Radio Times: Review by:; David Crawford

Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller could easily stake a claim to the title of “most influential pop music songwriters ever”. They wrote, among many, many others, Hound Dog, Jailhouse Rock and Stand by Me, and are said to have directly influenced Phil Spector and his Wall of Sound production techniques.

They are also credited with bringing, a more polished sound to black music of the 1950s, which could arguably be said to have paved the way for the Motown sound. In the first of a series on acclaimed songwriters, the effervescent Michael Ball looks at the enduring legacy of Lieber and Stoller, and the songs that have been covered by a wide range of artists, all the way from Elvis and John Lennon right up to Lady Gaga.

About this programme

1/6. New series. The actor explores the collaborations of six songwriting duos. He begins with Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, whose 12-bar blues tune called Hound Dog was originally recorded by Big Mama Thornton in 1952, before Elvis Presley made it his own in 1956. The duo went on to pen more hits for Elvis, as well as the likes of Peggy Lee, the Coasters and Ben E King, and their songs have been recorded by Shirley Bassey, Tom Jones, John Lennon and Lady Gaga among others.