Leiber and Stoller made their name writing songs for The Coasters – many of them comic outings such as “Yakety Yak,” “Charlie Brown” and “Poison Ivy.” They also wrote for The Drifters and co-wrote the beautiful “Stand By Me,” the soul song that was a massive hit for Ben E King. It was the song that would do so much for Elvis Presley. They dashed off “Hound Dog” in under a quarter of an hour. In 1954 they hooked up with R&B pioneer Johnny Otis, who wanted a song for one of his artists, Big Mama Thornton.

“We were both turned on by black culture,” said Stoller. One of the iconic songwriting partnerships of the rock’n’roll era, as young men these two Jewish songwriters, who met in Los Angeles when both were just 17, used to hang out with jazz musicians such as Dexter Gordon and Lester Young. This pulsating pop song has made the Top 5 in the American charts in three separate decades: in 1962, by the American pop singer Little Eva in 1974, by Grand Funk Railroad and in 1988, by Australian singer and actress Kylie Minogue.Ĭlick to load video Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller Their songs included “Take Good Care Of My Baby” (Bobby Vee), “Up On The Roof” (The Drifters), “I’m Into Something Good” (Herman’s Hermits), “Don’t Bring Me Down” (The Animals) and “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” (Aretha Franklin). The 22-year-old who co-wrote “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” came up with a string of hits in the 60s after he teamed up with King, forming one of the classic songwriting partnerships of the decade. Goffin learned his trade as part of the classic Tin Pan Alley school. When Gerry Goffin died in 2014 he left behind a remarkable catalogue of songs, many co-written with former wife Carole King the tunes were sparkling gems of melody and syncopation.

Click to load video Gerry Goffin and Carole King

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