Purchase
The Leiber & Stoller Autobiography
Simon & Schuster
June 2009
On Sale: June 9, 2009
336 pages ISBN: 1416559388 EAN: 9781416559382 Hardcover
Add to Wish List
Non-Fiction
In 1950 a couple of rhythm and blues-loving teenagers named
Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller met for the first time. Leiber
was looking for someone to help compose music for lyrics
he'd written, and a friend recommended a piano player named
Mike Stoller. They discovered their mutual affection for
R&B, and, as Jerry and Mike put it in this fascinating
autobiography, it was the beginning of an argument that has
been going on for more than fifty years with no resolution
in sight. Leiber and Stoller had their first success with a song
called "Hard Times" that became an R&B hit in 1952. They
followed it with the classic song "Kansas City," and then
another bluesy composition, "Hound Dog," for the inimitable
Big Mama Thornton. They were still in their teens and
working with some of the pioneers of rock and roll. A few
years later "Hound Dog" would become a #1 record for Elvis
Presley, and Jerry and Mike became the King's favorite
songwriters. They wrote such early Elvis hits as "Jailhouse
Rock," "Treat Me Nice," and "You're So Square (Baby I Don't
Care)." Their affection for Elvis was mutual, but Elvis's
manager, "Colonel" Tom Parker, didn't appreciate Jerry and
Mike's independent ways and ended the relationship. Leiber and Stoller had a string of hits with the Coasters,
including "Yakety Yak," "Poison Ivy," and "Charlie Brown."
They infused their songs with wit and playfulness. They had
founded their own music label, which led them to an
arrangement with Atlantic Records, where they wrote hits for
the Drifters and Ben E. King, including "On Broadway" (with
Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil) and "Stand by Me" (with King).
Their productions for the Drifters brought new
instrumentation and musical sophistication to rock music. Not yet in their thirties, Leiber and Stoller became part of
the Brill Building scene in the early 1960s. Their Red Bird
label produced and recorded some of the most successful girl
groups of the era. Along the way they mentored an ambitious
young writer-producer named Phil Spector and influenced
musician Burt Bacharach. In a completely different genre, Leiber and Stoller wrote
and produced "Is That All There Is?" for Peggy Lee. They
also created the smash musical Smokey Joe's Café, which
premiered in 1995 and became the longest-running musical
revue in Broadway history. With the assistance of David
Ritz, they describe what it was like when Elvis was a fresh
new face and when two young guys with tons of talent and an
insatiable love of good old American R&B could create the
soundtrack for a generation -- and have a great time doing it.
Comments
No comments posted.
Registered users may leave comments.
Log in or register now!
|