Legendary songwriter Jerry Leiber dies at 78
Jerry Leiber, who penned hits including Hound Dog and Stand By Me, has died aged 78. Music expert Spencer Leigh tells Channel 4 News pop music wouldn’t be the same without him.
Mr Leiber passed away in Los Angeles of cardiopulmonary failure following a lengthy illness. Family members were with him when he died.
The legendary lyricist, born in 1933, will be best remembered by legions of fans for his songwriting. He wrote the lyrics and composer Mike Stoller provided the tunes for more than 200 hit records by stars including Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, James Brown, B.B. King, the Drifters and Ray Charles. Elvis Presley alone recorded over 20 Leiber and Stoller songs.
The pair launched their collaboration as teenagers in the early 1950s, and Mr Leiber once jokingly referred to their six-decade partnership as “the longest-running argument in show business.”
It’s very hard to imagine what rock and roll and indeed pop music would have been like without them. Music expert, Spencer Leigh
Mr Stoller said in a statement: “He was my friend, my buddy, my writing partner for 61 years. He had a way with words. There was nobody better. I’m going to miss him.”
Their songwriting credits included Hound Dog and Jailhouse Rock as well as the mega-hit Stand By Me, which they co-wrote with singer Ben E. King.
Music expert Spencer Leigh told Channel 4 News that Leiber and Stoller changed pop music.
“It’s very hard to imagine what rock and roll and indeed pop music as a whole would have been like without them,” he said.
“The catalogue of songs is quite extraordinary, and what’s more a lot of the songs incorporated the life of the times, in particular the 1950s.
“A lot of songwriters just wrote love songs, but Leiber and Stoller put in songs about teenage rebellion like Yakety Yak, Love Potion No 9 is about sexual frustration, and later on in the 60s, in On Broadway, there’s a social conscience, getting out of poverty.”
But he said the pair remained humble about their impact.
“Mike Stoller has a wonderful quote: ‘We simply made records that we wanted to buy ourselves.'”
Leiber and Stoller were honoured by inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.
At the time, a statement from the institution said: “Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller have written some of the most spirited and enduring rock ‘n’ roll songs.”
Mr Leiber was born in 1933 in Baltimore, before moving to Los Angeles. He teamed up with Mr Stoller while still at school, his streetwise lyrics complementing Mr Stoller’s infectious music.
The pair described their songwriting process in the book, Baby, That Was Rock and Roll: The Legendary Leiber and Stoller, by Robert Palmer.
“Often I would have a start, two or four lines. Mike would sit at the piano and start to jam, just playing, fooling around, and I’d throw out a line. He’d accommodate the line – metrically, rhythmically,” Mr Leiber said.
In another book, the pair described how they wrote Hound Dog.
“I yelled, he played,” Mr Leiber told Josh Alan Freidman, author of Tell The Truth Until They Bleed: Coming Clean in the Dirty World of Blues and Rock ‘n’ Roll.
“The groove came together and we finished in 12 minutes flat. I work fast.”
Leiber and Stoller’s greatest rock and roll hits
Hound Dog – written for blues singer Big Mama Thornton, made famous by Elvis Presley, although the pair disliked his interpretation
Jailhouse Rock – written for Elvis Presley
Stand By Me – written with Ben E.King for the Drifters
On Broadway – a hit for the Drifters, written with Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil
Spanish Harlem – written with Phil Spector for the Drifters
Love Potion No 9 – written for the Clovers, became a hit for the Searchers
Chapel of Love – a hit for the Dixie Cups
Leader of the Pack – written for the Shangri-Las
Smokey Joe’s Cafe – written for the Robins, became the title of a Broadway musical based on their songbook
