Old Hound Dogs Leiber & Stoller up to new tricks

By Dean Goodman
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - If Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller had not become two of the most influential songwriters in pop music, they could have earned a decent living as a stand-up comedy duo.
Almost 60 years after an awkward first meeting that set them on the road to vast fame and fortune through such tunes as "Hound Dog," "Jailhouse Rock," "Stand By Me" and "Poison Ivy," the pair have developed a finely honed routine.
Stoller supplies the anecdotes, and Leiber, the lyricist, injects the spicy wit. The system worked well for their new memoir, "Hound Dog: The Leiber and Stoller Autobiography," in which the boogie-woogie boys trade old war stories.
In a recent conversation with Reuters, the 76-year-old Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees were asked if the project exposed divergent, Rashomon-style memories of the same event.
"Constantly, all the time," said Stoller. "That's because I have a very good memory. And he doesn't."
"But I have a very fertile imagination," countered Leiber.
"You bet," replied Stoller.
"And that makes up for what I cannot remember," Leiber concluded.
The back-and-forth goes on for 300 pages in their book, with collaborator David Ritz playing referee.
"They're like Catskill comics. I didn't have to do much," said Ritz, who has previously co-authored memoirs for the likes of Marvin Gaye and Aretha Franklin. "They're used to arguing, so I got in there and began arguing with them. The arguments, for the most part, were positive."
ELVIS, BEATLES
The sparks that have flown between Leiber and Stoller also ignited the career of the Coasters, for whom they wrote and produced all of the doo-wop act's hits, including "Yakety Yak," "Charlie Brown" and "Along Came Jones."
Elvis Presley, the Drifters, Ben E. King and Peggy Lee were also among their many satisfied clients. Their 200-plus tunes have also been covered by everyone from the Beatles and the Rolling Stones to Joni Mitchell and Liza Minnelli.
Raised on the East Coast, Leiber and Stoller came to Los Angeles with their families during the 1940s. They met in 1950 when they were 17. Leiber phoned Stoller and suggested they work together. Stoller was reluctant, but was inadvertently mesmerized when Leiber showed up at his doorstep.
"He had one blue eye and one brown eye," Stoller said. "I'd never seen that before ... I forgot to say anything for a long time. I was just staring at him." Continued...
Source: Reuters