Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Jerry Leiber & Nick Ashford

Songwriter Jerry Leiber has died. He wrote together with Mike Stoller hits as "Hound Dog" and "Jailhouse Rock" for Elvis Presley. 

Although there unpleasantly surprised, much too quickly Sung Hound Dog by The King, the duo composed about two dozen songs for Elvis. Jerry Leiber wrote Hound Dog  in 1952 together with Mike Stoller for Big Mama Thornton. It marked the first success for the song written by Leiber & Stoller, that especially in the 1950s and early 1960s an important mark on pop music.

They wrote hits including "Love Me", "Loving You", "Don't", "Jailhouse Rock" and "King Creole",
Leiber died of a cardiac arrest and was 78 years old

Also Nick Ashford is deceased; He lost yesterday at the age of 70 in the final battle with throat cancer. Like Leiber Ashford was best known as half of a duo: together with his wife Valerie Simpson, he was responsible for hits like "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", "I'm Every Woman" and "Reach Out and Touch". The former song was recorded by, among others, Marvin Gaye and Diana Ross. "I'm Every Woman" was sung by Chaka Khan and later by Whitney Houston.
Also under their own names the duo had a world hit in 1984 with ' Solid ':

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