Jerry Liber and Mike Stoller

The early years

Jerry Lieber was born in the USA , Baltimore on April 25, 1933 ; Mike Stoller in Long Island March 13 of the same year. Both come from Jewish families ^[6] . First met in Los Angeles in 1950 . In those years, Mike Stoller was a freshman student at City University of Los Angeles , and Jerry was a graduate of Fairfax High School . Stoller received his secondary education at Belmont High School. After graduation, he played the piano , moonlighting in a record store. Companion relations Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller began in 1950 , when both were 17 years old. Young people had a great passion for blues music, and this common interest seriously united them. By the age of 20, the songs of Lieber and Stoller were already recorded by such popular musicians as Jimmy Witherspoon , Little Esther , Charles Brown , Little Willy Littlefield and Ray Charles ^[7] . The first commercial song written by young writers was recorded in 1950 by Jimmy Witherspoon. The song was called "Real Ugly Woman" ( Russian. Really ugly woman) ^[8] . It was followed by another hit “Hard Times” ( Russian. Hard times ), which was recorded by the famous blues singer Charles Brown . The song performed by Brown became a hit in 1952 . Another song written in the Lieber / Stoller tandem - “ Kansas City ” was also recorded in 1952 by Little Willy Littlefield . However, she acquired the status of a hit only in 1959 , when the song was recorded by Wilbert Harrison . In 1952, Leiber and Stoller wrote their most famous and commercially successful hit, Hound Dog . The first performer was a black singer, Willy May Thornton , nicknamed "Big Mom," who interpreted the song in a traditional church style. The song instantly soared to the top of the rhythm and blues hit parade and remained there for seven weeks ^[9] . However, Hound Dog gained great popularity in 1956 when it was performed by a young musician Elvis Presley . The song became a rock and roll classic and was named the greatest song of all time. Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller have been writing songs for nearly sixty years, creating unfading classics in many musical genres, including rhythm and blues , pop , jazz , cabaret and rock and roll ^[7] .

They are the founders of Spark Records in 1953 , opened with the participation of Lester Sill . During this period, composers wrote songs such as Smokey Joe's Cafe and Riot in Cell Block # 9, both of which were recorded by The Robins . However, Lieber and Stoller had a greater influence on another group - “ The Coasters ”, which subsequently had overwhelming popularity. With their ability to pose youth problems in alloy with rock beat with humor , they were like Chuck Berry . Their first luck was “ Young Blood ” / “ Searchin ' ” ( Russian “Young Blood” / “Searches” ), which took # 8 and # 3 respectively in the “ Billboard Hot 100 ”. Then, after a more modest hit “Idol with the Golden Head” ( Russian “Golden-headed Idol” ), they again took shape, releasing an absolutely inspired number “Yakety Yak” ( Russian “Pilezhka” ). The song found a lively response in the hearts of teenagers , and they bought it in such quantities that it rose to first place ^[1] .

Later the label was overbought by Atlantic Records , which offered Liber and Stoller an innovative deal, according to which the composers got production rights and the opportunity to collaborate with other labels . In fact, this made them the first independent producers in the history of music. At Atlantic Records, they revived the career of The Drifters . They appeared in 1955 as an accompanying group of the famous singer Clyde MacFatter and then played cruel blues . But in 1957 the group broke up. The fame of the group, and therefore its commercial potential, were still great. One of the most influential people in the record business, Jerry Wexler, assembled a new line-up, invited lead singer Ben E. King from the ensemble “The Crowns” and handed over the new team to Lieber and Stoller for processing. However, they wrote little for the new Drifters, since under their leadership the ensemble acquired a romantic , very sophisticated sound, and the witty , sometimes sarcastic texts of Jerry Lieber did not fit this style ^[1] . During this period, composers created such popular hits as “ Charlie Brown ”, “ Searchin ' ”, “ Yakety Yak ”, “ Stand by Me ” (co-authored with Ben King ) and “ On Broadway ” (co-authored with Barry Mann and Cynthia Well ). Songs performed by many musicians.

In 1955, Liber and Stoller produced their song, Black Denim Trousers and Motorcycle Boots , recorded by a white vocal group, The Cheers. Soon, the song was recorded by the famous singer Edith Piaf , thanks to which the names of the authors of the composition immediately attracted the attention of the public. In the French translation, the song became known as “L'Homme à la Moto”. The royalties received from the song “Bazoom (I Need Your Lovin ')” by “The Cheers” financed the trip of Mike Stoller and his first wife, Meryl to Europe , during which the couple met Piaf. The trip took place in 1956 . This greatly enhanced the reputation of aspiring composers. After returning from Europe, Jerry met Mike with good news, saying that the song “ Hound Dog ” they wrote was a hit by Elvis Presley . To which Stoller asked: "Who is Elvis?"

After the 1950s

In the early 1960s , Phil Spector practiced with Liber and Stoller in New York , developing writing and producing skills. Spector also took part in the recording session of the song “ On Broadway ” , performed the part on the guitar . Past practice had a great influence on the writing activities of the Spector. Songs written by him became popular, and spectator interest in the Specter increased. After the composers left Atlantic Records, where they worked for a long time as producers and wrote most of the classic songs for Ben King and The Drifters , they devoted themselves entirely to writing, creating a record number of records for United Artists ". They also continued their production activities. In those years, they produced influential hits from bands such as Jay and the Americans (She Cried) , The Exciters (Tell Him) and The Clovers ( Love Potion # 9 ) , also written Liber and Stoller).

In the 1960s, Liber and Stoller founded the Red Bird Records label , which released songs such as The Shangri-Las ' Leader of the Pack and The Dixie Cups ' Chapel of Love ( production project of Phil Spector ) ^[10] . After selling Red Bird Records, they continued to work as independent producers and write songs. Their most famous song from this period is “ Is That All There Is? " , Which was first recorded by the famous jazz singer Peggy Lee in 1969 . A decade earlier, Peggy Lee was recording a Lieber / Stoller song “ I'm a Woman, ” but the song was not a success. In 1975, they produced the singer’s new album, Mirrors , which included romances . A reprinted and expanded version of this album was released in 2005 under the title Peggy Lee Sings Leiber & Stoller .

In the late 1970s , the A&M label offered Liber and Stoller collaboration. write songs and produce the album of a young British singer - Elkay Brooks . The album " Two Days Away " ( 1977 ) was a huge success in the UK and Europe . The song " Pearl's A Singer " (co-authored with Ralph Dino and John Sembello) became the " calling card " in Brooks's work, and remains so to this day. The collaboration turned out to be so successful that a few years later, in 1979, they produced another singer album, Live and Learn .

Joan Morris , a mezzo-soprano voice , and her husband, composer and pianist William Bolkom recorded the album “Other Songs by Leiber and Stoller” . The album includes both satirical songs and songs previously unknown to the audience ( “Let's Bring Back World War I” , written specifically for spouses and “ Humphrey Bogart ” - a mockingly ironic song about an obsession with an actor ).

In 1982, Donald Fagen recorded a cover version of the song " Ruby Baby " , which was included in the album - " The Nightfly " ^[11] .

Together with co-author Artie Butler , Stoller composed the music for the new musical musical - Laughing Matters by Iris Rainer Darth . The musical premiered at the Pasadena Theater in California and was held from October 16 to November 22, 2009 .

Leiber / Stoller was awarded the prestigious Grammy Music Award for the song “ Is That All There Is? " . The song is known to listeners performed by Peggy Lee , who recorded it in November 1969 . Smokey Joe's Cafe , which included 39 songs from the 1995 Broadway musical of the same name, most of which were written by Liber and Stoller, received a Grammy Award for Best Album - Music Show. The album was also nominated for seven Tony awards and is by far the longest running musical review in Broadway history. Earlier, Lieber and Stoller wrote the script for the musical based on the book “The Apprenticeship of Duddy Cravitz ” by Mordecai Richler . The musical failed in the writer's homeland, in Canada .

On October 15, 2005, at the 32nd International Film Festival in Flanders , Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller were awarded the World Academy of Soundtracks .

Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller own a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for their contributions to the recording industry. Her location is: 7083 Hollywood Blvd ^[12] .

Lieber and Stoller had a great influence on contemporary pop music, which is undergoing changes in 1957 . The radical changes that Liber and Stoller made began after the release of The Coasters 'double-sided hit, Young Blood / Searchin' . Later on, the songs “ Along Came Jones ” , “ Poison Ivy ” , “ Shoppin 'for Clothes ” and “Little Egypt (Ying-Yang)” continued the era of radical changes in pop music. ^[13]

They also co-authored and co-authored the 1959 hit The Drifters hit There Goes My Baby . The song was listed on the Rolling Stone magazine ’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time . The composition contains string instruments and a very unusual bit . Mike Stoller explained it this way:

“Both Jerry and I liked the Brazilian rhythm bayon ... He was usually played on tambourine , but we didn’t have a tambourine master, and we instructed the drummer ... It was the first rhythm and blues record with strings - a pretentious arrangement in the Roman style -Korsakova / Borodin . " ^[one]

A careful approach to songwriting and the high creative potential of Lieber and Stoller had a great influence on the composers of rock and roll songs of the 60s . Among them: Jerry Goffin and Carol King , the constant authors of Motown Records . John Lennon and Paul McCartney repeatedly noted the influence of Lieber and Stoller on the development of his own writing.

• Rock'n'roll
• Rhythm and blues
• Hound dog

• Leiber and Stoller
• List of songs by Leiber and Stoller (Internet archive) (English)
• Interview with Mike Stoller on an officer. Elvis Presley's website
• Leiber and Stoller on presleyelvis.narod.ru (Russian)