hounddog", "Jailhouse Rock" and "Don't". They were not household names and did not appear as celebrity mystery guests (a regular feature of the show) but as ordinary people with an unusual “line” of work. They even signed in under their own names, as the producers apparently were certain that the panel would not know who they were.
 | This sectionneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.(April 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
In the beginning of the 1960s, they started Daisy Records and recorded Bob Moore and The Temps (withRoy Buchanan) on their label.
In the early 1960s,Phil Spector served an apprenticeship of sorts with Leiber and Stoller inNew York City, developing hisrecord producer's craft while observing and playing guitar on their sessions, including the guitar solo on the Drifters' "On Broadway".
After leaving the employ of Atlantic Records—where they produced, and often wrote, many classic recordings by the Drifters withBen E. King—Leiber and Stoller produced a series of records forUnited Artists Records, including hits byJay and the Americans ("She Cried"),the Exciters ("Tell Him"), andthe Clovers ("Love Potion #9", also written by Leiber and Stoller).
In the 1960s, Leiber and Stoller founded and briefly ownedRed Bird Records, which issuedthe Shangri-Las' "Leader of the Pack" andthe Dixie Cups' "Chapel of Love".[3]
After selling Red Bird, they continued working as independent producers and songwriters. Their best-known song from this period is "Is That All There Is?" recorded byPeggy Lee in 1969;[3] it earned her aBest Female Pop Vocal Performance Grammy. Earlier in the decade, they had a hit with Lee with "I'm a Woman" (1962).
Their last major hit production was "Stuck in the Middle With You" byStealers Wheel, taken from the band's 1972 eponymous debut album, which the duo produced.[3] In 1975, they recordedMirrors, an album of art songs with Peggy Lee. A remixed and expanded version of the album was released in 2005 asPeggy Lee Sings Leiber and Stoller.[19] Also in 1975, they produced theProcol Harum albumProcol's Ninth, which included the UK Top 20 single "Pandora's Box" and a version of Leiber and Stoller's "I Keep Forgettin'".
In the late 1970s,A&M Records recruited Leiber and Stoller to write and produce an album forElkie Brooks;Two Days Away (1977) proved a success in the UK and most of Europe.[3] Their composition "Pearl's a Singer" (written withRalph Dino & John Sembello) became a hit for Brooks,[3] and remains hersignature tune. In 1978,mezzo-sopranoJoan Morris and herpianist-composer husbandWilliam Bolcom recorded an album,Other Songs by Leiber and Stoller, featuring a number of the songwriters' more unusual (and satiric) works, including "Let's Bring Back World War I", written specifically for (and dedicated to) Bolcom and Morris; and "Humphrey Bogart", a tongue-in-cheek song about obsession withthe actor.[20] In 1979, Leiber and Stoller produced another album for Brooks:Live and Learn.[3]
In 1982,Steely Dan memberDonald Fagen recorded their song "Ruby Baby" on his albumThe Nightfly. That same year, formerDoobie Brothers memberMichael McDonald released "I Keep Forgettin' (Every Time You're Near)", inspired by Leiber and Stoller's "I Keep Forgettin'" for which they were eventually given a 50% songwriting credit; a similar arrangement was made for theOak Ridge Boys' crossover hitBobbie Sue that same year.
In 1991, the charity music video andCD single "Yakety Yak, Take it Back", performed by a number of musicians ranging fromOzzy Osbourne toPat Benatar, featured a drastically rearranged version of "Yakety Yak" with new lyrics - written by Leiber - promoting recycling.
In 2009,Simon & Schuster publishedHound Dog: The Leiber and Stoller Autobiography, written by Leiber and Stoller withDavid Ritz.[21] As of 2007, their songs are managed bySony/ATV Music Publishing.[22]
With collaboratorArtie Butler, Stoller wrote the music to themusicalThe People in the Picture, with book and lyrics byIris Rainer Dart. Stoller and Butler's music received a 2011Drama Desk Award nomination.
On August 22, 2011, Leiber died inCedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, aged 78, from cardio-pulmonary failure.[1] He was survived by his sons Jed, Oliver, and Jake.[23]
Stoller wrote both music and lyrics to the song "Charlotte", recorded bySteve Tyrell and released in advance of the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.[24]
Leiber and Stoller wonGrammy awards for "Is That All There Is?" in 1969, and for the cast album ofSmokey Joe's Cafe, a 1995Broadwaymusicalrevue based on their previously released work.Smokey Joe's Cafe was also nominated for sevenTony Awards, and became the longest-running musical revue in Broadway history.
Other awards include:
In the 1950s therhythm and blues of the black entertainment world, up to then restricted to black clubs, was increasing its audience-share in areas previously reserved fortraditional pop music, and the phenomenon now known as "crossover" became apparent.[5]
Leiber and Stoller affected the course of modern popular music in 1957, when they wrote and produced the crossover double-sided hit by the Coasters, "Young Blood"/"Searchin'".[18] They released "Yakety Yak", which was a mainstream hit, as was the follow-up, "Charlie Brown". This was followed by "Along Came Jones", "Poison Ivy", "Shoppin' for Clothes", and "Little Egypt (Ying-Yang)".[29]
They produced and co-wrote "There Goes My Baby", a hit for the Drifters in 1959,[30] which introduced the use ofstrings forsaxophone-likeriffs,tympani for the Brazilianbaion rhythm they incorporated, and lavish production values into the established black R&B sound, laying the groundwork for thesoul music that would follow.[31]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
