Leiber, the son of Jewish immigrants from Poland, was born in 1933 and grew up on the edge of Baltimore's black ghetto. Stoller, also born in 1933, was raised in Queens, learning the basics of blues and boogie-woogie from black kids at summer camp. The pair met in Los Angeles in 1950 and began writing right away. Leiber served as the sharp-witted lyricist, while the classically trained but jazz- and R&B-loving Stoller wrote the music. In 1951 one of the duo's early songs, "That's What the Good Book Says," was recorded by the Robins (who later became the Coasters) for Lester Sill's Modern Records. In 1953, Leiber and Stoller formed their own label, Spark, which released classics like the Robins' "Riot in Cell Block #9." After a string of similarly gutsy, groundbreaking records, Atlantic Records signed Leiber and Stoller to one of the industry's first independent production deals.
After enjoying a wildly successful run at Atlantic in the late Fifties and early Sixties, Leiber and Stoller made their final and most successful attempt at running their own record label in 1964. Red Bird Records spotlighted the girl-group sound. Their unerring eye for talent brought great young producers and songwriters into the Red Bird fold. The company's very first release - "Chapel of Love," by the Dixie Cups - shot to #1. Of Red Bird's first 30 singles, 11 made the Top Forty - an outstanding percentage in the music industry. Red Bird's commercial success was equaled by the quality of the music, including such girl-group classics as the Shangri-La's "Leader of the Pack." Though the era of such timeless singles faded long ago, Leiber and Stoller have remained active in the music business to which they've contributed so substantially.
