User:FacesSmall/Louie Louie (song)

"Louie Louie" is a rhythm and blues song written and composed by American musician Richard Berry in 1955. It is best known for the 1963 hit version by the Kingsmen and has become a standard in pop and rock. The song is based on the tune "El Loco Cha Cha" popularized by bandleader René Touzet and is an example of Latin influence on American popular music.

"Louie Louie" tells, in simple verse–chorus form, the first-person story of a Jamaican sailor returning to the island to see his lover.

The Kingsmen's recording was the subject of an FBI investigation about the supposed, but nonexistent, obscenity of the lyrics, an investigation that ended without prosecution.^[2]The nearly unintelligible (and innocuous) lyrics were widely misinterpreted, and the song was banned by radio stations as well as being investigated by the FBI.

"Louie Louie" has been recognized by organizations and publications worldwide for its influence on the history of rock and roll. A partial list (see "Recognition and rankings" table below) includes the

Dave Marsh, in his book The History and Mythology of the World's Most Famous Rock 'n' Roll Song wrote, "It is the best of songs, it is the worst of songs"^[3] and rock historian Peter Blecha notes, "Far from shuffling off to a quiet retirement, evidence indicates that 'Louie Louie' may actually prove to be immortal."^[4]

Original version by Richard Berry

Richard Berry was inspired to write the song in 1955 after listening to an R&B interpretation of "El Loco Cha Cha" performed by the Latin R&B group Ricky Rillera and the Rhythm Rockers.^[5] The tune was written originally as "Amarren Al Loco" ("Tie Up the Madman") by Cuban bandleader Rosendo Ruiz Jr., also known as Rosendo Ruiz Quevedo, but became best known in the "El Loco Cha Cha" arrangement by René Touzet which included a rhythmic ten-note "1-2-3 1–2 1-2-3 1–2" pattern.^[6]

Touzet performed the tune regularly in Los Angeles clubs in the 1950s. In Berry's mind, the words "Louie Louie" superimposed themselves over the repeating

While the title of the song is often rendered with a comma ("Louie, Louie"), in 1988, Berry told Esquire magazine that the correct title of the song was "Louie Louie" with no comma.^[10]

Although similar to the original, the version on

On April 6, 1963,[14]^[15] the Kingsmen, a rock and roll group from Portland, Oregon, chose "Louie Louie" for their second recording, their first having been "Peter Gunn Rock". The Kingsmen recorded the song at Northwestern, Inc., Motion Pictures and Recording in Portland. The session cost $50, and the band split the cost.^[16][17]

The session was produced by Ken Chase. Chase was a local radio personality on the AM rock station 91

A significant error on the Kingsmen version occurs just after the lead guitar break. As the group was going by the Wailers version, which has a brief restatement of the riff two times over before the lead vocalist comes back in, it would be expected that Ely would do the same. Ely, however, overshot his mark, coming in too soon, before the restatement of the riff. He realized his mistake and stopped the verse short, but the band did not realize that he had done so. As a quick fix, drummer Lynn Easton covered the pause with a drum fill, but before the verse ended, the rest of the band went into the chorus at the point where they expected it to be. This error is now so embedded in the consciousness of some groups that they deliberately duplicate it when performing the song.

The Kingsmen transformed Berry's easy-going ballad into a raucous romp, complete with a twangy guitar, occasional background chatter, and nearly unintelligible lyrics by Ely.^[19] Ely had to stand on tiptoe to sing into a boom mike, and his braces further impeded his singing. A guitar break is triggered by the shout, "Okay, let's give it to 'em right now!", which first appeared in the Wailers version,^[20] as did the entire guitar break (although, in the Wailers version, a few notes differ, and the entire band played the break). Critic Dave Marsh suggests it is this moment that gives the recording greatness: "[Ely] went for it so avidly you'd have thought he'd spotted the jugular of a lifelong enemy, 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."^[21] Marsh ranks the song as number eleven out of the 1001 greatest singles ever made.

First released in May 1963, the single was initially issued by the small Jerden label, before being picked up by the larger Wand Records and released by them in October 1963. It entered the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for December 7, and peaked at number two the following week, a spot which it held for six non-consecutive weeks; it would remain in the top 10 through December and January before dropping off in early February.^[22] In total, the Kingsmen's version spent 16 weeks on the Hot 100. (Singles by the Singing Nun, then Bobby Vinton, monopolized the top slot for eight weeks.) "Louie Louie" did reach number one on the Cashbox pop chart for two weeks, as well as number one on the Cashbox R&B chart.^[23] It was the last #1 on Cashbox before Beatlemania hit the United States with "I Want to Hold Your Hand".^[24] The version quickly became a standard at teen parties in the U.S. during the 1960s, even reappearing on the charts in 1966.

Another factor in the success of the record may have been the rumor that the lyrics were intentionally slurred by the Kingsmen—to cover up the alleged fact that the lyrics were laced with profanity, graphically depicting sex between the sailor and his lady. Crumpled pieces of paper professing to be "the real lyrics" to "Louie Louie" circulated among teens. The song was banned on many radio stations and in many places in the United States, including Indiana, where it was personally prohibited by Governor Matthew Welsh.^{[25][26][27][28]}

These actions were taken despite the small matter that practically no one could distinguish the actual lyrics. Denials of chicanery by Kingsmen and Ely did not stop the controversy. The FBI started a 31-month investigation into the matter and concluded they were "unable to interpret any of the wording in the record."^[2] Ironically, however, drummer Lynn Easton later admitted that he yelled "Fuck" after fumbling a drum fill at 0:54 on the record.^[16][19][29]

Sales of the Kingsmen record were so low (reportedly 600) that the group considered disbanding. Things changed when Boston's biggest DJ, Arnie Ginsburg, was given the record by a pitchman. Amused by its slapdash sound, he played it on his program as "The Worst Record of the Week". Despite the slam, listener response was swift and positive.

By the end of October, it was listed in Billboard as a regional breakout and a "bubbling under" entry for the national chart. Meanwhile, the Raiders version, with far stronger promotion, was becoming a hit in California and was also listed as "bubbling under" one week after the Kingsmen debuted on the chart. For a few weeks, the two singles appeared destined to battle each other, but demand for the Kingsmen single acquired momentum and, by the end of 1963, Columbia Records had stopped promoting the Raiders version, as ordered by Mitch Miller.

By the time the Kingsmen version had achieved national popularity, the band had split. Two rival editions—one featuring lead singer Jack Ely, the other with Lynn Easton who held the rights to the band's name—were competing for live audiences across the country. A settlement was reached later in 1964 giving Easton the right to the Kingsmen name but requiring all future pressings of the original version of "Louie Louie" to display "Lead vocal by Jack Ely" on the label.

On November 9, 1998, after a protracted lawsuit that lasted five years and cost $1.3 million, the Kingsmen were awarded ownership of all their recordings released on Wand Records from Gusto Records, including "Louie Louie". They had not been paid royalties on the songs since the 1960s.^[30][31]

When Jack Ely died on April 28, 2015, his son reported that "my father would say, 'We were initially just going to record the song as an instrumental, and at the last minute I decided I'd sing it.'" When it came time to do that, however, Ely discovered the sound engineer had raised the studio's only microphone several feet above his head. Then he placed Ely in the middle of his fellow musicians, all in an effort to create a better "live feel" for the recording. The result, Ely would say over the years, was that he had to stand on his toes, lean his head back and shout as loudly as he could just to be heard over the drums and guitars.^[32]

The Prelude

In early 1964, Swedish

"Louie Louie" was our first recorded song, and a hectic one in that. We went into the studio at about 8 AM in the morning, and came out at around 1 PM. I thought to myself, "Shit, what happened to the time." Because it is quite fun being in the studio, mocking around and such. However, "Louie Louie" was an exception. The power in the building kept on going out and everyone was frustraded, that's why the final result became quite rubbish.

— Anton Wihlborg, The Prelude 2015 reissue sleeve notes

The master tapes of "Louie Louie" was handed to Blomberg, who wanted to give them to the group. However, most members declined this offer and tapes were instead given to Åke Gerhard, founder of Olga Records in an action Friberg has considered among the group's worst choices. Gerhard coupled the song together with "Baby, Please Don't Go" as a single which was an unauthorized release on June 16, 1964, two weeks prior to the release of their designated debut single "I Must Be In Love" backed with "Hold My Hand".

Ironically however, the release went unnoticed by the band for a week, until they heard it in a tour van on their way to northern Sweden. This strained their relation with Gerhard and Olga, which they had signed a one-year contract with in April. Bitter about the release, the group remained unsure whether to extend the contract or not. Their perception changed in February of 1965, when Gerhard released yet another unauthorized track by them as a single, "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere", after which they broke up any contact with Gerhard for good.

The single was released at a time where the Prelude where still in a position of relative obscurity and as a result it failed to make an impact upon release. It was one among thirty songs tested for Tio I Topp, a Swedish chart radio show, where it failed to crack the top twenty, peaking at only 26 and being voted out the next week. It was slightly more successful in Denmark, where it reached number 20 on the singles chart, since the Prelude were on a Scandinavian tour once the single was released.

An even earlier demo of the song, recorded an hour earlier was unveiled in June 2014 by Friberg following the 50-year anniversary of the release. These two songs were combined with a demo version of "Baby, Please Don't Go" (along with the respective original version), and released as a

Chart positions

Other covers

Paul Revere & the Raiders

Robert Lindahl, president and chief engineer of NWI and sound engineer on both the Kingsmen and Raiders recordings, noted that the Raiders version was not known for "garbled lyrics" or an amateurish recording technique. But despite these attributes, the single never seized the public's attention the way the less-polished Kingsmen version did.

The Raiders version also contains a scarcely audible "dirty lyric" when Mark Lindsay says, "Do she fuck? That psyches me up!" behind the guitar solo.^[35]

References