Mike Stoller shares stories from his life and career as part of the Museum’s Poets and Prophets interview series, which highlights legendary songwriters. This live interview was recorded on December 3, 2023.

During the interview with the Museum’s Michael Gray, Stoller shares about his childhood and learning about “boogie woogie” piano, his family’s relocation from New York to California, and beginning his songwriting partnership with Jerry Leiber. He also discusses “Kansas City” and covers ranging from Wilbert Harrison to the Beatles; how “Hound Dog,” written for Big Mama Thornton, became a hit for Elvis Presley and led to additional cuts, including “Jailhouse Rock,” “Love Me,” and “Treat Me Nice”; writing and producing the Coasters hits “Charlie Brown,” “Searchin’,” and “Yakety Yak”; and working with the Drifters and Ben E. King, which led to the creation of “Stand by Me.” Stoller also discusses his and Leiber’s time working with Peggy Lee and current projects, such as Brendan McCreary’s 2023 album Brendan McCreary Sings the Love Songs of Mike Stoller.

One half of the legendary songwriting duo Leiber and Stoller, Stoller wrote and produced some of the most enduring classic songs of the 1950s and ’60s. Formed in 1950, the duo focused on Stoller’s melodies and arrangements that dovetailed with Leiber’s lyrics. In 1952, they wrote “Hound Dog” for blues singer Big Mama Thornton, which became an enormous pop, R&B, and country hit for Elvis Presley in 1956 and made Leiber and Stoller the hottest songwriting team in rock & roll. They also wrote “Jailhouse Rock,” “Loving You,” “King Creole,” “Treat Me Nice,” “(You’re So Square) Baby I Don’t Care,” and other hits for Presley. Atlantic Records signed Leiber and Stoller to one of the music industry’s first independent production deals, leading to the pair writing and producing more than a dozen hit singles for the Coasters, including “Charlie Brown” and “Yakety Yak.” One of the most prolific and creative songwriting teams in popular music, Leiber and Stoller also wrote “Stand by Me” (Ben E. King), “Kansas City” (Wilbert Harrison), “Love Potion #9” (the Clovers), “On Broadway” (the Drifters), “Riot in Cell Block #9” (Wanda Jackson), and “I’m a Woman” (Peggy Lee). “Smokey Joe’s Café,” a 1954 hit written for the Robins, later became the title of a popular Broadway musical based on the Leiber and Stoller songbook. Leiber and Stoller were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1985 and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.

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