Leiber / Stoller

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Jerry Leiber (born April 25, 1933 in Baltimore , Maryland , † August 22, 2011 in Los Angeles , California ) and Mike Stoller (born March 13, 1933 in New York City ) were one of the most important American music producers - and songwriters - Duos of the 1950s and 1960s. Dozens of her songs hit the American charts and shaped the music of the time, such as Hound Dog , Jailhouse Rock and Stand by Me .

Life

Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller were both born into Jewish families in 1933. They met in Los Angeles in early 1950, when Stoller was just beginning his studies at Los Angeles City College and Leiber was at Fairfax High School last year . They became friends quickly, also because both had a penchant for blues and rhythm and blues .

Jerry Leiber was married to actress Gaby Rodgers for some time and had three sons. He died in 2011 at the age of 78 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Mike Stoller has been married to the musician Corky Hale since 1970. In addition to his collaboration with Leiber, he and Artie Butler wrote the music for the 2011 Broadway musical The People in the Picture .

In 2009 they published their joint autobiography Hound Dog: The Leiber and Stoller Autobiography with Simon & Schuster with the participation of David Ritz.

Career

First compositions

Charles Brown - Hard Times

Leiber and Stoller wrote their first joint composition for the rhythm and blues quartet The Robins , which had been recording records since May 1949. It was the title That's What The Good Book Says , recorded on March 2, 1950 , with Bible references for life situations, which was released by Modern Records (# 807) in February 1951 with the A-side Rockin ' . In December 1950, Jimmy Witherspoon recorded the title Real Ugly Woman (Modern # 821) from a live recording in the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles , which was also published in February 1951 - this time as the A-side. This was followed by the lyrically risky Too Much Jelly for Little Brother Brown, recorded for Okeh (# 6835) on September 4, 1951. These first compositions did not reach the charts. That all changed with Hard Times (Aladdin # 3116), which was recorded by the successful Charles Brown on September 24, 1951 on Radio Recorders and published on January 19, 1952 through advertising support in Billboard music magazine, and was ranked seventh in the Rhythm & Blues Hit parade with sales of 80,000 copies. Now the record industry took notice of the young team of authors with the first hit from the pen of Leiber / Stoller.

Little Willie Littlefield - KC Loving

Jimmy Witherspoon recorded their corn whiskey (Federal # 12107) in November 1952 for the King Records subsidiary label Federal Records in Los Angeles , but this did not bring the successful blues shouter back onto the charts. Ralph Bass produced the obscure boogie woogie pianist Little Willie Littlefield on August 18, 1952 , who took up another composition by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller with KC Loving (Federal # 12110). Producer Bass had insisted on renaming the original Kansas City title to KC Loving because it sounded faster. The song also went unnoticed after its release on December 29, 1952, but years later under the original title Kansas City with over 300 versions of one of the most covered rock and roll songs. For Ray Charles they composed the B-side The Snow is Falling when he was still under contract with Swingtime Records (# 326); when the song was released in February 1953, there were already two Atlantic singles on the market. Floyd Dixon performed Too Much Jelly Roll (Aladdin # 3111) in June 1953 , recorded live at the Blues Jamboree in Los Angeles.

breakthrough

Willie Mae 'Big Mama' Thornton

On August 13, 1952, the blues singer Big Mama Thornton stood together with the Johnny Otis band for Peacock Records in front of the microphone to record the Leiber / Stoller composition Hound Dog , which was created in a few minutes and recorded on a brown paper bag . For the first time under the composer's production direction , the cast played Devonia Williams (piano), Albert Winston (bass), Pete Lewis (guitar) and Leard Bell (drums). The title Hound Dog already indicates ambiguous usability. On the one hand, a hunting dog is meant, on the other hand, this combination is also used in slang for "Schürzenjäger" or parasitic gigolo. The obvious sexual allusions are continued in the text, Thornton and the band try everything with imitation dog barking to emphasize the hound variant.

In their initial phase, Leiber / Stoller took up the old blue tradition and often wrote ambiguous songs. After its first release in January 1953 (Peacock # 1612), the Country Blues version managed to penetrate to number 1 on the R&B charts and hold its own for seven weeks. Thornton's “black” version didn't stand a chance in the pop charts at the time, but it was still sold over 500,000 times.

Own record label

Willy & Ruth - Love Me

Leiber and Stoller founded the record label Spark Records in February 1954 , in which, in addition to the composers, their sponsor Lester Sill as well as Jack Levy and Stoller's father were involved. Only 44 partially obscure singles were published here, almost all of them written and produced by Leiber / Stoller. The songs published here did not even make it into the charts, but many of them were original templates for later hits by other artists; for example the label's first single (Spark # 101), released in February 1954 with the duo Willy & Ruth (Come A Little Bit Closer) , Spark # 103 were the Robins with Riot In Cell Block # 9 (recorded in March 1954, published in May 1954; later covered by the Coasters), # 105 was again Willy & Ruth with Love Me (Elvis Presley) or Smokey Joe's Café (Spark # 122; recorded July 7, 1955, published August 1955). The latter song had enormous hit potential, which could not be fully exploited by the small record company with its distribution problems. Nesuhi Ertegün of Atlantic Records was in Los Angeles at the time of the recordings and found out about the recording. He contacted his brother Ahmet and Atlantic Records producer Jerry Wexler . Everyone agreed that Leiber / Stoller should liquidate their record company and switch to Atlantic Records. Spark was acquired by Atlantic Records in November 1955.

Independent music producer

On September 28, 1955, Atlantic Records signed a contract with Leiber / Stoller. It stipulated that the two authors should work as independent producers for Atlantic. At the Atlantic subsidiary label Atco Records , Riot In Cell Block # 9 was released again in October 1955 and reached number 10 on the R&B charts with record sales of 100,000 copies. At that point, however, the Robins separated.

With personnel changes, the new group Coasters emerged , the first title of which was again penned by Leiber / Stoller: Down In Mexico (January 11, 1956, published February 1956) reached eighth place in the R&B charts, also on One Kiss Led To Another , created January 11, 1956 (published July 1956) made its first crossover with number 73 in the pop charts. Searchin '/ Young Blood appeared in March 1957 (recorded on February 15, 1957), stayed at # 1 on the Rhythm & Blues chart for 13 weeks , made it to number 3 on the pop charts and sold over two million copies. When the Coasters moved to New York in January 1958, the same session band was mostly present: George Barnes (guitar, banjo), Allen Hanion (acoustic guitar), Sonny Clarke (electric guitar), Wendell Marshall (bass), King Curtis ( Tenor saxophone), Mike Stoller (piano) and Gary Chester (drums). Of the 24 Leiber / Stoller compositions that put the Coasters in the charts, six made it into the Top10, six became million- sellers : Searchin '/ Young Blood (over 2 million), the Yakety Yak ( which humorously satirizes the parent-child relationship ) on March 17, 1958; over 2 million), the descriptive title of the student-teacher relationship Charlie Brown (December 11, 1958; one million), the moral-preaching Poison Ivy (April 17, 1959; over one million) and Along Came Jones (26 March 1959; over a million). The coasters were the most important vehicle for the compositions of Leiber / Stoller and as a group they were able to convey the ideas of the composers in hits. It was mostly ironic and humorous songs about the street milieu of young people and their relationships with parents or teachers, summarized in miniature dramas.

Hits for Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley was reliant on foreign compositions. He took over Hound Dog as the first title from Leiber / Stoller . The version by Presley is not based on the previous versions of this song. Producer Bernie Lowe saw hit potential in this song, but not with the ambiguous original lyrics. So he asked Freddie Bell & The Bellboys to rewrite and smoothen the risky passages of the song. Freddie Bell had released the textually corrected single on Teen Records # 101 in late 1955 and introduced it during his appearances in Las Vegas. When Elvis performed in Las Vegas between April 23 and May 6, 1956, he heard Hound Dog in the version of Freddie Bell & The Bellboys, who had a good reception with his band here. From May 16, 1956 Elvis added the song to his repertoire. After the studio recording on July 2, 1956, the Elvis single was released on July 13, 1956 and sold over six million times. A few days later, Mike Stoller and his wife Meryl (née Cohen) survived the sinking of the Andrea Doria . Elvis took over a total of 24 titles from Leiber / Stoller, eleven of which entered the charts and seven achieved the status of million seller. The Elvis films shot as a vehicle for music also initially contained compositions by the writing team, namely two in Loving You , four in Jailhouse Rock - including the theme song Jailhouse Rock - and three in King Creole .

More hits from the 1950s

Leiber and Stoller also composed for other performers. From 1952 onwards, over 20 artists had adopted their compositions within two years. These included Amos Milburn ( Flying Home , recorded January 30, 1952), Little Esther Phillips with Hollerin 'And Screamin' (January 1952), the lyrically risky jump blues Nosey Joe by Bullmoose Jackson (February 6, 1952), Little Esther Phillips (B-side mainliner for Saturday Night Daddy ; July 25, 1952), Striking On You Baby for Little Willie Littlefield (September 1952), or Drip Drop for the Drifters (August 1954).

Gradually they changed their style of music from very clear rhythm and blues structures to rock 'n' roll . The white trio Cheers described the motorcycle gangs terrorizing the highways in Black Denim Trousers And Motorcycle Boots (published in August 1955) and gave the team of authors another national pop hit with a # 6 Pop. Then took over the blueshouter Joe Turner with The Chicken And The Hawk (November 3, 1955), the Drifters with Ruby Baby (September 19, 1955) and Dance With Me (September 1959), Ruth Brown ( Lucky Lips ; September 25, 1956) or Perry Como (B-side Dancin ' from Marching Along To The Blues ; July 1, 1957) other titles from the pen of the up-and-coming team. The Clovers then received the humorous song Love Potion # 9 (July 1959). The text is about a young man, unsuccessful with girls, who goes to a fortune teller who, by reading hands, brings him to "love potion number 9". This seems unexpectedly consistent, because the young man now kisses everything that comes in his way, including a police officer. After this fatal effect, he wonders what will only happen after taking "love potion number 10".

After the title KC Loving , which was not listed in the charts, was renamed Kansas City again, producer Bobby Robinson made it a million seller for Wilbert Harrison after its publication on March 23, 1959, which topped the pop charts for two weeks and immortalized the title with over two million copies sold made. The song was recorded in less than half an hour in February 1959 towards the end of the recording session with Jimmy Spruill (guitar), who presented a barbed-wire-sharp solo, and King Curtis (tenor saxophone), deviating from the arrangement of the original. Harrison plays the other instruments himself. Little Richard had already recorded his version on March 9, 1959 , and other versions followed in 1959 with Hank Ballard & Midnighters and Rocky Olsen.

The sixties

With There Goes My Baby , which they did not compose , the producers Leiber / Stoller brought the Drifters back to success. The conditions for this were not good. The rhythm and blues sound of the song was placed on March 6, 1959 with four violins and a cello, arranged by Stan Applebaum. Chief producer Jerry Wexler was horrified: "That sounds like two radio stations overlapping" and initially didn't want to publish the song. After great resistance, it was published anyway, and in May 1959 it became a million seller.

In 1961 Leiber / Stoller moved into the famous New York Brill Building (1619 Broadway), where a large number of composers, producers and music publishers already resided. This concentration resulted on the one hand in synergies, for example through the exchange of ideas among the composers, on the other hand, the music-technical requirements could be completed (the composers chose a music publisher in the building, which in turn selected the performers). The geographical proximity also enabled young talented writers and producers to be trained.

Phil Spector , former singer with the Teddy Bears , tried to make himself useful as a composer / producer with Leiber / Stoller. Presumably he was present at the Drifters' recording sessions from May 1960 onwards without having participated. Leiber / Stoller had Corinne, Corinna produce it for Ray Peterson at Bell Sound Studios in October 1960. Most of the recordings by the Drifters and Ben E. King were produced here, such as Stand by Me . The contributions by Phil Spector to the classic Spanish Harlem , sung by Ben, are controversial . E. King. Recorded on October 27, 1960 and released in December 1960, the song is registered as composed by Jerry Leiber and Phil Spector. But singer Ben E. King attributes 95% artistic participation to Leiber / Stoller, who are also officially listed as producers. The violin parts along with the marimba were arranged by Stan Applebaum. Spector's contributions to the recording studios are rated as low overall in that phase. Spector's Obligato guitar solo during the Drifters recording session for On Broadway / Let The Music Play on January 22, 1963 is undisputed. It was the ninth recording session for Leiber / Stoller as producers for the Drifters, with the 13th session on December 12, 1963 they quit their producer job. Important hits for the group were Dance With Me (composed by Leiber / Stoller, July 9, 1959) and the tango Save The Last Dance For Me , which reached number one on the pop charts.

Many other talented composers of the 1960s also got a start through Leiber / Stoller, including Gerry Goffin and Carole King , Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman as well as Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil .

Own record labels again

Tippie & The Clovers - Bossa Nova Baby

After a dispute over billing with Atlantic Records, Leiber / Stoller ended their collaboration with the label and founded their own, short-lived record company Tiger Records with the subsidiary label Daisy Records in November 1962 . Only eleven singles were released here, only one of which (Alvin Robinsons Something You Got ) entered the charts. However, some songs are of musical importance as they became successful as cover versions. These include the funny Bossa Nova Baby composed by Leiber / Stoller in the original version by Tippie & The Clovers (October 19, 1962; those were the original Clovers with lead singer Roosevelt "Tippie" Hubbard; Tiger # 201) and that by Leiber / Stoller only produced by Bessie Banks' Go Now (December 4, 1963; Tiger # 102), later a pop hit for the Moody Blues . The lack of hit parade success and the tie-up of creative skills through increasingly administrative tasks prompted the authors to liquidate the labels after only two years.

More success was granted to the record label Red Bird Records, founded in January 1964, with the subsidiary label Blue Cat . Here they left the composition and production work mostly to young and ambitious people like Jeff Barry / Ellie Greenwich , Steve Venet, Artie Ripp or the still inexperienced George “Shadow” Morton . The label, run by the experienced music industry expert George Goldner , concentrated mainly on girl groups . Eleven of the first 30 singles made it into the Top40. The first hit came from the Jelly Beans ( I Wanna Love Him So Bad , June 1964; Red Bird # 10-003), the first million seller was Chapel of Love from the Dixie Cups , the biggest hit Leader of the Pack from the Shangri-Las . In April 1966, they sold Red Bird to their partner George Goldner for a symbolic dollar. Goldner sold the master tapes to Shelby Singleton within a few months .

More hits and career finale

After the sale of Red Bird , Leiber / Stoller only composed or produced very selectively. You wrote the existentialist song about disillusioning experiences Is That All There Is? recorded by Peggy Lee on January 24th and 29th, 1969, arranged and conducted by Randy Newman , for which a Grammy Award was given. Peggy Lee had previously adopted the feminist anthem I'm A Woman from the writing team, recorded on November 14, 1962 at New York's Capitol Studios. The song hit the charts at the same time as the American Women's Liberation movement began .

Steelers Wheel - Stuck in the middle with you

Stealers Wheel were the first British band that Leiber / Stoller could win as producers. The LP Stealers Wheel contained the title Stuck in the Middle with You , also produced by Leiber / Stoller , which was released as a single in February 1973 and sold over a million copies. In November 1975 they produced the album Mirrors with Peggy Lee . A remixed and expanded version of this album was released in December 2005 with the title Peggy Lee Sings Leiber & Stoller .

A&M records sought the services of Leiber / Stoller for the British singer Elkie Brooks . The LP Two Days Away , recorded in 1976 in three recording studios (including AIR ) and released in June 1977, proved to be a success in Great Britain and Europe. Her last significant composition for this was Pearl's A Singer (composed with Ralph Dino and John Sembello), which became Brooks' biggest hit. The successful collaboration continued for the album Live and Learn in October 1979. In 1975 they produced “Procol's Ninth” for Procol Harum , and in 1980 a retrospective on their life was shown in London under the title Only in America . In 1986 she enrolled at the invitation of Frank Sinatra with The Girls I Never Kissed whose last single.

Statistics and awards

Jerry Leiber: "We don't write songs, we write records". A total of 392 titles are copyright-registered for Jerry Leiber at BMI , 24 of which received a BMI Award. Mike Stoller is mentioned with 339 titles, a large part of which is attributable to the role as co-author with Jerry Leiber. Both are among the composers with the most copyrights. The musical Smokey Joe's Cafe premiered on Broadway in 1995 and contains 38 songs by Leiber and Stoller.

See also

Web links / obituaries

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Tim Jonze: Songwriter Jerry Leiber dies aged 78. August 23, 2011, accessed February 13, 2018 (English).
  2. ^ Claudia Luther: Jerry Leiber dies at 78; lyricist in songwriting duo Leiber and Stoller . In: Los Angeles Times , August 23, 2011.
  3. ↑ The Bible can also be translated as “Good Book”
  4. ↑ Billboard Magazine, Jan. 19, 1952, p. 36
  5. ↑ Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller with David Ritz: Hound Dog - The Leiber and Stoller Autobiography. 2009, p. 60
  6. ↑ Jessie Carnie Smith / Shirelle Phelps: Notable Black American Women. 1995, p. 642
  7. ^ Joseph Murrells: Million Selling Records. 1985, p. 105.
  8. ↑ "Snoopin 'round my door" was replaced by "cryin' all the time", "You can wag your tail, but I ain't gonna feed you no more" had to "You ain't never caught a rabbit, and you ain't no friend of mine "give way
  9. ^ Joseph Murrells: Million Selling Records. 1985, p. 100.
  10. ^ Phil Hardy / Dave Laing: The Faber Companion To 20th Century Popular Music. 1995, p. 551
  11. ↑ Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller with David Ritz: Hound Dog - The Leiber and Stoller Autobiography. 2009, p. 161.
  12. ^ Richard Williams : Phil Spector - Out Of His Head. 2003, p. 37.
  13. ↑ Dorothy Wade / Justin Picardie: Music Man: Atlantic Records And The Triumph Of Rock And Roll. 1990, p. 102 f.
  14. ^ The first sound engineer here was a young Phil Ramone
  15. ↑ Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller with David Ritz: Hound Dog - The Leiber and Stoller Autobiography. 2009, p. 177.
  16. ↑ Elvis Presley recorded the cover of this on January 22, 1963
  17. ↑ Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller with David Ritz: Hound Dog - The Leiber and Stoller Autobiography. 2009, p. 218.
  18. ↑ Jazzdiscography about the song ( Memento from March 16, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
  19. ^ Joseph Murrells: Million Selling Records. 1985, p. 374.
  20. ↑ Michael Campbell: Popular Music in America: And The Beat Goes On. 2008, p. 176
  21. ↑ BMI entry for Jerry Leiber  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / repertoire.bmi.com  
  22. ↑ The 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time. Rolling Stone , August 2015, accessed August 8, 2017 .