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Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller have written some of the most spirited and enduring rock and roll songs: "Hound Dog" (originally cut by Big Mama Thornton in 1953 and covered by Elvis Presley three years later), "Love Potion No. 9" (the Clovers), "Kansas City" (Wilbert Harrison), "On Broadway" (the Drifters), "Ruby Baby" (Dion) and "Stand By Me" (Ben E. King). Their vast catalog includes virtually every major hit by the Coasters (e.g., "Searchin'," "Young Blood," "Charlie Brown," "Yakety Yak" and "Poison Ivy"). They also worked their magic on Elvis Presley, writing "Jailhouse Rock," "Treat Me Nice" and "You're So Square (Baby I Don't Care)" specifically for him. All totaled, Presley recorded more than 20 Leiber and Stoller songs.

and:

Smokey Joe's Cafe", the Robins, 1955) to rock ("Black Denim Trousers" the Cheers, 1955) without realizing that this change of venues (the funky greasy spoon of the former for the motorcycle of the latter) was about to produce a new culture and an undreamed of source of income. In fact, one of the songwriters' most successful rock vehicles was a spin-off from the Robins, the much better-remembered Coasters, who recorded their "Searchin'" b/w "Young Blood" for Atco, a subsidiary of Atlantic, in 1957, a year after Elvis's pelvis-shaking "Hound Dog". The same group scored in 1958 with the pair's "Yakety Yak", tickled by King Curtis's sax work, and in 1959 with "Love Potion No. 9 (Searchers, 1960)", "Charlie Brown", "Along Came Jones", "Poison Ivy", and "I'm a Hog For You". But a major source of Leiber and Stoller's success and power was their ability to bridge both racial barriers and musical genres. Their funny and funky contributions to the Coasters stand in contrast to their ethereal "Dance With Me" (the Drifters, 1959) and the gospely "Stand By Me" (Ben E. King, 1961). The breadth is even evident in their association with their most famous single partner, Elvis Presley, who managed to ride some of Big Mama's rollick in "Hound Dog", to choreograph Leiber and Stoller's high-spirited title tune for his "Jailhose Rock" film, to tame himself down to a genteel jump in "Treat Me Nice", and to croon passionately on "Don't".


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