Tuesday, 6/24/97 Still smokin' THEATER: After more than 40 years of songwriting, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller continue to capture audiences - this time with "Smokey Joe's Cafe," a theatrical compilation of their '50s and '60s hits
By Cheryl Klein Daily Bruin Senior Staff In a way, it's ironic that there is almost no spoken dialogue in "Smokey Joe's Cafe - The Songs of Leiber and Stoller," the musical returning to Los Angeles Tuesday at the Wilshire Theatre. Because after more than four decades in the music business, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller have stories to tell. There was their chance meeting, for example. The year was 1950 and Leiber was a Fairfax High School student fed up with a non-dedicated drummer. When Leiber kept pestering his musical buddy for more commitment, the drummer gave him the phone number of a piano player he knew. "I called up Mike and said, 'Are you Mike Stoller?' He said, 'Yep,'" Leiber recalls. "I said, 'Can you read music?' He said, 'Yep' ... 'Is it true that you might be interested in writing songs?' He said, 'Nope.' So I spent the next 45 minutes on the telephone convincing him to see me." It worked. The two men are in their 60s now, still finishing each other's sentences and bantering casually about their shared past. Though Leiber and Stoller may not be household names to a younger generation, a list of their songs reads like a history of rock 'n' roll. "Poison Ivy," "Spanish Harlem," "Yakety Yak," "Love Potion #9," "Hound Dog" and "On Broadway" are just a few of the chart toppers to appear in the musical, sung by a cast that lends a Broadway flavor and intricate choreography to the numbers while maintaining the original sound. While their style is too varied to truly pinpoint, there is a rich and distinct thread of something - part rhythm and blues, part jazz, with a little pop and cabaret thrown in - that runs throughout. There is a southern aura about their music, in the slow lines saturated with emotion. The regional tone is a tribute to Leiber and Stoller's imagination, however, as Stoller laughs in his New York accent, "I'm from the southern part of Queens." Yet, place has always been important to both songwriters, as they scouted the country for locations that begged to be immortalized in song. Sometimes it was as far away as Mexico. Other times, it was in their own backyard. "I was walking down La Cienega," Leiber remembers. "La Cienega and Beverly," Stoller interjects. "There was a little joint called - literally - Smokey Joe's," Leiber says. "Not 'cafe,' just Smokey Joe's," Stoller clarifies. Leiber continues, "It was a small building and had about six stools at the counter and I looked at it one day and it kind of got to me. The guy behind the counter serving up burgers - it seemed like a cute location." So a song was born, and, eventually, a musical. Now Leiber and Stoller are seated in the Beverly Hills Cafe on La Cienega Boulevard, enjoying an early lunch. The cafe has embraced '50s nostalgia fully, celebrating its own 40 year history in Los Angeles and proclaiming itself the official Smokey Joe's Cafe for the show's duration. Leiber and Stoller's involvement with the production sparks yet another tale from the master storytellers. "About a year or two before, a small regional theater in Seattle had requested us to send them our songs so they could put them in a show," Leiber explains. "And the director said that he'd always wanted to do a musical of our songs. 'The only thing I can't do,' he said, 'is pay you.' I said, 'Take the songs, put on a great show, and invite us.'" Six months later, the director phoned him, announcing the show's opening. Leiber was housebound due to a winter flu, but Stoller went and called Leiber with a disappointing review. Once again, Leiber quotes his friend and colleague liberally. "He said, 'You really didn't miss anything. They can't really sing very well. And they can't dance. The band is mediocre.' But he said, 'I gotta tell you something. Something very strange is going on with the show.' I expected him to say bats flying around," Leiber laughs. Stoller picks up. "There was something wild in the audience response to our songs. I called Tom and Jack Viertel (who would later produce "Smokey Joe") and they said, 'There could be a show with your songs. The audience seems to be ready for it.'" They eliminated the book from the musical and brought in award-winning director Jerry Zaks, who cooperated with musical stager Joey McKneely to re-create the smokey sensuality and carefree attitude that first made rock 'n' roll famous. The result won them seven 1995 Tony nominations and a Grammy Award for best musical. This is not Leiber and Stoller's first experience with musicals though. In 1957, Elvis Presley's music publisher invited the young duo to New York to write songs for the movie "Jailhouse Rock." At first, the two were more interested in sight-seeing than songwriting. "We were having a great time running around seeing all the music ... all the jazz clubs and so on, and the theater," Stoller says. Back in their hotel suite, however, reality confronted them. "The music publisher said, 'Boys, where are the songs for the film?' We said, 'We're gonna do it.' He said, 'You're absolutely right.' He pulled a big sofa against the door and said, 'I'm not leaving without the songs.'" In one afternoon, Leiber and Stoller wrote four songs, including, Stoller says, "one that was more or less inspired by our situation called, 'I Want to be Free.' And we got out." The two have written songs for close to 100 of the most notable artists of the '50s and '60s. And they have almost as many stories. They will tell you how Marlene Dietrich turned down "Is That All There Is?", a song which Peggy Lee later put on the charts for 10 weeks in a row. They will tell you about Elvis Presley's strict by-the-book recording style. ("He'd even sing it in the wrong key if the demo was in the wrong key," Leiber says.) They will tell you about discovering Linda Hopkins in a tiny San Francisco "set-up joint" where patrons brought their own drinks and payed 50 cents to hear her sing. Leiber and Stoller's stories could easily fill up an evening. But sometimes, the songs just speak for themselves. THEATER: "Smokey Joe's Cafe - The Music of Leiber and Stoller" runs June 24 to July 13 at the Wilshire Theatre. Tickets range from $30 to $55. For more information, call (213) 365-3500. Wilshire Theatre (above) Mary Ann Hermansen and Jerry Tellier perform "Teach Me How to Shimmy." (right) Members of "Smokey Joe's Cafe - The Songs of Lieber and Stoller" will perform at the Wilshire Theatre through July 13. Wilshire Theatre Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller Related Link Rock and Roll Hall of Fame site for Mike Stoller and Jerry Leiber