Departed
Former Member
Posts: 0
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2021 1:00:41 GMT -5
That's pretty hilarious, jk! The video doesn't even remotely match, especially on the vocal. The song, which I'm hearing here for the first time (never saw the movie), is not as wretched as that last single you posted. Not great, but not terrible. Btw, I was able to find my small collection of Kingsmen singles and lo and behold, I do have a copy of Money b/w Bent Scepter. I could have swore I had a copy of Louie Louie, but that one is nowhere to be found in my collection. Either I'm misremembering, or it got lost in moving, who knows? I do have two copies of Jolly Green Giant with two slightly different labels. The one with the song titles in black is in pretty rough shape, but the one with red titles is in decent condition. I also have a back to back reissue of Money b/w Little Latin Lupe Lu on a Scepter/Wand Forever label. Well enough of my personal record collecting gab. Please continue with the Kingsmen story, if there's any left to tell. I am thoroughly enjoying this thread! That's impressive, sockit. I've never known anyone who even had "Louie Louie"! More and more I'm thinking I probably never actually owned it. I do remember seeing a copy of it, most likely at a swap meet with an inflated price tag I had to pass up. After the big surge in popularity due to the movie Animal House (primarily filmed in my hometown) the record became a bit in demand, at least locally.
|
|
|
Post by jk on Feb 21, 2021 4:57:23 GMT -5
More and more I'm thinking I probably never actually owned it. I do remember seeing a copy of it, most likely at a swap meet with an inflated price tag I had to pass up. After the big surge in popularity due to the movie Animal House (primarily filmed in my hometown) the record became a bit in demand, at least locally. Of course -- I'd forgotten "Louie"'s role in Animal House (which I've never seen). Indeed, the whole "frat rock" thing was like manna from heaven for The Kingsmen and they ran with it for as long as they could. My brother bought "Louie Louie" when it was first released in the UK. I more or less dragged him into the record department of the biggest local store and into a booth -- "You have to hear this!" Luckily he liked it and bought it. I believe he still has it. Looking for images of relevant 45s I came across a webpage that says all you really need to know about the history of "Louie Louie". Taken from a book by Dave Marsh (him again), it's linked below, but in case it gets pulled for whatever reason, I reproduce it in full. Dennon didn't produce it and Chase was there but didn't produce it either, but the rest looks pretty good to me (I'll link the examples mentioned in subsequent posts): LOUIE LOUIE, The Kingsmen Produced by Ken Chase and Jerry Dennon; written by Richard Berry Wand 143 - 1963 Billboard: #2Really stupid, really great. Not really dirty, but so what? "Louie Louie" [#11 in Marsh's list] is the most profound and sublime expression of rock and roll's ability to create something from nothing. Built up from a Morse code beat and a "dub duh dub" refrain, with scratchy lead vocal, tacky electric piano, relentless rhythm guitar, and drums that sound like the guy who's playing 'em isn't sure what comes next, "Louie Louie" scales the heights of trash rock to challenge the credentials of all latter-day rockers: If you don't love it, you've missed the point of the whole thing. Naturally, this Parthenon of Pop didn't spring from the head of the Muse. A Muse would probably have slain it on sight, or passed away herself from the shock of something so crude and fine. "Louie Louie" was born in much more prosaic circumstances, as the B side of "You Are My Sunshine," an R&B version of the Jimmie Davis country standard recorded by Richard Berry and the Pharoahs and released on Flip Records in 1956. Berry was a veteran Los Angeles session singer who'd sung lead on the Robins ' "Riot in Cell Block #9," the first big hit for producers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. The Pharoahs were Berry's cohorts of the day, Flip his patron of the moment. "You Are My Sunshine" made only a small buzz but when L.A. deejay Hunter Hancock flipped it to play "Louie," the disc still sold a respectable 130,000 copies. Its notoriety was great enough to earn Berry a rocker's reputation and afterward, he toured with more rugged blues acts like Bobby Bland and Junior Parker for the next couple of years. "I was there to attract white audiences," he said. "Louie Louie" had variegated parentage. Berry had been working with a Latin band, Ricky Rillera and the Rhythm Rockers, every Saturday night in 1955. The Rhythm Rockers were a twelve-piece orchestra that did a tune called "El Loco Cha Cha," a local hit by Rene Touzet. Berry borrowed "El Loco"'s "duh duh duh" opening riff. Around the same time, Chuck Berry, to whom Richard Berry is related only spiritually, had released "Havana Moon," the story of a guy trying to get back to his home in Cuba. So Richard Berry decided to tell the story of a guy yearning to get back to his home and his girl in Jamaica. He must also have been aware of "One for My Baby (And One More for the Road)," a song written as a dialogue with a bartender named Joe, which had been a hit for Lena Horne in 1945. Berry named his bartender Louie, which was rather odd, for neither the protagonist nor his girl were named at all. Where he derived the idea of singing in Jamaican patois, who knows? Harry Belafonte's "Jamaica Farewell" didn't kick off the calypso craze until October 1956 and "Louie Louie" was cut in April. In those days, there was no rock criticism and the coterie of those who suspected that rhythm and blues might have lasting value included almost no one who didn't know Ahmet Ertegun personally. Unsold copies of local hits were destroyed or sold for pennies to be recycled in "bargain bins" for a quarter or a dime. In 1960, aspiring star Rockin' Robin Roberts found a copy of "Louie Louie" in a Seattle bargain bin. Roberts understood the genius of "Louie Louie" and adopted it as.a sort of theme in his various bands. In 1961, he cut it for a local label, Etiquette, backed by the Wailers (who had an instrumental hit with "Tall Cool One" in 1959). History, bitch that she is, has denied Roberts the immortality he deserves for recognizing the song's gutter magnificence, and for being the first to interject the squawk "Let's give it to 'em, right now!" But his version was nonetheless picked up by bands all around the Northwest and "Louie Louie" became a regional standard, in the repertoire of every halfways talented area group. (The Sonics cut a particularly ferocious version as well as a nasty take on Berry's follow-up rewrite of the "Louie" riff, "Have Love, Will Travel.") By 1963, Portland, Oregon's rival bands, Paul Revere and the Raiders and the Kingsmen, both featured "Louie" and their audiences constantly demanded it. On a Friday in May, the Kingsmen finally gave in and did an all - "Louie Louie" set; the song went on for forty-five minutes, becoming the first "Louie" marathon. The band was bored but the crowd went wild. Next day, the Kingsmen went into the studio with local disc jockey Ken Chase and cut their version. On Sunday, the Raiders followed them to cut theirs. Both groups based their records on Roberts's version; they'd probably never so much as heard of the Pharoahs. The Raiders basically just replicated the Seattle rendition, with one brilliant addition at the top, when Revere yowled "Grab your woman! It's 'Louie Louie' time." The Kingsmen's version was quite a bit different, mostly (it turns out) because singer Jack Ely learned the song by listening a couple of times to a jukebox 45, and he got the beat wrong. Thus the Kingsmen play l-2-3, 1-2, l-2-3, 1-2, rather than the more orthodox l-2-3-4, 1-2, 1-2-3-4, 1-2 of all the earlier versions. (In the process they helped invent reggae; just listen to Toots and the Maytals' early seventies "Louie" on their album Funky Kingston.) What Ely remembered right and even improved upon, though, was Roberts's shout just before the guitar break: "Give it to 'em, right now!" He went for it so avidly you'd have thought he'd spotted the jugular of a lifelong enemy, and, at the same time, so crudely that, at that instant, Ely sounds like Donald Duck on helium. And it's that faintly ridiculous air that makes the Kingsmen's record the classic that it is, especially since it's followed by a guitar solo that's just as wacky. Teenage Portland took both of the new records of its favorite song to heart but deejays held the Kingsmen's a little nearer. After a Boston R&B jock also started airing it, the Kingsmen's disc was picked up for national distribution by the New York-based Wand label. (The Raiders eventually wound up with a Columbia Records contract and a sizable regional hit on the West Coast.) Now Ely's vocal was so garbled -- he didn't know the words well, and the mike was suspended too far above his head for him to sing into it properly -- that it approached total unintelligibility. As airplay increased, rumors circulated that the Kingsmen muffled the vocal because the song was really obscene. The details are too unlikely to be worth reciting completely, but as I recall they centered on interpreting "Me think of girl constantly" as "Me fuck that girl all kinds of ways," and "I smell the rose in her hair" as "I stick mah bone in her there," Or something like that. Allegedly, these "true" lyrics could only be heard at some other speed - 33 or 78 or 16. (Don't bother.) The rumors caused a moral panic in Indiana when the governor banned "Louie " from the state's airwaves. Soon, the FCC and FBI were investigating, grilling both Richard Berry and Jack Ely (who'd been bounced from the Kingsmen). The Feds eventually came to a closer-to-correct conclusion: "unintelligible at any speed." At this stage, "Louie Louie" had already passed into legend, becoming the greatest example of rock's function as a secret language for its audience. Whatever Ely sang that Saturday afternoon, what his audience believed it heard was far more important and powerful. The record stayed at the top of the charts for four months, and returned for another brief run in the spring of 1966. In the wake of the rumors, "Louie Louie" became the party band staple of the sixties. More than three hundred versions were recorded, and in 1966 the Sandpipers took it back to the charts with a folk-rock Muzak version with the lyrics translated into Spanish. In 1978, John Belushi's version from the soundtrack of Animal House brought "Louie" into circulation again. At last, in the early and mid-eighties a couple of California radio stations, KALX in Berkeley and KFJC in Los Altos Hills, staged "Louie Louie " marathons lasting several days each, featuring all sorts of oddball renditions by famous musicians and local losers. In the late eighties, a Philadelphia disc jockey, John DelBella, began organizing "Louie" parades with proceeds going to victims of leukemia -- the "Louie" disease. In 1985, the Washington state legislature voted down a resolution to make "Louie" the state song, but in the hearts and minds of true rock and rollers, it has already achieved far greater stature. In versions made by everybody from the Beach Boys to Barry White to the punks down the block, "Louie Louie" is a true national anthem. Nobody has ever come close to topping the Kingsmen's version and nobody ever will. If you don't believe me . . . "Let's give it to 'em. Right now!". From Dave Marsh, The Heart of Rock and Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made (1989) www.lexjansen.com/cgi-bin/marsh_xml.php?fn=11
|
|
Departed
Former Member
Posts: 0
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2021 12:41:20 GMT -5
Very good overview; thanks for reprinting that. Of course there's a lot more to the story (i.e. that entire book that Dave Marsh wrote on the subject) but this sums it up rather well.
The most interesting part to me is the 1-2-3, 1-2, etc timing that is mentioned about halfway through the essay. I hadn't previously put that much thought into it, but that's what made the Kingsmen's version unique (at the time). And to think it was pretty much accidental.
|
|
|
Post by jk on Feb 21, 2021 14:37:08 GMT -5
Very good overview; thanks for reprinting that. Of course there's a lot more to the story (i.e. that entire book that Dave Marsh wrote on the subject) but this sums it up rather well. The most interesting part to me is the 1-2-3, 1-2, etc timing that is mentioned about halfway through the essay. I hadn't previously put that much thought into it, but that's what made the Kingsmen's version unique (at the time). And to think it was pretty much accidental. I'm glad you brought that up, sockit, because I still have to fully wrap my head around that issue. That 1-2-3, 1-2 seems to be on all the versions I know, beginning with the record that started the ball rolling, Rene Touzet's "El Loco Cha Cha", which to my great joy is there on YouTube. So I'm a bit baffled, to tell the truth: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/René_Touzet
|
|
|
Post by jk on Feb 22, 2021 4:56:27 GMT -5
I'm glad you brought that up, sockit, because I still have to fully wrap my head around that issue. That 1-2-3, 1-2 seems to be on all the versions I know, beginning with the record that started the ball rolling, Rene Touzet's "El Loco Cha Cha", which to my great joy is there on YouTube. So I'm a bit baffled, to tell the truth: For my own peace of mind I gave a listen to all four pre-Kingsmen versions. René Touzet's prototype sticks to 1-2-3, 1-2 throughout the "Louie" sections of "El Loco Cha Cha". Of the three early "Louie"s (Berry's original and the Bluenotes' and Wailers' covers), the only one to deviate is that by Rockin' Robin Roberts and the Wailers, with just two rounds of 1-2-3-4, 1-2 marking the end of the solo. So I really don't see how Marsh arrived at his "dropped beat" theory. Talking of Little Bill and the Bluenotes, here's Bill Engelhart's version recorded, it would seem, "in about March 1961" with a band called The Adventurers (see link). So the misleading video image is an earlier picture of The Blue Notes when Rockin' Robin was with them before The Wailers enticed him away... nw-music-archives.blogspot.com/2014/12/little-bill-and-bluenotes-tacomas-teen.html
|
|
|
Post by jk on Feb 23, 2021 6:43:38 GMT -5
"Louie Louie" was inspired by a cha cha cha and began its own life as a calypso. It took The Wailers, with Rockin' Robin Roberts at the helm, to convert it into a pop song. (Roberts is a fascinating figure who died tragically young.) Their rocked-up take (which had been a great success live) was recorded before Bill Engelhart's (see previous post) and left in the can until word came of Bill's version, when it was rush-released and in fact won the day (see the link in that post). And it was Robin who, just before the solo, first uttered (in a "squeak perfecto" voice, as Marsh puts it) the immortal words, "Now let's give it to 'em, right now!" en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockin%27_Robin_Roberts
|
|
|
Post by jk on Feb 24, 2021 16:08:42 GMT -5
Back in the mid sixties I used to listen a lot to Radio London ("Big L"). One of my heroes there was a raucous American deejay called Emperor Rosko. I actually wrote him a letter saying how much I liked his show and that my favourite song was "Louie Louie". And lo and behold he played it for me, only it was the 1964 version by Otis Redding (probably the first he could find). I wasn't complaining, of course, as it's a pretty cool version, although I never did fill in my form to join the Rosko Rangers. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pain_in_My_Heart
|
|
Departed
Former Member
Posts: 0
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2021 23:26:01 GMT -5
I'm glad you brought that up, sockit, because I still have to fully wrap my head around that issue. That 1-2-3, 1-2 seems to be on all the versions I know, beginning with the record that started the ball rolling, Rene Touzet's "El Loco Cha Cha", which to my great joy is there on YouTube. So I'm a bit baffled, to tell the truth: For my own peace of mind I gave a listen to all four pre-Kingsmen versions. René Touzet's prototype sticks to 1-2-3, 1-2 throughout the "Louie" sections of "El Loco Cha Cha". Of the three early "Louie"s (Berry's original and the Bluenotes' and Wailers' covers), the only one to deviate is that by Rockin' Robin Roberts and the Wailers, with just two rounds of 1-2-3-4, 1-2 marking the end of the solo. So I really don't see how Marsh arrived at his "dropped beat" theory. Oops! Apparently we both got taken in by a bit of misinformation. That rhythm is worth examining though. Afterall, our Boys used it in the intro to that excellent outtake All Dressed Up for School.
|
|
Departed
Former Member
Posts: 0
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2021 23:36:36 GMT -5
Back in the mid sixties I used to listen a lot to Radio London ("Big L"). One of my heroes there was a raucous American deejay called Emperor Rosko. I actually wrote him a letter saying how much I liked his show and that my favourite song was "Louie Louie". And lo and behold he played it for me, only it was the 1964 version by Otis Redding (probably the first he could find). I wasn't complaining, of course, as it's a pretty cool version, although I never did fill in my form to join the Rosko Rangers. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pain_in_My_Heart Oh man, I've never heard that version before! Thanks for sharing that. Otis was amazing, no matter what he sang!
|
|
|
Post by jk on Feb 25, 2021 6:23:53 GMT -5
For my own peace of mind I gave a listen to all four pre-Kingsmen versions. René Touzet's prototype sticks to 1-2-3, 1-2 throughout the "Louie" sections of "El Loco Cha Cha". Of the three early "Louie"s (Berry's original and the Bluenotes' and Wailers' covers), the only one to deviate is that by Rockin' Robin Roberts and the Wailers, with just two rounds of 1-2-3-4, 1-2 marking the end of the solo. So I really don't see how Marsh arrived at his "dropped beat" theory. Oops! Apparently we both got taken in by a bit of misinformation. That rhythm is worth examining though. Afterall, our Boys used it in the intro to that excellent outtake All Dressed Up for School.Yes indeed. I'd forgotten about that! Zappa parodies it twice on Absolutely Free (briefly at the start and in "Son Of Suzy Creamcheese") and The Royal Guardsmen build up to a lone 1-2-3, 1-2 (here after 1:45) in their 1966 US #2 "Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron":
|
|
|
Post by jk on Feb 27, 2021 10:08:28 GMT -5
Jack Ely made a wonderfully cheesy video of his song "Highway Robbery". I can only find it on the flip of a 45 released in 2012 but the vid has '80s written all over it: Jack, who was a Christian Scientist later in life, died in 2015. I'll check out the other "Louie"-era Kingsmen in subsequent posts. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Ely
|
|
|
Post by jk on Mar 3, 2021 15:31:11 GMT -5
What happened to the original Kingsmen in later years? Jack Ely became a Christian Scientist and in 2012 recorded a Christian rock album, Love Is All Around You Now. As mentioned last time, he died in 2015. No one knows for sure what disease he was suffering from -- his faith seems to have kept him from revealing it, even to his family. As for drummer turned singer/saxophonist Lynn Easton, after he left The Kingsmen, according to Terry Currier, "he went into the advertising business and also hosted a TV show in Portland, much like American Bandstand, on KGW TV. Lynn was a sailor and loved his sail boats, even living on them several times in his life. He also had the knack for building things and working with wood. In recent years, he would make clocks out of drums. I went over to his house a few times and commissioned him to make me a couple of clocks, one that hangs in Music Millennium and one that I gave to my wife as a gift." [ Source] I also recall reading that he used to travel the country giving talks on the history of "Louie Louie". Lynn Easton died last year. Keyboardist Don Gallucci, who was 15 when The Kingsmen recorded "Louie", has had an illustrious and varied musical career since then ( here). Guitarist/singer Mike Mitchell has been with The Kingsmen since 1959, with goodness knows how many changes of personnel since then (yes, they still exist!!). After a lot of searching on my part, it would seem "Louie" bassist Bob Nordby has vanished into the mists of time... The short-lived classic lineup that recorded "Louie Louie". Left to right: Don Gallucci, Jack Ely, Lynn Easton, Mike Mitchell and Bob Nordby.
|
|
Departed
Former Member
Posts: 0
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 3, 2021 18:13:00 GMT -5
Well, I guess that pretty much brings the curtain down on the Kingsmen Story. I have only one minor footnote to add.
Back in the late 70s (in my teeniebopper years) I had a few of those comedy KTEL albums, and one of them (I think it was called Dumb Ditties) gave me my first taste of Jolly Green Giant. That record is longgggg gone from my possession, but from my fading memory I'm pretty sure that cut was a rerecord by the Kingsmen. I just remember it had a modern sound (for a 60s tune), little to no reverb and may have even been in stereo.
|
|
|
Post by jk on Mar 4, 2021 3:56:20 GMT -5
Well, I guess that pretty much brings the curtain down on the Kingsmen Story. I have only one minor footnote to add. Back in the late 70s (in my teeniebopper years) I had a few of those comedy KTEL albums, and one of them (I think it was called Dumb Ditties) gave me my first taste of Jolly Green Giant. That record is longgggg gone from my possession, but from my fading memory I'm pretty sure that cut was a rerecord by the Kingsmen. I just remember it had a modern sound (for a 60s tune), little to no reverb and may have even been in stereo. I could find the album...
...but not a version I could hear * other than the one on the 45, unless they were very precise in copying it! The opening "In" and the glitch in Easton's first "jolly" (plus the reverb) would seem to bear this out. One YT playlist of Dumb Ditties (1977?) even conceded that they had to use what was available online to compile it. Who knows, I may return to this topic if I think of anything worth posting about the band or the song. Maybe other versions -- there are literally hundreds! * I can't hear the Spotify version (I'm not a member). Maybe you can, sockit.
|
|
|
Post by jk on Mar 8, 2021 5:44:38 GMT -5
This may well be the only available footage of Jack Ely singing and playing "Louie Louie" with a band (his lead vocal contribution starts at 9:25). Here's the entire YouTube blurb (slightly tweaked by me), with thanks to uploader eplouie:
"Richard Berry, the author of the song LOUIE LOUIE, performs with Jack Ely, the original lead singer of The Kingsmen, backed by the Lady Bo Trio. This is the very first time they'd ever met, and this was their only musical performance together, live on the 'Maximum LOUIE LOUIE' marathon that took place at KFJC Radio in Los Altos Hills, CA. This happened on the second day of the event - Saturday, August 20, 1983 at 3PM. The full performance, assisted by various members of the audience, lasted approximately 50 minutes. The entire marathon went on for 63 hours with over 800 unique versions of the song, and this was version #315.
"This event was the starting point for the LOUIE LOUIE documentary project still [in 2015] being produced by Eric Predoehl, and all rights are reserved."
|
|
|
Post by jk on Mar 8, 2021 6:39:41 GMT -5
This may well be the only available footage of Jack Ely singing and playing "Louie Louie" with a band (his lead vocal contribution starts at 9:25). Not so. I've discovered four other live versions with a band and there may be more (go to YouTube and type <jack ely louie louie>). But this beats them all hands down -- Jack sings "Louie Louie" to his horse, including the guitar solo and the iconic botched start to the third verse: Rest in peace, Jack.
|
|
|
Post by jk on Mar 11, 2021 8:40:20 GMT -5
Well we can't leave this topic without one video of a marching band playing "Louie Louie". Hilariously, it seems some schools over the years have forbidden their marching bands from playing it because of the raunchy lyrics. What impeccable logic!! Only in America -- but only America could have given birth to this unruly child in the first place.
Here are the Bedizzole Marching Band doing "Louie" at the Festival International de Musique in Cournonterral (France) in 2013. One of the drummers drops a stick (just after the one-minute mark) -- a sort of unintentional nod to Lynn Easton who, in Dave Marsh's description of the recording session, clacked his sticks together at the end of the solo and uttered the F-word...
|
|
Departed
Former Member
Posts: 0
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 12, 2021 20:58:22 GMT -5
Ok, jk, now that we're on the subject of marching bands, I must relate a personal story regarding the movie Animal House, which featured Louie Louie prominently as we discussed earlier, and which was filmed in part in my hometown of Eugene, Oregon.
My sister appeared briefly in that movie in the marching band sequence (filmed not in Eugene, but Cottage Grove). The band that is out front and runs into a wall in a dead end alley was the Churchill High School Marching Band. My sister was playing the Glockenspiel. I would attend that high school (and marching band, playing trombone) 3 years later.
Not trying to highjack the thread, but I thought I'd throw that in there!
|
|
|
Post by jk on Mar 13, 2021 8:52:12 GMT -5
Ok, jk, now that we're on the subject of marching bands, I must relate a personal story regarding the movie Animal House, which featured Louie Louie prominently as we discussed earlier, and which was filmed in part in my hometown of Eugene, Oregon. My sister appeared briefly in that movie in the marching band sequence (filmed not in Eugene, but Cottage Grove). The band that is out front and runs into a wall in a dead end alley was the Churchill High School Marching Band. My sister was playing the Glockenspiel. I would attend that high school (and marching band, playing trombone) 3 years later. Not trying to highjack the thread, but I thought I'd throw that in there! My threads are just asking to be hijacked, otherwise it's just my blather. So feel free! This must be the sequence. Thanks for the anecdote!
|
|