Rip jerry leiber: half of one of rock's greatest songwriting teams

_This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts._ Take the songs of Jerry Leiber, who died Monday at age 78,

and his longtime songwriting partner, Mike Stoller, out of the book of early rock ‘n’ roll and you’d be left with a Grand Canyon-sized hole. The New York-based songwriting and production

team was responsible for dozens, if not hundreds, of hits over the first decade of rock’s history, and their legacy continues to be felt more than half a century later. Just the

Leiber-Stoller songs that Elvis Presley recorded would constitute a cornerstone of early rock: starting with “Hound Dog” and “Jailhouse Rock” on through “King Creole,” “Don’t,” “Loving You,”

“Dirty, Dirty Feeling,” “She’s Not You,” “Treat Me Nice,” “Trouble,” “You’re So Square (Baby I Don’t Care),” “Bossa Nova, Baby,” and even “Santa Claus Is Back in Town.” They crafted hits

for the Coasters (“Charlie Brown,” “Yakety Yak,” “Poison Ivy,” “Searchin’,” “Along Came Jones,” “Young Blood”), the Drifters (“On Broadway,” “There Goes My Baby,” “Dance With Me”) , LaVern

Baker (“Saved”), Ben E. King (‘Stand By Me,’ ‘Spanish Harlem,’ “Gypsy,” “I [Who Have Nothing]”), The Clovers (“Love Potion #9), Peggy Lee (“Is That All There Is,” “I’m a Woman”) and Nancy

Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood (“Jackson”). As well-rounded musicians who also scouted and developed talent and produced recordings—well before the term “record producer” entered the

lexicon—they landed what’s considered the first independent production deal with Ahmet Ertegun’s Atlantic Records. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. “Hound Dog”

alone has been recorded by more than 250 different acts, from the original R&B hit version by Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton to Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, John Lennon, Frank

Zappa, Burl Ives, Conway Twitty, Macy Gray, Rockin’ Dopsie & the Cajun Twisters, Jimi Hendrix and the London Festival Orchestra. Ertegun, as fabled a figure as the record business has

ever produced, once said, “I fashioned myself as something of a writer and producer—until I saw Jerry and Mike at work. They redefined the art.” And Ray Charles himself commented: “I knew

all about Leiber and Stoller. They were those bad white boys who wrote the blackest songs this side of Mississippi. I loved what they did.” RELATED: Leiber and Stoller write it all down

Ahmet Ertegun: His Atlantic Records shaped pop music Jerry Wexler, 91: influential music producer coined ‘rhythm and blues’ --Randy Lewis