Soundtracked

Jerry Leiber, right (1933-2011)


Nick Ashford (1942-2011)

I'm grateful that these two great creatures enriched this life on earth with irrepressible pop music. So I will mark their passing and acknowledge that time takes away everything. Everything but the music.

Jerry Leiber composed, with Mike Stoller, hundreds of hit songs, including "Kansas City" (1959), "Hound Dog" (1956), "Jailhouse Rock" (1957), "Yakety Yak" (1958), "Stand by Me" (1961), "Love Potion #9" (1959) and Peggy Lee's "Is That All There Is?" (1969). In 1957 alone, the duo had 11 hits on Billboard's pop chart.

"The First Wordsmith of Rock 'n' Roll," by Marc Myers, The Wall Street Journal, August 24, 2011

Nick Ashford, with Valerie Simpson, his songwriting partner and later wife, wrote some of Motown’s biggest hits, including “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,“ “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing,” “Your Precious Love,” “You’re All I Need to Get By,” "Solid" and “Reach Out and Touch Somebody’s Hand.”

"Nick Ashford, of Motown Writing Duo, Dies at 70," by Ben Sisario, The New York Times, August 22, 2011