Jerry Lieber
August 24, 2011 at 12:16 AM by Dr. Drang
The list of Jerry Lieber’s songs, mostly with Mike Stoller, is ridiculously long. I’ve spent a pleasant evening finding various version of them on YouTube.
Hound Dog
The first hit. This isn’t her original version, but it is Big Mama Thornton and it has guitar work by Buddy Guy. There’s a copy with better syncing on YouTube that I wasn’t allowed to embed.
Jailhouse Rock
Lieber said he never liked Elvis’s cover of “Hound Dog,” but that didn’t stop him and Stoller from writing many other songs for Presley. This little snippet may be Elvis’s best performance.
Kansas City
I have to use this version, even though it’s only half the song. Paul doing his rocker voice and George with a guitar solo that’s a smidge less fluid than Buddy Guy’s.
Stand by Me
Sure, this should be the Ben E. King original, but in for a penny, in for a pound.
If it was available, I’d include the Beatles cover of a Lieber/Spector song, which, according to legend, John sang as “I picked my nose in Spanish Harlem.”
On Broadway
Again, not an original. I’ve always hated George Benson’s silly little mustache and loved his guitar.
Love Potion #9
I’ve been this way since 1956.
Three Cool Cats
Just to prove I can occasionally resist a Beatles video, here’s Ry Cooder.
The Beatle version actually is more fun, even with Pete Best on drums.
Alligator Wine
Lastly, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins in 1994. Apparently that voice didn’t age.
I went through the Ashford and Simpson catalog, too, and would have posted a little tribute to Nick Ashford, but I couldn’t find a single Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell video that was embeddable. And you can’t show the greatness of Ashford and Simpson without showing Gaye and Terrell.
