Chapter 16: The Record Producer and the LA Sound
In the 1950s, many rock and roll artists played an active role in the recording process by bringing their own arrangements and interpretations of the song to the studio. Musicians such as Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly were often the songwriters behind their tracks and crafted their own instrumental parts. This involvement gave them considerable influence over how their music was recorded and presented, allowing them to control the final sound of their recordings.
By the late 1950s and early 1960s mainstream pop music songwriting became increasingly centralized, with professional teams such as those affiliated with the Brill Building and Aldon Music crafting songs for a broad market. During this period, the creative process was largely managed by artist and repertoire (A&R) representatives. These individuals coordinated all aspects of production, including selecting the material to record, matching the appropriate singer to the song, hiring session musicians to perform on the track, and overseeing studio logistics. Unlike the rock and roll performers of the previous decade, pop artists had little control over the music they recorded. Instead, the A&R staff shaped the sound and structure of the final product in order to prioritize its commercial appeal.
As the decade progressed, the A&R position evolved into the more artistically focused role of the record producer. Unlike A&R staff, who focused on coordination and talent scouting, producers played a central role in shaping the musical and sonic elements of a track. They made decisions about instrumentation, vocal arrangements, microphone placement, sound effects, and mixing. In many cases, the producer’s creative vision had more influence over the final product than the artist’s input. Performers were often expected to follow the producer’s direction rather than contribute their own interpretations. One example is Carole King’s role in the recording of "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow." She played the timpani part herself to achieve a specific sound she had envisioned. During this time, record labels increasingly held producers responsible for the artistic quality of finished recordings. This marked a broader shift toward studio-centered music production.
Jerry Leiber (1933–2011) and Mike Stoller (b.1933) were among the most influential songwriting and production teams in the history of American popular music. Born just weeks apart in 1933—Leiber in Baltimore and Stoller in Belle Harbor, Long Island—the two met in Los Angeles in 1950 when Leiber was still in high school and Stoller was studying music at Los Angeles City College. Leiber, an aspiring lyricist, and Stoller, a classically trained pianist, began collaborating on rhythm and blues songs and quickly discovered a shared creative vision. They began their careers in the 1950s, earning early acclaim for writing rhythm and blues hits such as “Hound Dog,” originally recorded by Big Mama Thornton and later popularized by Elvis Presley, as well as “Jailhouse Rock,” written specifically for Presley. Yet their aspirations extended well beyond songwriting. Leiber and Stoller were among the first songwriters to take on the role of independent producers, seeking to shape not only the composition but also the overall sound and structure of the final recording. They viewed the recording studio as a creative environment where the artistic possibilities of recorded sound could be fully explored. Their production process was famously rigorous and detail-oriented. They were early adopters of techniques such as tape splicing and post-recording speed manipulation. They often recorded dozens of takes—sometimes as many as fifty or sixty—carefully experimenting with arrangements, instrumentation, and vocal delivery before editing the sessions to create a polished final product. As Leiber and Stoller once explained, “We don’t write songs, we write records,” a statement that reflected their holistic approach to music-making and their belief in the record as a work of art in its own right.
A hallmark of Leiber and Stoller’s production style was their use of narrative structure and theatrical flair. Rather than writing conventional pop lyrics, they often crafted songs as short musical vignettes or "playlets," which were compact, self-contained musical dramas that conveyed vivid stories within the span of a three-minute track. These miniature theatrical scenes drew from everyday life, particularly the anxieties, desires, and humor of midcentury American teenagers complete with conflict, dialogue-like lyrics, and punchline endings. Songs like “Riot in Cell Block No. 9,” “Smokey Joe’s Cafe,” and “Searchin’” exemplify this approach, each unfolding like a short stage play with distinct personas, dramatic arcs, and socially observant commentary. Each featured colorful characters, humorous situations, and memorable refrains, all delivered through tightly arranged and polished studio recordings
This approach reached its fullest expression in their work with the Coasters, a vocal group formed after Leiber and Stoller relocated from Los Angeles to New York. The Coasters emerged from the Robins, a Los Angeles-based R&B group, some of whose members followed Leiber and Stoller east. Because of this move from one coast to the other, the newly formed group was named the Coasters. The group’s classic lineup included Carl Gardner, Cornel Gunter, Billy Guy, Will “Dub” Jones, and saxophonist King Curtis, all of whom were African American musicians with strong roots in rhythm and blues traditions.
While many doo-wop groups of the era focused on romantic ballads, the Coasters developed a reputation for their light-hearted, comedic, and story-driven songs. Their music reflected Leiber and Stoller’s affinity for Broadway-style theatrics, often incorporating dialogue-like lyrics, exaggerated characters, and dramatic delivery. In live performances, the group would act out the lyrics, further emphasizing the storytelling aspect of their songs. Bass singer Bobby Nunn’s dry, deadpan interjections and King Curtis’s energetic saxophone solos—referred to as “yakety sax”—became signature features of the Coasters’ sound. Mike Stoller’s classical training also contributed to the sophisticated and often fully orchestrated instrumental arrangements that distinguished their recordings.
The Coasters’ chart-topping hits, including “Down in Mexico” (1956), “Yakety Yak” (1958), “Charlie Brown” (1959), and “Poison Ivy” (1959), exemplified this innovative fusion of rhythm and blues with theatrical storytelling and pop production. These records not only appealed to a broad teenage audience but also helped establish a new standard for the role of the producer in popular music. Leiber and Stoller’s work thus helped redefine the relationship between artist, song, and studio, reinforcing the producer’s creative authority in shaping the sound of a hit record. Their influence extended to the next generation of producers, particularly Phil Spector, who studied their methods as an assistant in New York before developing his own elaborate “Wall of Sound” production technique.