Jerry Leiber (1933-2011)

Lyricist Jerry Leiber died on Monday at age 78. As I write in  today's Wall Street Journal (go here), Leiber was the first major wordsmith of the rock 'n' roll era, composing hundreds of songs with writing partner Mike Stoller starting in 1952. His list of hits includes Hound Dog, Kansas City, Jailhouse Rock, Love Potion #9, Stand By Me and Peggy Lee's “Brill meets Weill" opus, Is That All There Is?

What made Leiber special was a deep, passionate knowledge of R&B, the ability to tell an edgy story with a sense of humor, and a complete understanding of what black and white teens wanted. Both Leiber and Stoller loved jazz, blues and R&B. As a teen, Stoller even took piano lessons from James P. Johnson.

As a tribute, here are five clips with words by Jerry Leiber and music by Mike Soller, plus a documentary:

Here's Jailhouse Rock...



Here's Ben E. King singing Stand By Me...



Here's Big Mama Thornton singing Hound Dog...



Here's Dion singing Ruby Baby...



And here's Peggy Lee's Is That All There Is?...



Last but not least, dig this excellent documentary on Leiber and Stoller...