Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller

Leiber and Stoller were an American songwriting and record production duo, consisting of lyricist Jerome Leiber (Template:IPAc-en; April 25, 1933 – August 22, 2011)<ref name=nytimes/> and composer Michael Stoller<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> (born March 13, 1933).<ref name="LarkinGE">Template:Cite book</ref> As well as many R&B and pop hits, they wrote numerous standards for Broadway.

Leiber and Stoller found success as the writers of such crossover hit songs as "Hound Dog" (1952) and "Kansas City" (1952). Later in the 1950s, particularly through their work with the Coasters, they created a string of ground-breaking hits—including "Young Blood" (1957), "Searchin'" (1957), "Yakety Yak" (1958), and "Charlie Brown" (1959) — that used the humorous vernacular of teenagers sung in a style that was openly theatrical rather than personal.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Leiber and Stoller wrote hits for Elvis Presley, including "Love Me" (1956), "Jailhouse Rock" (1957), "Loving You", "Don't", and "King Creole".<ref name="songwriter">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> They also collaborated with other writers on such songs as "On Broadway", written with Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil; "Stand By Me", written with Ben E. King;<ref name=lieberstoller /> "Young Blood", written with Doc Pomus; and "Spanish Harlem", co-written by Leiber and Phil Spector. They were sometimes credited under the pseudonym Elmo Glick. In 1964, they launched Red Bird Records with George Goldner and, focusing on the "girl group" sound, released some of the notable songs of the Brill Building period.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

In all, Leiber and Stoller wrote or co-wrote over 70 chart hits. They were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1985 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Biography

1950s

Both born to Jewish families, Leiber came from Baltimore, Maryland,<ref name="LarkinGE"/> and Stoller from Queens, New York,<ref name="Macías2012">Template:Cite book</ref> but they met in Los Angeles, California, in 1950, where Stoller was a freshman at Los Angeles City College while Leiber was a senior at Fairfax High. Stoller had graduated from Belmont High School. After school, Stoller played piano and Leiber worked in Norty's, a record store on Fairfax Avenue,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and when they met, they found they shared a love of blues and rhythm and blues.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> In 1950, Jimmy Witherspoon recorded and performed their first commercial song, "Real Ugly Woman".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Stoller's name at birth was Michael Stoller, but he later changed it legally to "Mike".Template:Citation needed

Their first hit composition was "Hard Times", recorded by Charles Brown, which was a rhythm and blues hit in 1952.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> "Kansas City", first recorded in 1952 (as "K. C. Loving") by rhythm & blues singer Little Willie Littlefield, became a No. 1 pop hit in 1959 for Wilbert Harrison.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> In 1952, the partners wrote "Hound Dog" for blues singer Big Mama Thornton, <ref>Template:Cite book</ref> which became a hit for her in 1953.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> The 1956 Elvis Presley rock and roll version, which was a takeoff of the adaptation that Presley picked up from Freddie Bell's lounge act in Las Vegas,<ref name="NME Rock 'N' Roll Years 2">Template:Cite book</ref> was an even bigger hit.<ref name=pc7>Template:Gilliland</ref> Presley's showstopping mock-burlesque version of "Hound Dog", playfully bumping and grinding on the Milton Berle Show, created such public outcry and controversy that on The Steve Allen Show they slowed down his act, with an amused Presley in a tuxedo and blue suede shoes singing his hit to a basset hound. Allen pronounced Presley "a good sport", and the Leiber-Stoller song would be forever linked to Presley. Lieber and Stoller would afterwards write some songs for Presley as well.<ref name=lieberstoller>Template:Cite news</ref>

Leiber and Stoller's later songs often had lyrics more appropriate for pop music, and their combination of rhythm and blues with pop lyrics revolutionized pop, rock and roll, and punk rock.

They formed Spark Records in 1954 with their mentor, Lester Sill.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> Their songs from this period include "Smokey Joe's Cafe" and "Riot in Cell Block #9", both recorded by the Robins.<ref name="NME Rock 'N' Roll Years"/>

The label was later bought by Atlantic RecordsTemplate:When?, which hired Leiber and Stoller in an innovative deal that allowed them to produce for other labels.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> This, in effect, made them the first independent record producers.<ref name="NME Rock 'N' Roll Years"/> At Atlantic, they revitalized the careers of the Drifters and wrote a number of hits for the Coasters, a spin-off of the Robins.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> Their songs from this period include "Charlie Brown", "Searchin'", "Yakety Yak",<ref name="NME Rock 'N' Roll Years 4">Template:Cite book</ref> "Stand By Me" (written with Ben E. King), and "On Broadway" (written with Barry Mann and Cynthia 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.<ref name="NME Rock 'N' Roll Years">Template:Cite book</ref> Soon after, the song was recorded by Édith 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-fated SS Andrea Doria, which was rammed and sunk by the Swedish liner MS Stockholm. The Stollers had to finish the journey to New York aboard another ship, the Cape Ann. After their rescue, Leiber greeted Stoller at the dock with the news that "Hound Dog" had become a hit for Elvis Presley.<ref name="NME Rock 'N' Roll Years 2"/> 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,<ref name="NME Rock 'N' Roll Years 3"/> and King 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 show What'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.

Post-1950s

Template:More citations needed section In the beginning of the 1960s, they started Daisy Records and recorded Bob Moore and The Temps (with Roy Buchanan) on their label.

In the early 1960s, Phil Spector served an apprenticeship of sorts with Leiber and Stoller in New York City, developing his record 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 with Ben E. King—Leiber and Stoller produced a series of records for United Artists Records, including hits by Jay and the Americans ("She Cried"), the Exciters ("Tell Him"), and the Clovers ("Love Potion #9", also written by Leiber and Stoller).

In the 1960s, Leiber and Stoller founded and briefly owned Red Bird Records, which issued the Shangri-Las' "Leader of the Pack" and the Dixie Cups' "Chapel of Love".<ref name="LarkinGE"/>

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 by Peggy Lee in 1969;<ref name="LarkinGE"/> it earned her a Best 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" by Stealers Wheel, taken from the band's 1972 eponymous debut album, which the duo produced.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> In 1975, they recorded Mirrors, an album of art songs with Peggy Lee. A remixed and expanded version of the album was released in 2005 as Peggy Lee Sings Leiber and Stoller.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Also in 1975, they produced the Procol Harum album Procol'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 for Elkie Brooks; Two Days Away (1977) proved a success in the UK and most of Europe.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> Their composition "Pearl's a Singer" (written with Ralph Dino & John Sembello) became a hit for Brooks,<ref name="LarkinGE"/> and remains her signature tune. In 1978, mezzo-soprano Joan Morris and her pianist-composer husband William 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 with the actor.<ref>Joan Morris and William Bolcom, Other Songs by Leiber and Stoller, Nonesuch Records H-71346, 1978</ref> In 1979, Leiber and Stoller produced another album for Brooks: Live and Learn.<ref name="LarkinGE"/>

In 1982, Steely Dan member Donald Fagen recorded their song "Ruby Baby" on his album The Nightfly. That same year, former Doobie Brothers member Michael 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.

In 1991, the charity music video and CD single "Yakety Yak, Take it Back", performed by a number of musicians ranging from Ozzy Osbourne to Pat Benatar, featured a drastically rearranged version of "Yakety Yak" with new lyrics - written by Leiber - promoting recycling.

2000s

In 2009, Simon & Schuster published Hound Dog: The Leiber and Stoller Autobiography, written by Leiber and Stoller with David Ritz.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> As of 2007, their songs are managed by Sony/ATV Music Publishing.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

With collaborator Artie Butler, Stoller wrote the music to the musical The People in the Picture, with book and lyrics by Iris Rainer Dart. Stoller and Butler's music received a 2011 Drama Desk Award nomination.

On August 22, 2011, Leiber died in Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, aged 78, from cardio-pulmonary failure.<ref name=nytimes>William Grimes, Jerry Leiber, Prolific Writer of 1950s Hits, Dies at 78, The New York Times, August 22, 2011</ref> He was survived by his sons Jed, Oliver, and Jake.<ref name=Gu01>Jonze, Tim, "Songwriter Jerry Leiber dies at 78", The Guardian, August 23, 2011.</ref>

Stoller wrote both music and lyrics to the song "Charlotte", recorded by Steve Tyrell and released in advance of the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.<ref>Steve Tyrell, "Charlotte (Mike Stoller song)" YouTube</ref>

Awards and honors

Leiber and Stoller won Grammy awards for "Is That All There Is?" in 1969, and for the cast album of Smokey Joe's Cafe, a 1995 Broadway musical revue based on their work. Smokey Joe's Cafe was also nominated for seven Tony Awards, and became the longest-running musical revue in Broadway history.

Other awards include:

• 1985 – Induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• 1987 – Induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
• 1988 – Elvis Presley's recording of "Hound Dog" placed in the Grammy Hall of Fame
• 1991 – ASCAP Founders' Award
• 1994 – A star placed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in front of 7083 Hollywood Blvd., and their handprints embedded into the Hollywood Rockwalk
• 1996 – National Academy of Songwriters Lifetime Achievement Award
• 1997 – Distinguished Artist Award/Los Angeles Music Center
• 1998 – Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• 1999 – NARAS (Grammy) Trustees Award
• 2000 – Johnny Mercer Award/National Academy of Popular Music
• 2000 – Ivor Novello International Songwriters Award
• 2005 – ASMAC President's Award
• 2005 – "Kansas City" named official song of Kansas City, Missouri
• 2005 – World Soundtrack Award/Flanders International Film Festival
• 2017 – Elvis Presley's recording of "Jailhouse Rock" placed in the Grammy Hall of Fame
• 2022 – BMI Icon Award<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Legacy

In the 1950s the rhythm and blues of the black entertainment world, up to then restricted to black clubs, was increasing its audience-share in areas previously reserved for traditional pop music, and the phenomenon now known as "crossover" became apparent.<ref name="songwriter"/>

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'".<ref name="NME Rock 'N' Roll Years 3">Template:Cite book</ref> 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)".<ref name="gillett">Template:Cite book</ref>

They produced and co-wrote "There Goes My Baby", a hit for the Drifters in 1959,<ref name="NME Rock 'N' Roll Years 5">Template:Cite book</ref> which introduced the use of strings for saxophone-like riffs, tympani for the Brazilian baion rhythm they incorporated, and lavish production values into the established black R&B sound, laying the groundwork for the soul music that would follow.<ref name="stone">Template:Cite book</ref>

External links

• Official Leiber and Stoller website
• Interview with Mike Stoller
• Template:Pop Chronicles
• Spectropop Leiber and Stoller site
• Template:Webarchive
• Article on the career of Leiber and Stoller
• Template:LCAuth
• Mike Stoller at LC Authorities, with 18 records
• Mike Stoller Template:Webarchive, Leiber-Stoller Big Band Template:Webarchive, and Leiber-Stoller Orchestra Template:Webarchive at WorldCat
• NAMM Oral History Interview with Jerry Leiber (2007)
• NAMM Oral History Interview with Mike Stoller (2007)