Marshall Leib (January 26, 1939 – March 15, 2002) was an American singer and one of the original members of

The Teddy Bears The Teddy Bears were an American pop music group. They were record producer Phil Spector's first vocal group. History Following graduation from Fairfax High School in Los Angeles, California, Phil Spector became obsessed with "To Know Him Is t ...

. Leib and his high school friend, producer

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (born Harvey Philip Spector; December 26, 1939January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter, best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s, followed decades later by ...

, formed the trio. Leib performed background

harmony vocal In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However, ...

s on the Teddy Bears hit "

To Know Him Is to Love Him "To Know Him Is to Love Him" is a song written by Phil Spector, inspired by words on his father's tombstone, "To Know Him Was to Love Him." It was first recorded by the only vocal group of which he was a member, the Teddy Bears. Their recording ...

", which became the number one song in the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

It had since been covered by numerous artists such as

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...

and

Amy Winehouse Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) was an English singer and songwriter. She was known for her deep, expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres, including soul, rhythm and blues and jazz. A membe ...

Biography

Leib was involved with the movie "

Ode to Billie Joe "Ode to Billie Joe" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bobbie Gentry released by Capitol Records in July 1967, and later used as the title-track of her debut album. Five weeks after its release, the song topped '' Billboard's'' Pop sin ...

" which featured the hit "

Ode To Billie Joe "Ode to Billie Joe" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bobbie Gentry released by Capitol Records in July 1967, and later used as the title-track of her debut album. Five weeks after its release, the song topped '' Billboard's'' Pop sin ...

" by

Bobbie Gentry Bobbie Gentry (born Roberta Lee Streeter; July 27, 1942) is a retired American singer-songwriter, who was one of the first female artists in America to compose and produce her own material. Gentry rose to international fame in 1967 with her Sou ...

. He also worked with Herb Alpert, Jerry Moss, The We Five, Chris Montez and Ralph Williams/The Marauders during their early years at

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

. In 1966 Leib was hired by Randy Wood to produce the album "Songs of Protest and Anti-Protest" by "Chris Lucey" (who was in actuality Bobby Jameson) for Surrey Records. In 1967 Leib produced a twelve song L.P. for a group called The Brownstones that featured top session drummer Sandy Konikoff along with vocalist Aaron Brownstone, guitarist

Dick Douglas Richard Giles Douglas (4 January 1932 – 3 May 2014) was a Scottish politician who was a Member of Parliament (MP) elected as a Labour Co-operative candidate, but who subsequently joined the Scottish National Party (SNP). Political career ...

and bassist Tom Hankins. He was attempting to create a "supergroup", but the vocalist was killed in a motorcycle accident and Konikoff went on to play with

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mu ...

and others. Collectors are looking for a copy of this Leib-produced missing LP, but it is believed that ABC Records destroyed all copies. Leib later became involved with the L.A. Street Scene, a yearly festival held in the streets of downtown L.A. that was the precursor to the modern super festival. Leib collected Ferrari automobiles and belonged to a Ferrari club. He was also a classic (antique) automobile aficionado. In the 1990s, Leib produced an album of female vocal

Christmas songs Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols or songs, may employ lyrics whose subject m ...

. Leib married, divorced, and later suffered a fatal

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

. He is survived by two biological sons (Jason Leib and Lucas Leib) and one adopted son, Jason Lawrence.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Leib, Marshall American male pop singers 1939 births 2002 deaths 20th-century American singers 20th-century American male singers The Teddy Bears members The Hollywood Argyles members