TIN PAN ALLEY: Jailhouse Rock

"Mike did this spontaneous roll-out," explained the short, intense young man, "and there was something nasty in the music. I just blurted out, 'You ain't nuthin' but a hound dog,' and there it was." Hound Dog, as bawled by Elvis Presley, sold 5,000,000 records, enthroned Tunesmiths Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller as kings of the state of annoyance called rock 'n' roll. In all, their raucous inspirations have since sold 27 million records, and last week their latest, Charlie Brown, made its first million.

The youthful (both are 25) writing pals are now...