The story behind the song
Jailhouse Rock stands as a classic 1957 rock and roll song that was written by the famous songwriting team
Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. The song came out as a single along with Elvis’s third movie, which had the same title. It quickly climbed the charts and became one of the most well-known songs from the early days of rock and roll.
In March 1957, Leiber and Stoller travelled from
Los Angeles to New York to write music for Elvis’s upcoming film (which was originally called Ghost of a Chance). They explored New York City and later in 1957 made the decision to move there. However, during their time touring New York City, a representative from the publishing pool (and according to lore, Elvis’s manager Tom Parker) cornered them in their hotel room. The story continues with the representative actually putting a chair in front of the door and wouldn’t allow them to leave until they finished writing the songs. Because of this pressure, the two musicians quickly wrote four songs—one of them being Jailhouse Rock—all in one sitting that lasted about four to five hours.
AT A GLANCE