You ain't nothin' but a Hound Dog ...

August 22, 2011 3:45 PM

Jerry Leiber, one of the greatest rock and roll songwriters to ever ply the trade, has died aged 78. Along with songwriting partner Mike Stoller, he was responsible for so many hits, including but not limited to: Love Potion No. 9 by The Coasters, Stand By Me by Ben E. King, Hound Dog by Big Mama Thornton, later popularised by Elvis Presley, and, solo, in conjunction with Phil Spector, Spanish Harlem, as sung by Aretha Franklin.
posted by Len (63 comments total)

If you ever play one of his tunes in an instrumental arrangement, you will really notice how much the man believed in picking a note and sticking with it.

So in his honor:

............
posted by randomkeystrike at 3:48 PM on August 22, 2011 [4 favorites]

RIP. and thank you for so many great songs.
posted by jonmc at 3:49 PM on August 22, 2011 [1 favorite]

Oh, and I'd just like to make a request: if anyone's got some overlooked/rarely heard Leiber gems they love, this would be a great place to share them ...
posted by Len at 3:51 PM on August 22, 2011

.

BTW, you linked to The Clovers' version of Love Potion No. 9. Here's the version by The Coasters.
posted by The Card Cheat at 3:56 PM on August 22, 2011

.

"Down Home Girl" interpreted by Old Crow Medicine Show
posted by entropicamericana at 3:57 PM on August 22, 2011

.
posted by eriko at 3:58 PM on August 22, 2011

Immortal for "she said I'm gonna make it up right here in the sink" all by itself.
posted by jfuller at 4:04 PM on August 22, 2011 [2 favorites]

The Card Cheat: BTW, you linked to The Clovers' version of Love Potion No. 9.

Oh, balls. Call it a YouTube link editing fuck-up if you're feeling generous. Thanks for the correction, though.
posted by Len at 4:05 PM on August 22, 2011

Yakety Yak!
posted by Sys Rq at 4:05 PM on August 22, 2011 [1 favorite]

.

Among many other songs, Lieber also co-wrote "Ruby Baby," which Donald Fagen performed on his awesome solo album The Nightfly.
posted by Gelatin at 4:12 PM on August 22, 2011

.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:14 PM on August 22, 2011

"Is That All There Is?" (as @omarg on Twitter noted, the fact that he lived on for 42 years after writing that song kinda answers the question)
posted by oneswellfoop at 4:14 PM on August 22, 2011 [3 favorites]

What a legacy!

"Jailhouse Rock"

"There Goes My Baby"

...and many more!
posted by zooropa at 4:15 PM on August 22, 2011

onefellswoop: "Is That All There Is?

Christ, how could I have forgotten that? The best version ever is this one, by Cristina, though it took years for it to get a proper release thanks to alterations to the lyrics.
posted by Len at 4:19 PM on August 22, 2011

*takes out papers and trash*
*collects spending cash*
posted by jonmc at 4:21 PM on August 22, 2011 [1 favorite]

"Along Came Jones" by The Coasters

"Dance With Me" by The Drifters

"Don't" by Elvis Presley

"Framed" by The Robins

I (Who Have Nothing) by Ben E. King (the English lyric)

"Kansas City" by Little Willie Littlefield

"King Creole" by Elvis Presley

"Lorelei" by Lonnie Donegan

"The Reverend Mr. Black" by The Kingston Trio

"Ruby Baby" by The Drifters

"Smokey Joe's Cafe" by The Robins

"Take It Like A Man" by Gene Pitney

"Three Cool Cats" by The Coasters

"Trouble" by Elvis Presley

"You're So Square (Baby I Don't Care)" by Elvis Presley
posted by Joey Michaels at 4:25 PM on August 22, 2011 [6 favorites]

And let me add:

.
posted by Joey Michaels at 4:25 PM on August 22, 2011

.
posted by doctor_negative at 4:27 PM on August 22, 2011

Another legend leaves us. Thanks for the songs, Mr. Lieber.

.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 4:28 PM on August 22, 2011

and sorry for misspelling your name
posted by flapjax at midnite at 4:28 PM on August 22, 2011

Aww, I loved so many of his songs for so long, this is the first I heard his name.

Omg, he wrote Yakety-Yak?! Oh wow, On Broadway too! Ha, After Taxes. Whoa, Been Down So Long. No way, Charlie Brown. Omg, I (Who have nothing), this too Is That All There Is? and There Goes my Baby. Omg, and Young blood ?!

Wow, the list of songs is really, really long.

How much verve and how many joyous adrenaline rushes this guy brought into the world. So cool to learn about him.

Condolences to his family and friends.
posted by nickyskye at 4:28 PM on August 22, 2011

Some of my favorites.

Tricky Dicky, by Richie Barrett

Bossa Nova Baby, by Elvis

Drip Drop, by Dion

Jackson, Johnny Cash and June Carter
posted by The Lamplighter at 4:36 PM on August 22, 2011 [3 favorites]

.
posted by fingers_of_fire at 4:37 PM on August 22, 2011

Jackson, Johnny Cash and June Carter

Oh, totally seconded. That is a classic.
posted by Joey Michaels at 4:38 PM on August 22, 2011

I was just singing 'Love Potion No. 9' to myself in the car on the way home from work last night. Excellent songwriter. RIP.
posted by h00py at 4:39 PM on August 22, 2011

Damn, I had no idea he co-wrote "Is That All There Is?"
posted by The Card Cheat at 4:43 PM on August 22, 2011

Wow. One of those truly unknown known people. He wrote so much, and his legacy is part of our global shared cultural heritage.

He deserves much more, but I give him here my

.
posted by hippybear at 4:47 PM on August 22, 2011

Holy cow, I didn't know he wrote "Jackson."
posted by Adventurer at 4:48 PM on August 22, 2011

Another rock genius gone. Such a shame.
Speaking of his hit "Youngblood" for the Coasters, you haven't lived until you've heard the version (along with Jumpin' Jack Flash) as done by Leon Russell, George Harrison and friends from the Bangla Desh concert.
posted by Seekerofsplendor at 4:49 PM on August 22, 2011

Jailhouse Rock is one of the few songs that will always make me dance, and Stand By Me will pretty reliably make me cry.

I grew up on classic rock and oldies radio, and as odd as it might sound this is the sound of my youth.

Searchin

.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 5:01 PM on August 22, 2011 [1 favorite]

Trying to recall a particular version of Hound Dog recorded between Thornton and Presley that Presley very obviously was influenced by. Anyone?
posted by dobbs at 5:10 PM on August 22, 2011

A couple more -

Dirty Dirty Feeling, Elvis

Riot in Cell Block #9, The Robins
posted by The Lamplighter at 5:11 PM on August 22, 2011

dobbs: You're thinking of this version by Freddie Bell and The Bellboys
posted by Joey Michaels at 5:19 PM on August 22, 2011

Only in America. They wrote it as sarcasm, how black people didn't really have opportunity, but it became a sort of anthem for American dreaming.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 5:20 PM on August 22, 2011 [1 favorite]

♪
posted by Smart Dalek at 5:22 PM on August 22, 2011 [1 favorite]

Joey Michaels, nope, definitely not. It'd either be by a woman or a black guy. It's gonna drive me nuts now. :(
posted by dobbs at 5:25 PM on August 22, 2011

The Coasters version of Down Home Girl always sounds like summer to me.

.

There's nothing that can bring people together like these wonderful rhymie songs. Smokey Robinson and the Holland, Dozier, Holland trio songs do it too.
posted by readery at 5:29 PM on August 22, 2011

.
posted by Kinbote at 5:34 PM on August 22, 2011

dobbs - hmm, that's the version Presley heard that inspired his version. Maybe there's another version that inspired Freddie Bell. I'll see what I can dig up.
posted by Joey Michaels at 5:37 PM on August 22, 2011

.
posted by hortense at 5:38 PM on August 22, 2011

.
posted by MikeMc at 5:39 PM on August 22, 2011

What's My Line?
posted by dobbs at 5:45 PM on August 22, 2011

RIP to a genius and a lovely guy. I thought it was so cool that he admired Greene & Greene architecture, but wanted to live at the beach, so he built his own miniature Blacker House on the sand in Venice.
posted by Scram at 5:45 PM on August 22, 2011 [1 favorite]

Ok, Big Mama Thorton's "Hound Dog" was released in March of 1953. Presley's was released in July 1956. He saw Freddie Bell and The Bellboys perform their version (they did the lyric rewrite that Presley sings) in April or May of 1956 - a month or two before he recorded and released his version.

That all said, there were a ton of versions of Hound Dog released (I just found a Lieber and Stoller discography that may have already been linked) and it looks like there might have been 10-15 versions released between Thorton and Presley - though about half look like they were country music versions.

What an amazing life that song has had. Mr. Lieber had a whole lot to be proud of.
posted by Joey Michaels at 5:50 PM on August 22, 2011 [2 favorites]

Via the fantastic singer & songwriter Jason Isbell on Twitter, a Lieber and Stiller documentary and this comment: "Leiber & Stoller wrote tons of great songs, but you might not know they produced 'Stuck in the Middle With You,' a perfect damn track."
posted by yerfatma at 5:58 PM on August 22, 2011 [3 favorites]

.
posted by brownbeards at 5:59 PM on August 22, 2011

If these things come in threes, look out Acuff/ Rose. Nick Ashford has died as well.

Yes, I know they're dead.
posted by yerfatma at 7:09 PM on August 22, 2011 [1 favorite]

.
posted by 4ster at 7:15 PM on August 22, 2011

.
posted by box at 7:32 PM on August 22, 2011

So many of these songs have been long-time favorites, long before I knew who wrote them. It's been great seeing the guys in films the past few years - songwriters so often get little public attention (even though you can tell they know how much their work is cared about).

Thanks Jerry.
posted by Twang at 7:43 PM on August 22, 2011 [1 favorite]

All right, dobbs, I've been listening to "Hound Dog" tracks all afternoon now (and genuinely thank you for that) and I think I have a candidate for you.

Frank Motley & His Motley Crew is my top candidate for the one you're looking for. Uses something closer to the original lyrics, but it moves. I think its from 1954.

This is not a candidate, but of the various country music versions I found, I rather liked Betsy Gay's 1954 take on the song, again using the original Leiber lyrics. For example, while he did, in fact, write "You ain't nothin' but a hound dog," his next lyric was "Sniffin' round my door." "Cryin' all the time" was all Freddie Bell, and its a doggone shame because Leiber's lyric is better.
posted by Joey Michaels at 8:24 PM on August 22, 2011 [1 favorite]

Well, these are no secret, but they haven't been mentioned yet:

Smokey Joe's Cafe
Down In Mexico

and one of my favourites:
Shoppin' for Clothes

"That suit is pure herring-bone. . . "

.
 
posted by Herodios at 8:26 PM on August 22, 2011 [1 favorite]

.
posted by Spatch at 8:30 PM on August 22, 2011

1990 Rolling Stone feature ...

The other thing Stoller, then seventeen, noticed about his future partner, also seventeen, was the notebook in Leiber's hand. "He had lyrics written in it," says Stoller, a classically schooled pianist and serious blues and jazz buff who had been less than keen when Leiber first phoned him about writing songs together. "I looked at it, and I said, 'These aren't songs, these are blues.' Because he would have a line of lyric and ditto marks, then a rhyming line. These were twelve-bar blues progressions. I said, 'I like blues.' And we started writing."

Great stuff.
posted by philip-random at 9:56 PM on August 22, 2011 [1 favorite]

I don't think this man ever wrote a song I don't love, regardless of genre. He will be missed for what he gave the world.

.
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 10:41 PM on August 22, 2011

Black Denim Trousers and Motorcycle Boots" The Cheers & Edith Piaf sings: L' HOMME A LA MOTO
posted by raysmj at 12:30 AM on August 23, 2011

Thanks for the music.

.
posted by captainsohler at 1:12 AM on August 23, 2011

There was a Broadway show a few years back called Smokey Joe's Cafe based on the songs of Lieber & Stoller - no plot, just a series of vignettes by the performers. It was truly excellent. A highlight for me was Pearl's a singer.

And

.
posted by Sk4n at 5:59 AM on August 23, 2011

.
posted by iviken at 8:24 AM on August 23, 2011

.
posted by tommasz at 9:05 AM on August 23, 2011

.
posted by Mister Bijou at 9:07 AM on August 23, 2011

Charlie Brown was an early role model for me

.
posted by ahimsakid at 11:25 AM on August 23, 2011

Most existential pop lyricist ever:

We would just sit there for hours
gazing into each others eyes
we were so very much in love...
Then one day
he went away
and I thought I would die...
...But I didn't...
posted by ovvl at 4:00 PM on August 23, 2011