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Jerry Leiber, Writer of Enduring Rock Classics, on What’s My Line?(1958)

in Music, Television | August 23rd, 2011

Jerry Leiber died yesterday at the age of 78. Leiber wasn’t a household name during most of his career. But his compositions are known worldwide. Along with his partner Mike Stoller, Leiber wrote “Hound Dog,”“Jailhouse Rock,” and “Treat Me Nice,” among others songs made famous by Elvis Presley during the 1950s. They also composed “Stand by Me,” a tune sung by Ben E. King in 1960, then covered countless times. (We particularly like this version.)

The clip above takes you back to 1958, when Leiber and Stoller appeared on the long-running television show What’s My Line?. If you’ve watched some of these vintage episodes, you’ll know that the panel usually wore blindfolds lest the identity of the guest be immediately revealed. But there was no risk of that in the case of Leiber & Stoller. And, by the way, it’s worth mentioning that Vincent Price made a special guest appearance on the panel that night.