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Leiber (right) and Stoller (left) were responsible for some of Elvis Presley's classic hits.

Jerry Leiber, the songwriter who penned classic rock and roll hits including Elvis Presley's Hound Dog and Jailhouse Rock, has died at the age of 78. Leiber earned his reputation alongside co-writer Mike Stoller, penning tunes for The Drifters, The Coasters and Ben E King as well as Presley. Leiber and Stoller infused their songs with influences from their blues and jazz backgrounds. He died of cardiopulmonary failure in Los Angeles, a spokesman said. Leiber's career began in 1953 when Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton became the first artist to record Hound Dog, sending the song - then a rhythm and blues number - to the top of the charts.The song would later become an even more successful hit record for Elvis Presley, who reinvented it as a rock and roll classic.


Leiber was quoted as saying he preferred Thornton's version of Hound Dog

The pair also crafted the enduring Ben E King hit Stand By Me, seen by critics as one of their most influential and enduring songs. Leiber and Stoller's work as a songwriting duo earned 15 number one hits and secured them both entry into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in 1987. "The music world lost today one of its greatest poet laureates," said Terry Stewart, president of the Hall of Fame and Museum, in Cleveland, Ohio. "Jerry not only wrote the words that everyone was singing, he led the way in how we verbalised our feelings about the societal changes we were living with in post-World War II life. "Appropriately, his vehicles of choice were the emerging populist musical genres of rhythm and blues and then

From other news sites

Los Angeles Times Jerry Leiber dies at 78; lyricist in songwriting duo Leiber and Stoller

Boston Globe* "Jailhouse Rock" songwriter Leiber dead at 78

MSNBC 'Hound Dog' lyricist Jerry Leiber dies at 78

Reuters UK "Hound Dog" songwriter Jerry Leiber dies at 78

Variety 'Hound Dog' lyricist Leiber dies at 78

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Jerry Leiber, Rock 'n' Roll Lyricist, Dies at 78

www.nytimes.com

With his partner, Mike Stoller, Mr. Leiber wrote a string of hits including "Hound Dog" and "Stand By Me."