Name: The Leiber and Stoller Story, Vol. 1 - Hard Times: The L.A. Years
Brand: Dark Peak Productions
SKU: 159905
Price: 12.46 GBP
Availability: InStock

The Leiber and Stoller Story, Vol. 1 - Hard Times

Rating

Album: The Leiber and Stoller Story, Vol. 1 - Hard Times: The L.A. Years
#	Song Title		Time
1)	That's What The Good Book Says (Take 1)	More Info...	0:02
2)	Hard Times	More Info...	0:03
3)	Nosey Joe	More Info...	0:02
4)	Flying Home	More Info...	0:03
5)	Gloom And Misery All Around (Take 1)	More Info...	0:02
6)	Bam Balam	More Info...	0:02
7)	Real Ugly Woman	More Info...	0:03
8)	Mainliner	More Info...	0:02
9)	Kansas City Aka KC Lovin'	More Info...	0:02
10)	Lovin' Jim	More Info...	0:03
11)	Too Bad Sweet Mama	More Info...	0:02
12)	Ten Days in Jail	More Info...	0:02
13)	Squeeze Me	More Info...	0:03
14)	I Smell a Rat	More Info...	0:01
15)	Yeah, Yeah, Yeah	More Info...	0:03
16)	Come a Little Bit Closer	More Info...	0:03
17)	It's a Miracle	More Info...	0:03
18)	Bazoom (I Need Your Lovin')	More Info...	0:02
19)	Riot In Cell Block # 9	More Info...	0:03
20)	Hound Dog	More Info...	0:02
21)	Whadaya Want	More Info...	0:02
22)	Down in Mexico	More Info...	0:02
23)	Hot Dog	More Info...	0:02
24)	What About Me	More Info...	0:02
25)	Tears of Joy	More Info...	0:02
26)	Ruby Baby	More Info...	0:02
27)	If It's the Last Thing I Do	More Info...	0:02
28)	L'Homme A La Moto (Black Denim Trousers And Motorcycle Boots)	More Info...	0:02

Album: The Leiber and Stoller Story, Vol. 1 - Hard Times: The L.A. Years
#	Song Title		Time
1)	That's What The Good Book Says (Take 1)	More Info...	0:02
2)	Hard Times	More Info...	0:03
3)	Nosey Joe	More Info...	0:02
4)	Flying Home	More Info...	0:03
5)	Gloom And Misery All Around (Take 1)	More Info...	0:02
6)	Bam Balam	More Info...	0:02
7)	Real Ugly Woman	More Info...	0:03
8)	Mainliner	More Info...	0:02
9)	Kansas City Aka KC Lovin'	More Info...	0:02
10)	Lovin' Jim	More Info...	0:03
11)	Too Bad Sweet Mama	More Info...	0:02
12)	Ten Days in Jail	More Info...	0:02
13)	Squeeze Me	More Info...	0:03
14)	I Smell a Rat	More Info...	0:01
15)	Yeah, Yeah, Yeah	More Info...	0:03
16)	Come a Little Bit Closer	More Info...	0:03
17)	It's a Miracle	More Info...	0:03
18)	Bazoom (I Need Your Lovin')	More Info...	0:02
19)	Riot In Cell Block # 9	More Info...	0:03
20)	Hound Dog	More Info...	0:02
21)	Whadaya Want	More Info...	0:02
22)	Down in Mexico	More Info...	0:02
23)	Hot Dog	More Info...	0:02
24)	What About Me	More Info...	0:02
25)	Tears of Joy	More Info...	0:02
26)	Ruby Baby	More Info...	0:02
27)	If It's the Last Thing I Do	More Info...	0:02
28)	L'Homme A La Moto (Black Denim Trousers And Motorcycle Boots)	More Info...	0:02

Performer Notes

Personnel: Jerry Leiber (vocals).
Liner Note Authors: Randy Poe; Tony Rounce.
Photographers: Jerry Leiber; Johnny Otis; Mike Stoller; Tony Rounce; Billy Vera.
Although the first installment of this three-volume series covers a lot of ground in the early career of the famed R&B/rock & roll songwriting team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, be aware that it's not exactly a compilation of the best and most familiar interpretations of their compositions. Rather than focus on the most famous Leiber & Stoller covers, the compilers chose, as the liner notes explain, "to keep the 'obvious' content to a minimum and go for either versions of L&S songs that don't get reissued so often or, in some cases, the original versions of L&S songs that begat much better-known 'covers.'" As a consequence, some obvious highlights of their early catalog -- Big Mama Thornton's "Hound Dog," the Robins' "Riot in Cell Block #9," and the Cheers' "Black Denim Trousers and Motorcycle Boots," for example -- aren't here. As compensation, however, this 28-track anthology does include a lot of rare obscurities that will be treasured by both Leiber & Stoller fans and serious R&B/rock & roll collectors (and you can get the more famous covers, such as the aforementioned tracks, on other reissues). Too, it doesn't wholly ignore some of their more successful early endeavors -- the Drifters' "Ruby Baby" (covered for a big pop hit by Dion in the 1960s), Charles Brown's Top Ten 1952 R&B hit "Hard Times," and Little Willie Littlefield's original 1952 version of "Kansas City" (then titled "KC Lovin'," and made into a chart-topping rock & roll smash by Wilbert Harrison at the end of the '50s) are all here.
At this point in their development, Leiber & Stoller were writing very much in the jump blues/early R&B style, only making the leap to rock & roll on some of the final cuts on this disc. While their lyrical wit was in evidence from the start, tune-wise a good deal of this is on the generic early-'50s R&B side, lacking the melodic invention that would flower in their more rock & roll-oriented work of the late '50s and 1960s. Nonetheless, at the very least it's an instructive listen, with some of the better cuts verging on the risqu‚, like Jimmy Witherspoon's "Real Ugly Woman" and Big Mama Thornton's "I Smell a Rat." Also, there are some real intriguing oddities here, foremost among them Freddie Bell & the Bellboys' 1954 cover of "Hound Dog," which (rather than Thornton's original version) was actually the model for Elvis Presley's mega-hit interpretation; more pop-oriented covers of "Riot in Cell Block #9" (by Vicki Young) and the Coasters' "Down in Mexico" (by Ella Mae Morse), though these versions aren't nearly up to the quality of the more famous renditions; Larry Evans' "What About Me," which with some alterations would become the Coasters' "What About Us"; an Amos Milburn vocal version of the Benny Goodman-Lionel Hampton jazz classic "Flying Home," with new lyrics by Leiber & Stoller; and, weirdest of all, a French-language cover of "Black Denim Trousers and Motorcycle Boots" by none other than Edith Piaf! And for those very few collectors who might have most or all of this stuff already, there are the small added bonuses of previously unreleased alternate takes of Bobby Nunn & the Robins' "That's What the Good Book Says" and the Du Droppers' "Bam Balam." ~ Richie Unterberger