The man-of-words in the song writing team of Lieber & Stoller has died.  Jerry Lieber came-up with the words that the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin and hundreds of others sang.  His partner in song, Mike Stoller, called him '...an idea machine', crediting his collaborator with having the ability to create lyrics that fit every occasion.  The pair met in 1950 and went on to write hit songs that helped make the careers of some of the most influential singers of the last half century.  One of their earlier songs, Hound Dog, a song they composed for Big Mama Throrton, got picked-up by Elvis Presley and turned into a tremendous hit, though Lieber told Rolling Stone magazine three years before his death that he had '...no idea what that rabbit business is about' in the lyrics Presley recorded, but added that the fact it sold over 7 million copies made forgiving the lyrics transgression a lot easier to forgive.
A  musical stage production based on the prolific song writing team of Lieber & Stoller became a big hit too.  Smokey Joe's Cafe had a run of more than 2,000 performances.  Lieber died in Los Angeles of heart failure at the age of 78.
NYTimes   Forward.com