Hound Dog: The Leiber & Stoller Autobiography. Dieser Artikel ist nicht verfügbar.Hound Dog: The Leiber & Stoller Autobiography

From “Hound Dog” and “Stand by Me,” to “Yakety Yak” and “Kansas City,” Leiber and Stoller composed the soundtrack of the 1950s and 1960s. They set records—in four hours they wrote four songs that became #1 hits. Their story is also the story of rock ‘n’ roll—and a trend-setting era they helped to create.

• Their own story: Both were born in 1933—Leiber in Baltimore, Stoller on Long Island. They met in Los Angeles in 1950 and went on to write more hits than any other song writing team with the exception of John Lennon and Paul McCartney. With the help of veteran music writer David Ritz, they tell their incredible story in their own words.

• Great stories about a great era: Jerry Leiber’s parents ran a grocery store in a black neighborhood in Baltimore; he learned about R&B from their customers.  Mike Stoller’s parents sent him to integrated summer camps, where he received an education in boogie-woogie. When the duo met Elvis (they wrote “Jailhouse rock” for him), they were surprised to discover a kindred spirit in the King, who had an encyclopedic knowledge of the blues. They wrote songs for the Coasters, the Drifters, and Ben e. King. Working in the famous Brill Building in New York City, they mentored Carole King and Burt Bacharach and also helped out a pushy kid named Phil Spector.

• The birth of rock ’n’ roll: Leiber and Stoller were a vital component of rock ’n’ roll’s early sound. As songwriters, they teamed catchy hooks with the rhythms of R&B and swing, crafting hundreds of classic hits; as producers, they revolutionized the recording industry. Their memoir will be a must-read for music fans.

Jerry Leiber was born in Baltimore, Maryland on April 25, 1933, and Mike Stoller was born in Queens, New York, on March 13, 1933. They first met in Los Angeles in 1950, moved to New York in 1957 and returned to L.A. in 1989, where they both still reside. They were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1985 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.

David Ritz is the only four-time winner of the Gleason Music Book Award. He has collaborated with Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye, B.B. King, Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Smokey Robinson, and Don Rickles. He also cowrote, with Gaye, the song “Sexual Healing.”