Framed is a song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. It was originally recorded by The Robins in August 1954, in Los Angeles and released on Leiber and Stoller's label Spark Records in October of that year as the B side of Loop De Loop Mambo. Jerry Leiber talks about the song, saying, "Another rap took the form of a police drama. We called it "Framed" and gave it a subtext that, despite the humor, refers to the legal brutality that impacted the black community". [1]
In 1955, the Robins disagreed over whether to remain on the West Coast or sign with Atlantic Records and move to the East Coast. This led to a split within the group. Music producers and songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller took former Robins members Nunn and Carl Gardner, recruited singers Leon Hughes and Billy Guy, and formed the Coasters. The founding Richards brothers and Tyrell continued to record as the Robins until 1961. [2]
The song has been covered by Ritchie Valens (1958), [3] Lowell George and The Factory (with some lyrics changed, 1969), Jerry Reed 'KO-KO JOE' (1970), the Sensational Alex Harvey Band (1972) and Cheech & Chong (with some lyrics changed, 1976).
The Coasters are an American rhythm and blues/rock and roll vocal group who had a string of hits in the late 1950s. With hits including "Searchin'", "Young Blood", "Charlie Brown", "Poison Ivy", and "Yakety Yak", their most memorable songs were written by the songwriting and producing team of Leiber and Stoller. Although the Coasters originated outside of mainstream doo-wop, their records were so frequently imitated that they became an important part of the doo-wop legacy through the 1960s. In 1987, they were the first group inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Leiber and Stoller were an American songwriting and record production duo, consisting of lyricist Jerome Leiber and composer Michael Stoller. As well as many R&B and pop hits, they wrote numerous standards for Broadway.
The Robins were a successful and influential American R&B group of the late 1940s and 1950s, one of the earliest such vocal groups who established the basic pattern for the doo-wop sound. They were founded by Ty Terrell, and twin brothers Billy Richards and Roy Richards. Bobby Nunn soon joined the lineup. They began their career as the Bluebirds but switched to recording as the Robins in May 1949. In 1955, the group disagreed over whether to remain on the West Coast or sign with Atlantic Records and move to the East Coast. This led to a split within the group. Music producers and songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller took former Robins members Nunn and Carl Gardner, recruited singers Leon Hughes and Billy Guy, and formed the Coasters. The founding Richards brothers and Tyrell continued to record as the Robins until 1961.
Spark Records was a record label started by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller around 1954 in Los Angeles, California. Artists released on Spark Records included Willy & Ruth, The Sly Fox, Ervin "Big Boy" Groves, and The Robins. Leiber and Stoller eventually decided that while they wanted to write songs and make records, but did not want to deal with the mechanics of publishing records, so they sold the label to Atlantic Records.
Carl Edward Gardner was an American singer, best known as the foremost member and founder of The Coasters. Known for the 1958 song "Yakety Yak", which spent a week as number one on the Hot 100 pop list, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.
Lester Sill was an American record label executive, best remembered as Phil Spector's partner in Philles Records, and also as the head of both Colpix Records and the later Colgems Records. His three sons are music supervisors in the film and TV businesses: Joel Sill, Greg Sill and Lonnie Sill. His stepson Chuck Kaye is a longtime music publishing executive.
Framed may refer to:
"Searchin'" is a song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller specifically for the Coasters. Atco Records released it as a single in March 1957, which topped the R&B Chart for twelve weeks. It also reached number three on the Billboard singles chart.
"Yakety Yak" is a song written, produced, and arranged by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller for the Coasters and released on Atco Records in 1958, spending seven weeks as #1 on the R&B charts and a week as number one on the Top 100 pop list. This song was one of a string of singles released by the Coasters between 1957 and 1959 that dominated the charts, making them one of the biggest performing acts of the rock and roll era.
Grady Chapman was best known as the American lead singer of doo wop group The Robins.
Ulysses B. "Bobby" Nunn Sr. was an American R&B singer with the musical groups The Robins and original bass vocalist of The Coasters. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama, United States, and died of heart failure in Los Angeles, California, U.S.
"Poison Ivy" is a popular song by American songwriting duo Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. It was originally recorded by the Coasters in 1959. It went to No.1 on the R&B chart, No.7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and No.15 in the UK. This was their third top-ten hit of that year following "Charlie Brown" and "Along Came Jones".
Ritchie Valens is the debut album by American musician Ritchie Valens, released by Del-Fi Records on January 12, 1959. It is his only studio album entirely composed of master tracks recorded at Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles. The album peaked at #23 on the US Billboard album chart.
Framed is the 1972 debut album by The Sensational Alex Harvey Band. The title track is a cover of a Leiber and Stoller song originally recorded by The Robins. Other tracks include a cover of the Willie Dixon song "I Just Want to Make Love to You", originally performed by Muddy Waters. Both of these songs had appeared on Alex Harvey recordings as far back as the 1963 live recording from Hamburg, released in 1964 as "Alex Harvey and His Soul Band". "Hammer Song" and "Midnight Moses" are two Harvey originals that first appeared on his solo LP Roman Wall Blues in 1969. "Hole In Her Stocking" had been recorded by Alex Harvey in 1970 on the Rock Workshop eponymous release of the same year.
"Down in Mexico" is the debut single by the American vocal group the Coasters, released in 1956. The song was written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and appears on the 1957 compilation album The Coasters. It reached No. 8 on the Billboard R&B chart in 1956.
"Little Egypt (Ying-Yang)" is a 1961 rock song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and was recorded by the Coasters for their 1962 album, Coast Along with the Coasters. The song reached #16 on the R&B chart and #23 on The Billboard Hot 100 in 1961. The subject of the song is depicted as a burlesque dancer or exotic dancer, "wearing nothing but a button and a bow."
"One Kiss Led to Another" is a song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and performed by The Coasters. The song reached #11 on the R&B chart and #73 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1956. The song appeared on their 1957 album, The Coasters.
"What About Us" is a song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and performed by The Coasters. In the US, the song reached #17 on the R&B chart and #47 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1959. The song appeared on their 1962 album, Coast Along.
"Shoppin' for Clothes" is a novelty R&B song in the talking blues style, recorded by American vocal group the Coasters in 1960. Originally credited to Elmo Glick, a songwriting pseudonym of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who also produced the track, it was partly based on the 1956 song "Clothes Line ", written by Kent Harris and recorded by him as Boogaloo and his Gallant Crew. Harris later received a co-writing credit on "Shoppin' for Clothes."
"Girls Girls Girls", or "Girls! Girls! Girls!", is a song written and produced by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.