Jerry Leiber dies aged 78
Written by admin on August 22, 2011 – 9:52 pm -Legendary songwriter, Jerry Leiber, died today of cardiopulmonary failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was 78.
During Leiber’s 60-year songwriting partnership with Mike Stoller, the pair penned some of the most timeless and popular songs in rock ‘n’ roll history, including “Hound Dog,” “Yakety Yak,” “Love Potion No. 9,” “On Broadway” and “Jailhouse Rock.”
Leiber’s fruitful partnership with Stoller began in Los Angeles in 1950 when the pair were still in high school. Their mutual love of rhythm and blues was what drew them together and it wasn’t long before they had written a number of hits, including the classics “Kansas City” and “Hound Dog” in 1952. The industrious pair also started their own record company, Spark Records, in 1953, but this would soon be bought out by Atlantic Records who were keen for the pair to work with their talent. The next 10 years would see Leiber and Stoller write and in some cases produce countless classic recordings by top flight acts such as the Drifters, the Coasters and Elvis Presley.
The contribution of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller to music history has been recognised by a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and inductions into both the Songwriters Hall of Fame (1985) and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1987). President of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Terry Stewart, has paid tribute to Leiber today:
| “The music world lost today one of its greatest poet laureates. Jerry not only wrote the words that everyone was singing, he led the way in how we verbalized our feelings about the societal changes we were living with in post-World War II life. Appropriately, his vehicles of choice were the emerging populist musical genres of rhythm and blues and then rock and roll.” |
With Jerry Leiber’s passing, the world has lost one of the true legends of the rock ‘n’ roll era. Classic Pop Icons will publish a more complete tribute in the next couple of days, but in the meantime let’s remember him through three of his best loved songs:
Ben E. King – “Spanish Harlem”
A young Phil Spector shared songwriting credits with Jerry Leiber on “Spanish Harlem.”
The Coasters – “Yakety Yak”
Elvis Presley – “Jailhouse Rock”
Jerry Leiber is survived by sons Jed, Oliver and Jake; two grandchildren and a sister.
Tags: Elvis Presley, Jerry Leiber, Jerry Leiber death, Leiber and Stoller, the Coasters, The Drifters
Posted in Elvis, Obituaries |
