He is a songwriter and music producer born in Long Island, New York, who moved to Los Angeles and studied at the Los Angeles City College and during this time he met his long-time collaborator Jerry Leiber.
The first recording of their work was “Real Ugly Woman”, released by Jimmy Witherspoon and their first hit came in 1952 with Charles Brown singing “Hard Times”. They were the extremely successful throughout the 1950s and 1960s and saw success with hits such as “Searchin'”, “Charlie Brown”, “On Broadway”, “Poison Ivy” and “Yakety Yak”. They saw major success when Elvis Presley hit the charts in 1956 with “Hound Dog” and he would go on to record many more of their songs such as “Jailhouse Rock” and “Don’t”.
Phil Spector studied/trained with the two songwriters and often played guitar on their sessions. He and Jerry Leiber founded Red Bird Records and their artists include the Dixie Cups, the Shangri-Las who both released their hit songs “Chapel of Love” and “Leader of the Pack” on that label.
They sold the record company and continued to write and their later hit records included the Grammy Award winning “Is That All There Is?” for Peggie Lee, “Stuck in the Middle With You” by Stealer’s Wheel and “Pearl’s a Singer” for Elkie Brooks. The 1995 Broadway musical Smokey Joe’s Cafe is based on their work and received seven Tony award nominations and won a Grammy award.
They have been named as an influence to several successful songwriters such as Carole King and Lennon and McCartney, are members of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Patsy Brewer Recordings
Hound Dog (Jerry Lieber/Mike Stoller)
Pilot Master, 8061-37A
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