Thursday, August 25, 2011

JERRY LEIBER Poet Laureate of Rock 'n' Roll & Rhythm & Blues

Mike and Jerry (right) with unidentified singer.

JEROME “JERRY” LEIBER
(04-25-33 to 08-22-11)

          I learned Monday of the death of Jerry Leiber, who wrote the coolest, most hilarious lyrics in all of rock ‘n’ roll & rhythm & blues. The NPR obituary mentioned only that Leiber & his partner Mike Stoller had written “’Hound Dog’, ‘Jailhouse Rock’ and many others.”
          Is this the appropriate summation of the output of an artist who spent his life creating the following list of songs?
          “And many others” includes; practically everything ever recorded by The Coasters, including; Charlie Brown, Yakety Yak, Poison Ivy, Along Came Jones, Three Cool Cats, Searchin’, & Youngblood. Plus; Love Potion #9, Smokey Joe’s Café, Stuck in the Middle with You (Remember? “Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, here I am…”), Treat Me Nice, I (Who Have Nothing), Don’t, Love Me, Dance with Me, Ruby Baby, Kansas City, Fools Fall In Love, I‘m A Woman (W-o-m-a-n), There Goes My Baby, On Broadway & Elvira. (O.K., I could have lived without that one, but hey, thousands of people liked it.) AND MANY OTHERS!........
             Mr. Leiber wrote my all time favorite lyric;

             “One little piggy ate a pizza,
               One piggy ate potato chips,
               But this little piggy’s coming over to your house,
               He’s gonna nibble on your sweet lips,
               ‘Cause I’m a hog for you baby,
               I can’t get enough of your love.”

Now that’s poetry! The first time I heard this lyric, especially in the context of its ultra cool R&B tune, I literally almost fell off my chair laughing.

If there’s any way you can get your hands on a copy of Rhino’s two CD set The Coasters’ “50 Coastin’ Classics” GET IT!!! It’s funky and hilarious. It just might be my all - time favorite album (and I’ve heard a few!)
Rest In Peace Mr. Leiber

No comments:

Post a Comment