The Songs Of Leiber & Stoller

The names of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller resonate with anyone with even a passing interest in the history of rock’n’roll. A track introduced on the radio as ‘by Leiber and Stoller’ has immediate credibility. Elvis Presley himself recorded over 20 of their songs including ‘Hound Dog’, which starts off our selection in rollicking style: ‘Jailhouse Rock’, ‘Treat Me Nice’ and ‘King Creole’ are among other classic Presley versions of Leiber and Stoller songs on this set.

Born within a few weeks of each other in 1933, Leiber was the Baltimore-born son of Polish-Jewish immigrants, picking up the rudiments of the blues by living on the edge of the black ghetto. Stoller was raised in New York state, and learned the basics of blues and boogie-woogie from black teenagers at summer camp. The pair met in Los Angeles in 1950 at a time when authentic American rhythm and blues was beginning to be embraced by the general (ie white) music-buying public and they began writing together, mainly at the time for black artists. By 1953 their songs had been recorded by such names as Jimmy Witherspoon (‘Back Door Blues’), Little Esther (‘Hollerin’ & Screamin’’ and ‘Flesh, Blood And Bones’), Little Willie Littlefield (‘Kansas City’) and Ray Charles (‘The Snow Is Falling’).

But their hot streak truly began when Willie Mae ‘Big Mama’ Thornton recorded ‘Hound Dog’ in 1953. This record caught the attention of Atlantic Records. Then, in 1954, Leiber and Stoller formed their own label, Spark, which released classics like ‘Smokey Joe’s Café’ by the Robins, who went on to become the Coasters. After a string of similar innovative releases, Atlantic Records bought out Spark and signed Leiber and Stoller to the first independent production deal, making what turned out to be record-industry history. Leiber, with his renowned sharp wit, became the lyricist, while Stoller, classically trained but jazz and R&B-loving, wrote the music.

Chart-dominating compositions by the pair included: Ben E. King’s ‘Stand By Me’ and ‘Spanish Harlem’, The Drifters’ ‘Dance With Me’ and ‘Fools Fall In Love’ and Ruth Brown’s ‘Lucky Lips’. Most significantly, they wrote virtually every hit for the Coasters, such as ‘Poison Ivy’, ‘Searchin’’, and ‘Charlie Brown’, all included here.

Elvis became associated with Leiber and Stoller songs only by accident. He had included ‘Hound Dog’ in his set in 1956 and was then persuaded to record it, taking it to Number 1 all over the world and setting an example for rock’n’roll songs for a decade to come. Following this success, Leiber and Stoller were invited to write songs especially for Elvis, which they did for a number of years before feeling they were in a rut and needed to move on. Leiber once said ‘We could write any song- but I think we preferred with straight blues or those burlesque inventions that we did for the Coasters.’ Nonetheless, some have suggested that, ‘If Elvis Presley was the king of rock’n’roll, then Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller were two of the most important powers behind the throne.’

The tracks included on this compilation are a representative collection of hit recordings of Leiber-Stoller songs, but the fact it is by no means comprehensive gives some idea of the huge catalogue they produced. The singers here read like a who’s who of blues and rock’n’roll – Etta James, Ruth Brown, Buddy Holly, Johnny Mathis, Lonnie Donegan, Ben E King and Peggy Lee, to name only a few.

After their successful run at Atlantic in the late Fifties and early Sixties, Leiber and Stoller eventually left the label in 1964 to regain their artistic freedom and continued generating successful material for many years to come. Though the era of timeless singles faded long ago, Leiber and Stoller remained active in the music business up until Jerry Leiber’s death on 22 August2011 in Los Angeles.

Leiber and Stoller also gained many major awards. They were inducted into the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame in 1985, the Record Producers’ Hall of Fame in 1986 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. In the year 2000, while celebrating their 50th anniversary as a team, they received the coveted Ivor Novello Award from the British Academy of Songwriters.

But the greatest accolade of all is in those artists who have subsequently recorded their songs. They include the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Beach Boys, James Brown, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, the Everly Brothers, Bill Haley and the Comets, Barbra Streisand, Jimi Hendrix, Muddy Waters, Tom Jones, Edith Piaf, Aretha Franklin, Luther Vandross, BB King, and Otis Redding, among literally hundreds.

Through it all they remained behind the scenes, never venturing out to record anything in their own names. This was initially because they did not think it right for a white man to record the blues: later, when they were fully in charge of writing and production, they felt the records were as much theirs as the artists anyway. They were top of the game in an era when the song was the thing – and the challenge was to find the right artist and the right production to make it a hit.