Lyricist Jerome Leiber (April 25, 1933 – August 22, 2011) and composer Michael Stoller (born March 13, 1933) were American songwriting and record producing partners. They found success as the writers of such

crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Albums and songs * ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album) * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album) * ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album) * ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...

hit songs as " Hound Dog" (1952) and "

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more th ...

" (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), and " Yakety Yak" (1958)—that used the humorous vernacular of teenagers sung in a style that was openly theatrical rather than personal. Leiber and Stoller wrote hits for

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the " King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His ener ...

, including " Love Me" (1956), " Jailhouse Rock" (1957), " Loving You", " Don't", and " King Creole". 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; "Young Blood", written with Doc Pomus; and "

Spanish Harlem East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem or and historically known as Italian Harlem, is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan, New York City, roughly encompassing the area north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, Fi ...

", co-written by Leiber and

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (born Harvey Philip Spector; December 26, 1939January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter, best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s, followed decades later by ...

. 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 A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of wh ...

" sound, released some of the notable songs of the Brill Building period. 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 The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and ...

in 1987.

Biography

1950s

Both born to

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

families, Leiber came from

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...

, and Stoller from

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18 ...

, New York, but they met in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

in 1950, where Stoller was a

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

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, and when they met, they found they shared a love of

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the ...

and

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

. In 1950, Jimmy Witherspoon recorded and performed their first commercial song, "Real Ugly Woman". Stoller's name at birth was Michael Stoller, but he later changed it legally to "Mike". Their first hit composition was "Hard Times", recorded by Charles Brown, which was a rhythm and blues hit in 1952. "

", 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. In 1952, the partners wrote " Hound Dog" for blues singer

Big Mama Thornton Willie Mae Thornton (December 11, 1926 – July 25, 1984), better known as Big Mama Thornton, was an American singer and songwriter of the blues and R&B genres. She was the first to record Leiber and Stoller's " Hound Dog", in 1952, which becam ...

, which became a hit for her in 1953. The 1956

rock and roll version, which was a takeoff of the adaptation that Presley picked up from Freddie Bell's lounge act in Las Vegas, was an even bigger hit. Presley's showstopping mock-burlesque version of "Hound Dog", playfully bumping and grinding on the '' Milton Berle Show'', created such public excitement 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. Leiber and Stoller's later songs often had lyrics more appropriate for

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former descri ...

, 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. Their songs from this period include "Smokey Joe's Cafe" and " Riot in Cell Block #9", both recorded by The Robins. The label was later bought by

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most im ...

, which hired Leiber and Stoller in an innovative deal that allowed them to produce for other labels. This, in effect, made them the first independent record producers. At Atlantic, they revitalized the careers of

The Drifters The Drifters are several American doo-wop and R&B/ soul vocal groups. They were originally formed as a backing group for Clyde McPhatter, formerly the lead tenor of Billy Ward and his Dominoes in 1953. The second group of Drifters, formed i ...

and wrote a number of hits for The Coasters, a spin-off of the Robins. Their songs from this period include " Charlie Brown", " Searchin'", " Yakety Yak", " 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. Soon after, the song was recorded by

Édith Piaf Édith Piaf (, , ; born Édith Giovanna Gassion, ; December 19, 1915– October 10, 1963) was a French singer, lyricist and actress. Noted as France's national chanteuse, she was one of the country's most widely known international stars. Pi ...

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. 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'', 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

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,

served an apprenticeship of sorts with Leiber and Stoller in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, developing his

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

's craft while observing and playing guitar on their sessions, including the guitar solo on

' " 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 The Clovers are an American rhythm and blues/ doo-wop vocal group who became one of the biggest selling acts of the 1950s.The Guinness Who's Who of Fifties Music. General Editor: Colin Larkin. First published 1993 (UK). . The Clovers p77. They h ...

(" 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". 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? "Is That All There Is?", a song written by American songwriting team Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller during the 1960s, became a hit for American singer Peggy Lee and an award winner from her album of the same title in November 1969. The song w ...

" recorded by Peggy Lee in 1969; 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 "Stuck in the Middle with You" (sometimes known as "Stuck in the Middle") is a song written by Scottish musicians Gerry Rafferty and Joe Egan and performed by their band Stealers Wheel. The band performed the song on the BBC's ''Top of the Po ...

" by Stealers Wheel, taken from the band's 1972 eponymous debut album, which the duo produced. 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''. Also in 1975, they produced the Procol Harum album ''

Procol's Ninth ''Procol's Ninth'' is the eighth studio album (ninth including ''Live'') by Procol Harum, and was released in August 1975. Produced by songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, ''Procol's Ninth'' featured a slightly different direction from th ...

'', which included the UK Top 20 single "Pandora's Box" and a version of Leiber and Stoller's "

I Keep Forgettin' "I Keep Forgettin" is a song by Chuck Jackson, written by Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller, and Garfield. It appears on his second studio album ''Any Day Now''. It peaked at No. 55 on the ''Billboard'' Top 100 and remained on the chart for 7 weeks. It ...

". 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. Their composition "

Pearl's a Singer "Pearl's a Singer" is a song made famous by the British singer Elkie Brooks, as taken from her 1977 album '' Two Days Away'' which was produced by the song's co-writers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. The original version of "Pearl's a Singer" ...

" (written with Ralph Dino & John Sembello) became a hit for Brooks, and remains her

signature tune A signature song is the one song (or, in some cases, one of a few songs) that a popular and well-established recording artist or band is most closely identified with or best known for. This is generally differentiated from a one-hit wonder in th ...

. In 1978,

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middl ...

Joan Morris and her

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...

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 An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lit ...

. In 1979, Leiber and Stoller produced another album for Brooks: '' Live and Learn''. In 1982,

Steely Dan Steely Dan is an American rock band founded in 1971 in New York by Walter Becker (guitars, bass, backing vocals) and Donald Fagen (keyboards, lead vocals). Initially the band had a stable lineup, but in 1974, Becker and Fagen retired from liv ...

member

Donald Fagen Donald Jay Fagen (born January 10, 1948) is an American musician best known as the co-founder, lead singer, co-songwriter, and keyboardist of the band Steely Dan, formed in the early 1970s with musical partner Walter Becker. In addition to his ...

recorded their song "

Ruby Baby A ruby is a pinkish red to blood-red colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum ( aluminium oxide). Ruby is one of the most popular traditional jewelry gems and is very durable. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sap ...

" 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 "

" for which they were eventually given a 50% songwriting credit.

2000s

In 2009,

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publi ...

published ''Hound Dog: The Leiber and Stoller Autobiography'', written by Leiber and Stoller with David Ritz. As of 2007, their songs are managed by

Sony/ATV Music Publishing Sony Music Publishing (formerly Sony/ATV Music Publishing) is the largest music publisher in the world, with over five million songs owned or administered as of end March 2021. US-based, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is itself owned ...

. With collaborator Artie Butler, Stoller wrote the music to the

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwo ...

The People in the Picture ''The People in the Picture'' is a musical with book and lyrics by Iris Rainer Dart and music by Mike Stoller and Artie Butler. The musical is about a grandmother recalling her life in the Yiddish theater and the Holocaust. Production ''The Peopl ...

'', with book and lyrics by Iris Rainer Dart. Stoller and Butler's music received a 2011

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. F ...

nomination. On August 22, 2011, Leiber died in

Cedars Sinai Medical Center Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a nonprofit, tertiary, 886-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars-Sinai Health System, the hospital employs a staff of over 2, ...

in Los Angeles, aged 78, from cardio-pulmonary failure.William Grimes
Jerry Leiber, Prolific Writer of 1950s Hits, Dies at 78
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', August 22, 2011 He was survived by his sons Jed, Oliver, and Jake.Jonze, Tim
"Songwriter Jerry Leiber dies at 78"
''The Guardian'', August 23, 2011. 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.

Awards and honors

Leiber and Stoller won

Grammy awards The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

for "

" in 1969, and for the cast album of '' Smokey Joe's Cafe'', a 1995 Broadway

revue based on their work. ''Smokey Joe's Cafe'' was also nominated for seven

Tony award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual c ...

s, and became the longest-running musical revue in Broadway history. Other awards include: * 1985 – Induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame * 1987 – Induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame * 1988 –

's recording of " Hound Dog" placed in the Grammy Hall of Fame * 1991 – ASCAP Founders' Award * 1994 – A

star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...

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 The Music Center (officially named the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County) is one of the largest performing arts centers in the United States. Located in downtown Los Angeles, The Music Center is composed of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilio ...

* 1998 – Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music * 1999 –

NARAS The Recording Academy (formally the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences; abbreviated NARAS) is an American learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is famous for its Grammy Aw ...

(Grammy) Trustees Award * 2000 –

Johnny Mercer John Herndon Mercer (November 18, 1909 – June 25, 1976) was an American lyricist, songwriter, and singer, as well as a record label executive who co-founded Capitol Records with music industry businessmen Buddy DeSylva and Glenn E. Wallic ...

Award/ National Academy of Popular Music * 2000 – Ivor Novello International Songwriters Award * 2005 – ASMAC President's Award * 2005 – "

" named official song of

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the List of United States cities by populat ...

* 2005 –

World Soundtrack Award The World Soundtrack Awards, launched in 2001 by the Film Fest Gent, is aimed at organizing and overseeing the educational, cultural and professional aspects of the art of film music, including the preservation of the history of the soundtrack and ...

/Flanders International Film Festival * 2017 –

's recording of " Jailhouse Rock" placed in the Grammy Hall of Fame * 2022 – BMI Icon Award

Legacy

In the 1950s the

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 "

" became apparent. 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'". 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 "Shoppin' for Clothes" is a novelty R&B song in the talking blues style, recorded by American vocal group the Coasters in 1960. Originally credited to Elmo Glick, a songwriting pseudonym of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who also produced the tra ...

", and "

Little Egypt (Ying-Yang) "Little Egypt (Ying-Yang)" is a 1961 rock song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and was recorded by the Coasters for their 1962 album, '' Coast Along with the Coasters''. The song reached #16 on the R&B chart and #23 on The Billboard Hot 1 ...

". They produced and co-wrote " There Goes My Baby", a hit for

in 1959, which introduced the use of strings for

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

-like riffs,

tympani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionall ...

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 Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became ...

that would follow.

Discography

References

External links

Official Leiber and Stoller website

Interview with Mike Stoller
*

*
Article on the career of Leiber and Stoller
* *
Mike Stoller
at LC Authorities, with 18 records
Mike StollerLeiber-Stoller Big Band
an
Leiber-Stoller Orchestra
at WorldCat
NAMM Oral History Interview with Jerry Leiber
(2007)
NAMM Oral History Interview with Mike Stoller
(2007) {{DEFAULTSORT:Leiber, Jerry and Stoller, Mike American musical duos Broadway composers and lyricists Grammy Award winners American songwriting teams Songwriters from Maryland Songwriters from New York (state) Record production duos Jewish American songwriters Shipwreck survivors