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Smokey Joe's Cafe (revue)
''Smokey Joe's Cafe'' is a musical revue showcasing 39 pop standards, including rock and roll and rhythm and blues songs written by songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. The Original Broadway cast recording, ''Smokey Joe's Cafe: The Songs of Leiber and Stoller'', won a Grammy Award in 1997. After a Los Angeles tryout, the revue opened on Broadway in 1995, running for 2,036 performances, making it the longest-running musical revue in Broadway history. It also had a London run in 2021. Synopsis In revue format with no unifying theme, the 39 songs are presented by various members of the cast in various combinations with no dialogue. There are novelty songs ("Charlie Brown"), romantic ballads ("Spanish Harlem"), and infectious melodies ("There Goes My Baby").Stoudt, Charlott"Review: 'Smokey Joe's Cafe' at El Portal Theatre"''L.A. Times'', December 16, 2008 Songs Music and lyrics for all songs are by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, unless otherwise noted. The song "Smokey Joe' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jerry Leiber
Leiber and Stoller were an American songwriting and record production duo, consisting of lyricist Jerome Leiber (; April 25, 1933 – August 22, 2011) and composer Michael Stoller (born March 13, 1933). As well as many R&B and pop hits, they wrote numerous standards for Broadway. Leiber and Stoller found success as the writers of such crossover hit songs as " Hound Dog" (1952) and " Kansas City" (1952). Later in the 1950s, particularly through their work with the Coasters, they created a string of ground-breaking hits—including " Young Blood" (1957), " Searchin'" (1957), "Yakety Yak" (1958), and " Charlie Brown" (1959) — that used the humorous vernacular of teenagers sung in a style that was openly theatrical rather than personal. Leiber and Stoller wrote hits for Elvis Presley, including " Love Me" (1956), " Jailhouse Rock" (1957), " Loving You", " Don't", and " King Creole". They also collaborated with other writers on such songs as " On Broadway", written with Barry ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ruby Baby
"Ruby Baby" is a song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. It was originally recorded by the Drifters. Their version was released as a single by Atlantic Records (catalog No. 45 1089) in 1956. It peaked at No. 10 on the US Hot R&B chart. Dion version Columbia Records released a remake by Dion in 1962 (catalog No. 4 42662), which was a worldwide success. The single reached No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and peaked at No. 5 on the R&B chart. In 1963, Dion filmed a promotional music video for "Ruby Baby" in Paris, France. According to Dion himself in a later interview, the video was created as part of an experimental project to play short music films on jukeboxes equipped with television screens. He stated: Although the concept did not achieve commercial success, the "Ruby Baby" video is notable as one of the earliest known examples of a music video produced solely to promote a song outside the context of film or television appearances. Covers and other version ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cynthia Weil
Cynthia Weil (October 18, 1940 – June 1, 2023) was an American songwriter who wrote many songs together with her husband Barry Mann. Weil and Mann were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1987, and in 2011, they jointly received the Johnny Mercer Award, the highest honor bestowed by that Hall of Fame. She and her husband were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010. Weil and her husband, both based at the Brill Building, were instrumental in shaping the sound of rock and roll in the 1960s, alongside other luminaries such as Carole King, Burt Bacharach, and Neil Diamond. Life and career Weil was born in New York City on October 18, 1940. She grew up on the Upper West Side and the Upper East Side of Manhattan in a Conservative Judaism, Conservative Jewish family. Her father was Morris Weil, a furniture store owner and the son of Lithuanian-Jewish immigrants, and her mother was Dorothy Mendez, who grew up in a Sephardi Jews, Sephardic Jewish family in Broo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barry Mann
Barry Mann (born Barry Imberman; February 9, 1939) is an American songwriter and musician, and was part of a successful songwriting partnership with his wife, Cynthia Weil. He has written or co-written 53 hits in the UK and 98 in the US. Early life Mann was born Barry Imberman on February 9, 1939, to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York City, United States. He was born two days before fellow songwriter Gerry Goffin. Career His first successful song as a writer was "She Say (Oom Dooby Doom)", a Top 20 chart-scoring song composed for the band The Diamonds in 1959. Mann co-wrote the song with Mike Anthony (Michael Logiudice). In 1961, Mann had his greatest success to that point with " I Love How You Love Me", written with Larry Kolber and a No. 5 scoring single for the band The Paris Sisters (seven years later, Bobby Vinton's version would reach the Top 10). The same year, Mann himself reached the Top 40 as a performer with a novelty song co-written with Gerry Goffin, " Who P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
On Broadway (song)
"On Broadway" is a song written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil in collaboration with the team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Composition Weil and Mann were based at Aldon Music, located at 1650 Broadway, New York City, and the song as written by Mann/Weil was originally recorded by the Cookies (although the Crystals' version beat them to release) and featured an upbeat lyric in which the protagonist is still on her way to Broadway and sings "I got to get there soon, or I'll just die". The song was played as a shuffle. When Leiber/Stoller let it be known that the Drifters had booked studio time for the following day and were a song short, Mann/Weil forwarded "On Broadway". Leiber and Stoller liked the song but felt that it was not quite right; the four held an overnight brainstorming session that culminated in the better-known version, now with a rock-oriented groove and with a more bluesy feel, which matched the new lyric in which the singer was now actually on Broadway a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kent Harris
Kent Levaughn Harris (October 15, 1930 – April 9, 2019) was an American songwriter and record producer, who is best known as the writer of novelty tunes such as " Shoppin' for Clothes" (a hit for The Coasters, featured on Broadway’s Musical Smokey Joe’s Cafe) credited to Harris, Leiber and Stoller), and "Cops and Robbers" (a hit for Bo Diddley, The Rolling Stones, George Thorogood, and Wayne Fontana) . He recorded under various pseudonyms including Ducky Drake and Boogaloo and his Gallant Crew. Biography Kent Harris was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and was raised in San Diego, California. Retrieved 11 February 2013 He first recorded in 1954 as Ducky Drake for Trend Records, singing the B-side of his sister Dimples Harris' record "Hey Mr. Jelly." The B-side was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shoppin' For Clothes
"Shoppin' for Clothes" is a novelty R&B song in the talking blues style, recorded by American vocal group the Coasters in 1960. Originally credited to Elmo Glick, a songwriting pseudonym of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who also produced the track, it was partly based on the 1956 song "Clothes Line (Wrap It Up)", written by Kent Harris and recorded by him as Boogaloo and his Gallant Crew. Harris later received a co-writing credit on "Shoppin' for Clothes." Background and recording Jerry Leiber conceived the idea for the recording when Billy Guy of the Coasters told him about a song he had heard on the radio, about a man shopping for clothes. Guy had remembered some of the lyrics, but not the song title or singer. Leiber failed to track down the original recording, and created some new lyrics on the same theme, incorporating the lines that Guy had remembered. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Poison Ivy (song)
"Poison Ivy" is a popular song by American songwriting duo Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. It was originally recorded by the Coasters in 1959. It went to No.1 on the R&B chart, No.7 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, and No.15 in the UK. This was their third top-ten hit of that year following "Charlie Brown" and " Along Came Jones". Composition Lyrics The song discusses a girl known as "Poison Ivy". She is compared to measles, mumps, chickenpox, the common cold, and whooping cough, but is deemed worse, because "Poison Ivy, Lord, will make you itch". According to lyricist Jerry Leiber, "Pure and simple, 'Poison Ivy' is a metaphor for a sexually transmitted disease". The song also makes references to other flowers such as a rose and a daisy. Notable cover versions * Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs – Australia number 1 in 1964. It famously kept the Beatles from the number 1 spot on the Sydney charts at the very moment that the group was making its first and only tour of Australia� ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Don't (Elvis Presley Song)
"Don't" is a song recorded by Elvis Presley and released in 1958. Written and produced by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, it was Presley's eleventh number-one hit in the United States. "Don't" also peaked at number four on the R&B charts. ''Billboard'' ranked the balladHeartbreak Hotel: The Life and Music of Elvis Presley - page 84 as the No. 3 song for 1958. The song was included in the musical revue '' Smokey Joe's Cafe'', as a medley with " Love Me", and cleverly used in the key scene of the 1993 film '' Dave'', right at the moment the President of the United States (played by Kevin Kline), suffers a stroke while making love to a mistress, inside the White House. Personnel *Elvis Presley – lead vocals *Scotty Moore – electric guitar *Bill Black – double bass *D. J. Fontana – drums *Dudley Brooks – piano *The Jordanaires – backing vocals *Thorne Nogar – engineer *Steve Sholes Stephen Henry Sholes (February 12, 1911 – April 22 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Love Me (Leiber/Stoller Song)
"Love Me" is a ballad composed by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and recorded and popularized by Elvis Presley in 1956. Background Conceived as a parody of country and western music, it was initially recorded by R&B duo, Willy & Ruth, in 1954 (Spark 105), garnering a review spotlight in ''Billboard'' on August 14. Willie Headen was the lead singer of a vocal group, the Honey Bears, and Ruth was the wife of another group member. That record was quickly followed the same year with cover versions by Georgia Gibbs, Connie Russell, Billy Eckstine, Kay Brown, the Four Escorts, the Billy Williams Quartet, the Woodside Sisters and the DeMarco Sisters, and in January 1955 by Jimmie Rodgers Snow. Most of these records were well reviewed in the trades, but none was a hit. Elvis Presley recording Elvis Presley recorded the song on September 1, 1956, for his second album, '' Elvis'' (RCA Victor, LPM-1382), issued on October 19. It was also released on the EP, ''Elvis Vol. 1'' (RCA Victor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trouble (Elvis Presley Song)
"Trouble" is a blues song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, originally performed by Elvis Presley in 1958 and covered by a number of artists in later years. Background Elvis Presley performed the song in the 1958 motion picture ''King Creole'', and his recording was included on the soundtrack of the same name. "Trouble", featuring Scotty Moore on guitar, was one of only three songs written by Leiber and Stoller for the feature. Presley's performance in the film alludes to Muddy Waters and Bo Diddley. "If you're looking for trouble," he intones, "then look right in my face. Because I'm evil. My middle name is Misery." Music critic Maury Dean suggests that "Trouble," with Presley's "growling snarl," is one of the earliest proto-punk rock songs. Ten years later, Presley opened his 1968 comeback special with this number. With dark, moody lighting highlighting his sneer, the sequence alluded to Presley's checkered past and "dangerous" image and served to prove that the sin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
