Customer Reviews

Sings Leiber & Stoller

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This CD compiles the songs of Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller that were recorded by Elvis Presley. The first one of their songs that Elvis recorded was "Hound Dog", which had been an R&B hit for Big Mama Thornton a few years earlier. After that song became a smash hit for Elvis, Lieber & Stoller were asked if they had any other songs that might be suitable for Elvis. They submitted "Love Me", which had previously been a flop song, but Elvis turned it into a hit. Soon after that, Leiber & Stoller started writing songs specifically for Elvis. They wrote songs for his early movies Loving You, Jailhouse Rock and King Creole, along with a couple of non-soundtrack songs. Most of these songs were excellent, but Leiber & Stoller soon had a falling out with Elvis. It wasn't Elvis himself that they were upset with, but rather his manager Col. Parker, who wanted them to give Elvis a percentage of their songwriting royalties. They didn't like that at all, so they vowed never to write any more songs for Elvis. They stuck to that vow for the most part, with a few exceptions, including the time they helped out Doc Pomus with "She's Not You" (which is not included here because of Doc's involvement). So, most of the Leiber & Stoller songs Elvis recorded after 1960 were cover versions of songs previously recorded by other performers, from "Girls Girls Girls" up to "Saved" (which was part of the "Gospel Medley" in The '68 Comeback Special and is somewhat awkwardly edited to leave out the other songs in the medley). One of the main attractions of the CD when it came out was the first release of the Elvis/Ann-Margret duet "You're the Boss", although it's now available elsewhere. Elvis recorded two Leiber & Stoller songs in June of 1973, "If You Don't Come Back" and "Three Corn Patches", which are not included on this CD. It's true that they aren't particularly good songs, but they still should have been included for completeness sake. But this is still a very good CD of Elvis singing songs by a great songwriting team.

putting together all of the Elvis songs penned by Leiber & Stoller was a stroke of genius. This CD showcases both the talent of Elvis as well as the great songwriting duo. Although a couple of the songs are well known (standard) Elvis tunes, there are some other gems here and the CD works on all levels, you will enjoy it for sure.

This relatively unknown album, even among long-time fans, is one of Elvis's best single disc, non-"greatest hits" collections put together by RCA/BMG (actually RCA UK). Unlike many other questionable rehashes put out by his label (does anyone remember Elvis Sings for Children and Grownups Too!), this collection contains great songs based on an artistically sound and well-deserving concept: Elvis performing songs written by a single composer, or in this case, songwriting team. Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller ("We didn't write songs, we wrote records") wrote some of Elvis's biggest hits, many appearing in his early (and best) films: Loving You, Jailhouse Rock, and King Creole. This collection, put out on CD in 1991 in digitally remastered form, has great liner notes by Leiber & Stoller, as well as a great cover photo of Elvis and the songwriters perusing the sheet music to "Jailhouse Rock." It makes a great companion piece to the even less-well-known 'Elvis Sings Mort Shuman & Doc Pomus' (also known as 'Elvis Chante'), the other great songwriting team that Elvis frequently turned to for hits.

That is the comment I get whenever I have this CD going. I bought the first copy in a bargain-bin years ago, and today re-ordered it (at a much higher price). I'm pained to see it no longer in print.

Click on "Saved" in the music splices here at Amazon, and get the gist of this CD. I am not normally an Elvis fan, but thought to round-out my music collection. It has since become a "most requested" at get-togethers. It's just fun, silly, and Elvis can be heard laughing at himself during some of these terrific Leiber and Stoller songs.

Print it again, music industry, it's a goodie...maybe a greatie!

The British arm of RCA made a habit of outdoing the home office in compiling Elvis Presley recordings, and this one was no exception. Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, the standout rock & roll songwriting team of the late '50s and early '60s, began working with Presley after his cover of their "Hound Dog," originally written for Big Mama Thornton, became a big hit. The duo's primary assignments were the songs for the films Jailhouse Rock and King Creole, though their efforts also turned up in other Presley vehicles. There were enough of them to fill an LP, and RCA U.K. got an unusually cohesive Presley album by pulling together material recorded between 1956 and 1968. It then took the American company 11 years to release the same collection domestically. (Originally released on LP by RCA in the U.K. in June 1980 as RCA-International 5031, Elvis Presley Sings Leiber & Stoller finally was released in the U.S. on CD in June 1991 as RCA 3026 with the addition of one bonus track, a previously unreleased duet with Ann-Margret on "You're the Boss.") - William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide

The British arm of RCA made a habit of outdoing the home office in compiling Elvis Presley recordings, and this one was no exception. Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, the standout rock & roll songwriting team of the late '50s and early '60s, began working with Presley after his cover of their "Hound Dog," originally written for Big Mama Thornton, became a big hit. The duo's primary assignments were the songs for the films Jailhouse Rock and King Creole, though their efforts also turned up in other Presley vehicles. There were enough of them to fill an LP, and RCA U.K. got an unusually cohesive Presley album by pulling together material recorded between 1956 and 1968. It then took the American company 11 years to release the same collection domestically. (Originally released on LP by RCA in the U.K. in June 1980 as RCA-International 5031, Elvis Presley Sings Leiber & Stoller finally was released in the U.S. on CD in June 1991 as RCA 3026 with the addition of one bonus track, a previously unreleased duet with Ann-Margret on "You're the Boss.") - William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide