Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller Lyricist Jerome Leiber (April 25, 1933 – August 22, 2011) and composer Michael Stoller; (born March 13, 1933) were American songwriting and record producing partners. They found success as the writers of such crossover hit songs as "Hound Dog" (1952) and "Kansas City" (1952). Later in the 1950s, particularly through their work with The Coasters, they created a string of ground-breaking hits—including "Young Blood" (1957), "Searchin'" (1957), and "Yakety Yak" (1958)—that used the humorous vernacular of teenagers sung in a style that was openly theatrical rather than personal. They were the first to surround black
My Little Grass Shack in Kealakekua, Hawaii number one hit, and numerous recordings followed. It was used in a number of films during the 1930s, particularly musical shorts. It appeared in television shows through the 1950s and 1960s and even more recently. It remains a standard for ukulele, again a popular instrument. J. P. McEvoy, a popular magazine writer and humorist in the 1920s and 1930s, wrote to the songwriters after hearing "My Little Grass Shack" on the radio. Without benefit of printed lyrics, he asked tongue-in-cheek about some of the Hawaiian place names and phrases in the song: "What does it mean? What are connies and