"Louie Louie" -- Long Live Garage Bands

 

Three nights and days I sailed the sea

Me think of girl constantly

On the ship, I dream she there

I smell the rose in her hair

Louie Louie, oh no, me gotta go, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, baby

I've written about “Louie Louie” before. The history of this popular tune is extensive to say the least. Online you will find volumes of information about the song. There are even books written about the evolution and history of “Louie, Louie.” In addition, you can purchase entire albums of various renditions of the song. What is it about “Louie Louie” that is so special? 

Click here for the Wildly Considered companion piece on "Louie Louie": https://allthingswildlyconsidered.blogspot.com/2013/07/me-gotta-go-just-singing-louie-at-top.html 

Now, I don't claim to be a music historian, but I have a long love of the music, both collecting rock recordings and studying rock's cultural influence. I have listened to the genre since my early childhood. In addition to collecting music from an early age – progressing through 45s, albums, 8-tracks, cassettes, and compact discs – I have also spent decades working weekends as a mobile disc jockey. I possess an extensive collection of recordings that trace rock from its very early days. Suffice it to say, my lifelong passion is rock music.

I am here to profess once more that I believe no song inspired so many American garage bands as the Kingsmen's “Louie Louie.” For novices, a garage band is generally defined as “an amateur rock band typically holding its rehearsals in a garage and usually having only a local audience.” Of course, the garage can be a metaphor for any place where the band rehearses and records.

This song launched so many bands in its very simplicity. The three-chord, lo-fi makeup of the song served as the template for garage rock. Simple to play with a catchy refrain, “Louie Louie” gave teens that desired balance between burning passion and their still-developing musical ability. Raw and primitive, the song simply fit the appeal of garage bands. Every garage band of the 60s knew the song and played it at their gigs mainly because of audience demand.

In their own renditions, garage bands added their own elements to the classic such as four or five "yeahs" after "me gotta go.” They learned to play the dominant chord as a minor and included the famous pre-guitar solo exhortation "Let's give it to them right now!” The lyrics I remember – including those from our own garage band, Campbell's Pork and Beans – were made up as a mixture of suggestive double entendre verses, each extending the message of getting it on.

The late musical genius Frank Zappa, who lauded the original Richard Berry version, explained his love/hate relationship with the song …

“I don’t think the typical rock fan is smart enough to know he’s been duped, so it doesn’t make any difference … Those kids wouldn’t know good music if it came up and bit them on the ass. Especially in terms of a live concert where the main element is visual. Kids go to see their favorite acts, not to hear them. We work on the premise that nobody really hears what we do anyway, so it doesn’t make any difference if we play a place that’s got ugly acoustics. The best responses we get from an audience are when we do our worst material.

“It’s true man. 'Louie Louie' brings the house down every time …

“I played the gig [with the Soul Giants] for a while, and one night I suggested that we start doing original material so we could get a record contract. Davy [Coronado] didn’t like the idea. He was worried that if we played original material we would get fired from all the nice bars we were working in. The only things club owners wanted bands to play then were Wooly Bully, “Louie Louie” and In The Midnight Hour, because if the band played anything original, nobody would dance to it, and when they don’t dance, they don’t drink.

“When a guest conductor comes to town, he is not usually giving a performance of something by a living composer – because he can warm it up in one afternoon and make it sound okay. This makes the accountants happy, and allows the audience to concentrate on his choreography (which is really why they bought the tickets in the first place). Why is that any better than a bunch of guys in a bar band jamming on “Louie Louie” or Midnight Hour?”

(Frank Zappa. The Real Frank Zappa Book. Autobiography. 1989.)

Eric R. Danton, who writes about music and pop culture and whose work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stone, The Boston Globe, Fortune, Paste, Pitchfork, Inside Hook, Salon, Flavorwire, Myspace, M Music & Musicians calls “Louie Louie” a “masterpiece built around trebly guitar, blaring organ and singer Jack Ely’s murky vocals – released in 1963, The Kingsmen’s cover of Richard Berry’s tune took the Portland, Oregon, band to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, where the song spent six weeks on its way to becoming eternal.”

Richard Berry wrote and recorded the original version of “Louie Louie” (released in 1957). It was the first-person story of a Jamaican sailor returning to the island to see his lover and based on a Latin song called “El Loco Cha Cha” that Berry had heard while he was backstage at a show.

Richard Berry was a respected member of the Los Angeles doo-wop music community that included Jesse Belvin, Cornel Gunter, Curtiss Williams and Gaynel Hodge, among others. Before he had ever written the song that many would claim as the ultimate party song, Berry provided the uncredited lead vocal for the original recording of Leiber and Stoller’s “Riot In Cell Block #9” with the Robins, which later evolved into the Coasters. He also contributed the male counterpart voice for Etta James’ recording of “Roll With Me, Henry” (a song with its own share of controversial innuendoes), which was written as an answer to Hank Ballard’s “Work With Me, Annie.”

(Eric Predoehl. “A Short History of the Song “Louie Louie.” The Louie Report. 1996.)

Performing well on the West Coast, Berry's version was a regional hit, but not a national smash. He wound up selling the copyright for $750 in 1959 to pay for his wedding.

Historical Note:

Here is a happy note. In the mid-1980s, Richard Berry was living on welfare at his mother's house in South Central Los Angeles. Drinks company California Cooler wanted to use "Louie Louie" in a commercial, but discovered it needed Berry's signature to use the song. The company asked the Artists' Rights society to locate him, and a lawyer visited Berry. The lawyer mentioned the possibility of Berry's taking action to gain the rights to his song. The publishers settled out of court, making Berry a millionaire.

(Martin Kelner. "Louie, Louie. Oh, oh . . .: Until a soft drinks company tracked him down, Richard Berry was living on welfare in the slums of LA". The Independent. October 21, 1993.) 

 

The Kingsmen recorded “Louie Louie” in 1963. At this point, Richard Berry’s original song had been covered hundreds, probably thousands of times, and yet, it’s still this 1963 Kingsmen's take that’s the most well-known, right down to the guitar solo.

Irony upon irony? The Kingsmen's version cover is, objectively, terribly produced. It's pretty much a terrible recording at a cheapskate studio – home of the small Jerden label, before being picked up later by the larger Wand Records. The entire recording session is marred by amateurism. The band were teenagers. The lead singer wore braces. In the middle of the recording, the drummer drops his drumsticks and seems to yell the “F-bomb.” (Try to hear it in the mix though – it's not really discernible.)

Oh, there's more – the recording engineer Robert Lindahl was aghast at the racket: "You're going to blow up my equipment!" The band locked him out of the booth until they had a take. They then learned that they were to pay for the session themselves and after each member stumped up ten dollars, they went back to their homes.

A chaotic guitar break is triggered by the shout, "Okay, let's give it to 'em right now!" That first appeared in the Wailers' version, 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.”

("Love That Louie - The Louie Louie Files (CD)". Bear Family Records. 2002.)

Yet, it turns out that terribleness and the chaos were great authentic features, not bugs. The Kingsmen’s cover of “Louie Louie,” became legendary partly because people initially thought the song was obscene. The truth was that the lyrics were so incoherent that they didn’t actually know what the singers were saying.

In the long run, it was the vast influence of the song that mattered most. "Louie Louie" became a record that inspired thousands of kids to pick up guitars and drum sets and bang their hearts out (much to the dismay of many a parent) in the basement or garage of their family home. Listen to the song's three-chord opening riff – could any rock riff be more famous? (Although the Stone's “Satisfaction” runs a distant second in my mind.)

The song was a commercial success; however, it was held out of the top spot on The Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart by “The Singing Nun,” Jeanne-Paule Marie "Jeannine" Deckers, with her "Dominique,” a French language popular song. That's right – a French lyric song about a traveler who sings “a little song, never asking for reward – He just talks about the Lord.” It was '63, still a time of relative innocence. Soon, all of that would change.

“Louie Louie” did manage to earn a #1 showing in both Cash Box and Record World as well as in the hearts of almost every teenager growing up during this era.

A few weeks later The Beatles – and the British Invasion – would hit, wiping out virtually everything domestic from the charts, but, despite this new focus on all things British, The Kingsmen managed to have a few more hits: their version of the Motown classic (also covered by The Beatles) "Money" (#16, 1964); "Little Latin Lupe Lu" (#46, 1964); "Death Of An Angel" (#33, 1964), the novelty hit "The Jolly Green Giant" (#4, 1965); "The Climb" (#39, 1965) and "Annie Fanny", an "Alley Oop" clone (#29, 1965).

But, let's concentrate on that influence of “Louie” a little more

"Louie Louie" is the world's most recorded rock song, with published estimates ranging from over 1,600 to more than 2,000. It has been released or performed by a wide range of artists from reggae to hard rock, from jazz to psychedelic, from hip hop to easy listening. At the headquarters of LOUIELOUIE.NET, they've done their best to document all known recordings, but the site says it's a major challenge to keep up with all the variations.

The Kingsmen version in particular has been cited as the "rosetta stone" of garage rock, the defining "ur-text" of punk rock, and "the original grunge classic.” The influential rock critics Dave Marsh and Greil Marcus believe that virtually all punk rock can be traced back to a single proto-punk song, “Louie Louie.”

All of that fame is documented, by the way …

Azerrad, Michael (2010) [April 16, 1992]. "Seattle: An Inside Tour of the Decade's Greatest Scene". In Rolling Stone (ed.). The '90s: The Inside Stories from the Decade That Rocked. New York: Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0061779206.

Kallen, Stuart A. (2012). The History of Alternative Rock. San Diego: Lucent Books. p. 12.

Palao, Alec (2019). “Love That Louie” (CD sleeve notes). Various Artists. London: Ace Records.

Sabin, Roger (1999). Punk Rock: So What?: the Cultural Legacy of Punk. London: Routledge. p. 157.

Predoehl, Eric (November 10, 2008). "Little Bill & the Bluenotes (2008) – LOUIE of the Week". Santa Cruz, CA: louielouie.net. Retrieved September 30, 2019.

Then, there's the LOUIE LOUIE Advocacy and Music Appreciation Society (LLAMAS) formed in early 2007 by a group of musicians, fans and collectors with a particular (and in some cases obsessive) interest in the song.

The mission of LLAMAS is to:

• Foster awareness of the unique role that the song LOUIE LOUIE has played in the history of popular music;

• Promote an ongoing appreciation and popularity of LOUIE LOUIE; and

• Encourage musical education and a broader appreciation of music through the amazing variety and creativity that has been demonstrated in the many, many different versions of LOUIE LOUIE; in almost every musical style imaginable.

Among other things, the society promotes the observance of International "Louie Louie" Day each year on April 11 and encourages artists to record and make available new versions of the song.

The City of Tacoma held a summer music and arts festival from 2003 to 2012 in July named LouieFest. The event began in 2003 as the "1000 Guitars Festival" and featured a group performance of "Louie Louie" open to anyone with a guitar.

Peoria, Illinois has held an annual "Louie Louie" street parade and festival every year since 1988.

A sculpture titled "Louie Louie, 2013" by Las Vegas-based artist Tim Bavington is displayed on the lobby wall of the Edith Green - Wendell Wyatt Federal Building in Portland, Oregon. The work is constructed of 80 colored glass and acrylic panels representing the waveforms of the song using Bavington's concept of sculpting sound waves.

Here is a brief summary of some of the "Louie Louie" rankings and recognitions in major publications and surveys …

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll

National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences

Grammy Hall of Fame

National Public Radio

The 300 Most Important American Records of the 20th Century

NEA and RIAA

Songs of the Century

Rolling Stone Magazine

40 Songs That Changed The World

Mojo Magazine

Ultimate Jukebox: The 100 Singles You Must Own

The Wire Magazine

The 100 Most Important Records Ever Made

“Louie Louie” Spawns Garage Bands

Just some of the Portsmouth area bands of the past:

Del Rhythm's (mid 60's) : Cokie Caudill, Lee Albrecht, Gary Billips, Barry Slattery, Gary Dazer

 

Blended Foam (1968): Pete Costas. John Pollitt. Shane Keister

 

The Dukes of Wellington: Spencer Cunningham, Ron Leichner, Rich Cunningham, Mike Virginia, Ron Leichner?

 

The Blokes: Ken Cogan, Mike Casey Ron Millhuff 

 

Canterfield Canoe: Jeff Russell on bass, Pam Pack Partlow on flute, Randy Perkins on drums, Steve Smith on sax, Bill Gemperline on guitar and Butch Montavin on guitar

 

The Hustlin' Soul Brothers: Jerry White took the mike off the stand and lept into the air landing on the floor below in a split. Then to rise back up to a standing position without missing a beat. George Musser on bass and Trent Taylor on guitar. Andy Turner on drums? James Hamilton played keyboard, Huey "Big Man" Greene on the mean tambourine

 

Bare Facts: from left to right Ron Pruitt,Bill Maple(not in the original Facts),Boyd Williams, Russ Pruitt, Randy Boldman, and Dave Craycraft

 

The Outcasts (1965): Joseph Ray Ferguson - guitar (AKA Joey Ray), Jerry Rollins - Lead Singer, Terry Stevenson - Drums, Jim Pennywitt - Lead Guitar, John Oakley - Bass Guitar

 

The Night Shift Band: Josie Fagan, Mike Craft, John Blevins, Steve Hacker, Don Smith

 

Purple Reign: (from L to R) Ron Hadsell (vocals, trumpet), Jeff Cisler (all around sub in the band. had his own band Mahogany Fantasy around the same time), Owen Thompson (keys), David Cisler (guitar, vocals), Pixie Mader (vocals), Rod Risner (drums), Mike Schoonover (guitar) and Mike Ramey (bass)

 

Rampagers (shot at Leadingham Studio in New Boston circa 1965): Ronnie Clay (RIP), Ron Conley, Steve Hornicle, Jack Gillum & Bill Tatman. 

 

Summer Breeze: Bobby Maple, Cokie Caudill, Danny Ratliff, Tina Pack, Marilyn Phipps 

 

Hit & Run: Terri Montgomery, Danny Ratliff, Doug Parsley, Bob Evans and Ron Hadsell

 

Flint: Donnie Eubank, Tim Odle, Billy Massie, Jaime Vendera, Gordy McPhail

Thanks to "Portsmouth Rock & Roll Scrapbook" on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/112994998723111