Leiber and Stoller: Second Generation Standards

We met on a sun bright day in Hollywood that was pierced by a shaft of darkness-the fifth anniversary of 9/11. But that tragedy didn’t darken our time together, which flew by over several hours. In their suite above Sunset Boulevard in the same building where Sammy Chan and other legendary songwriters had and still have offices, we sat in Jerry’s office under a huge portrait of Muddy Waters. The iconic profile of Elvis-on a blow-up of sheet music for their song “I Want to Be Free” (which he recorded)-shone like a stark star over Stoller’s shoulder throughout our talk. The enduring presence of the King was both ghostly and vigorous in their office, as it is in their lives.

Stoller sipped juice out of a bottle as Leiber drank coffee from a white china cup, and the distinct dynamics that have been at play within this duo for more than a half century were very much alive; memories ripened and shape-shifted, and the sparks flew between the remarkable man who wrote the music and the remarkable man who wrote the words.

“Hound Dog” was one of the first songs you wrote, and it was for Big Mama Thornton. I understand you pounded out the rhythm on your old car?

Jerry Leiber: A green Plymouth. We had just been to a rehearsal by Big Mama and left to write the song.

And the line, “You ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog” just came to you?

Leiber: Yeah, it did. I felt it was a dummy lyric. I was not happy. I wanted something that was a lot more insinuating. I wanted something that was sexy. And I told Mike…we were driving, and he said, “I like it, man.” And I said, “I like the song idea, but I don’t like that word. That word is kind of replacing another kind of a word.” He said, “What are you looking for?” I said, “Do you remember Furry Lewis’ record “Dirty Mother?” He said, “Yeah?” I said, “Well, I’d like to write something like that.” And Mike said, “You’ll ruin it; if you write something like that, they won’t play it.” I said, “I don’t care if they don’t play it…I want this word in the song.” He said, “Jer, leave it alone. I think you’re making a mistake.”

Mike Stoller: I liked “Hound Dog.” I liked the sound of it.

Leiber: The two of us walked in his house to where this upright piano was…and I was singing. I started singing it in the car on the way over. “You ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog, quit snoopin’ ‘round my door.”  And Mike walked over to the piano, and he had a cigarette in his mouth, and the smoke was curling up into his left eye…he kept it there and he was playing…and he was grooving with the rhythm. He was grooving, grooving, and we locked into one place…lyrical content, syllabically, locked in to the rhythm of the piano. We knew we had it. We wrote it in about 12 minutes, and I will never forget it.

How is it that Elvis’s version of the song has different lyrics than the original? Many articles report that Elvis knew Big Mama’s version of “Hound Dog,” but his version has all different lyrics.

Stoller: He did, but that’s not where he learned it. Her version is a woman’s song; it’s a woman’s lyric and she did it in that way. He heard a white group called Freddie Bell & The Bellboys.