Jack Ely Was Promoted To The Heaven's Today!!! He & The Kingsmen Created A Sound & Turned A Little Known Cover Track "ALMOST" Into Thee Official State Song Of Washington With The Help Of A 1980's Local Comedy Show In Seattle Named "Almost Live"

This Just In From Seattle Music History!!!                                                                                                              PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — When he stood on his toes, leaned his head back and began to incoherently shout "Louie Louie" into a microphone 52 years ago, Jack Ely had no idea he was creating a rock 'n' roll classic.
    Or, for that matter, did the lead singer of The Kingsmen know he was laying the groundwork for one of the first federal investigations into dirty song lyrics, while simultaneously creating a tune so memorable that everybody from the Beach Boys to Nirvana would later record it.    Ely, who died Tuesday at age 71, had simply walked into a tiny Portland recording studio with his band one day in 1963 to cut an instrumental version of a song that had been a hit on Pacific Northwest jukeboxes — one that kids could dance to.

"Right out of his mouth, 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," Ely's son, Sean Ely, told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

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. It might not have helped, either, that the 20-year-old musician was wearing braces at the time, although Ely maintained that the real problem was trying to sing with his head tilted back at a 45-degree angle.

In any case, the end result was that about the only words anyone could clearly understand were contained in the song's first two lines: "Louie Louie. Oh no. We gotta go." But the driving, three-chord instrumental progression was maddeningly memorable, as were the song's opening lines, delivered with just the right amount of rebellious if slurry snarl.

It didn't hurt either that with people unable to understand what Ely was singing, some began to claim they were hearing lewd words about a girl the singer was to meet up with. Radio stations began to ban "Louie Louie," and the FBI launched an investigation, eventually determining the song was "unintelligible at any speed."

Sean Ely said his father got "quite the kick" out of that latter development. Meanwhile, everyone from the Clash, to Ike and Tina Turner began covering the song. Rhino Records released not one but two albums of cover versions, including one by The Rice University Marching Owl Band.

"First and foremost, it's a real easy song to play. Second, it's got a great beat. Third, it's got a lot of notoriety, meaning it must be naughty, so it must be fun," said Eric Predoehl, who is producing a documentary on the song's history called "The Meaning of Louie." He counts at least 1,700 cover versions, including numerous ones by garage bands. Frank Zappa even did one with shock jock Howard Stern.

The song, written and originally recorded by the late Los Angeles R&B musician Richard Berry, contained more of a calypso beat when it was first released. It would be recorded by others, most notably the Pacific Northwest group Rockin Robin Roberts and the Wailers, before Ely and his group discovered it.

The Kingsmen would follow it with a couple of other minor hits, "Money" and "The Jolly Green Giant," but nothing that compared with "Louie Louie." As for Ely, he left The Kingsmen in a dispute with other band members shortly after recording "Louie Louie."

He later trained horses in Central Oregon and, according to his son, was content with his legacy as a one-hit wonder — a massive one-hit wonder, to be precise. "He wanted to try on different occasions to pursue other endeavors in the music industry, but I think when it was all done and said he was pretty happy that he did 'Louie Louie.'"

J                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

• This was written by an R&B singer named Richard Berry in 1955. With his group The Pharaohs, he was also the first to record it, and it got some airplay in some cities in the Western US when it was released in 1957. Various garage bands heard it and started covering the song, until it became a phenomena with the Kingsmen's 1964 version. While much of the song's notoriety comes from the indecipherable lyrics, in Berry's original version words are quite clear: the song is about a sailor who spends three days traveling to Jamaica to see his girl.
• Dwight Rounds, author of The Year The Music Died, 1964-1972, writes: "The words to Louie, Louie are almost impossible to understand, and are rumored to be obscene. No question that this added significantly to the sales of the single. There was probably a leak somewhere that the lyrics were obscene; otherwise no one would have realized it. This was the most ingenious marketing scheme ever. The FBI tried to track down Richard Berry, The Kingsmen, and various record company executives. They were never able to determine the actual lyrics used. To this day, the Kingsmen insist they said nothing lewd, despite the obvious mistake at the end of the instrumental, where Jack Ely started to sing the last verse one bar too soon, and can be heard yelling something in the background. Ely also said that he sung far away from the microphone, which caused the fuzzy sound, and that the notoriety was initiated by the record company. The words sound much more like the official version seen below, especially the word "rose" instead of "bone." The lyrics rumor was a sham. The official lyrics are in plain print, and one of the many alternative versions are in ().
  
  Chorus: "Louie, Louie, oh no. Me gotta go. Aye-yi-yi, I said. Louie Louie, oh baby. Me gotta go."
  
  "Fine little girl waits for me. Catch a ship across the sea. Sail that ship about, all alone. Never know if I make it home.
  
  "Three nights and days, I sail the sea." (Every night and day, I play with my thing.) "Think of girl, constantly." (I f--k you girl, oh, all the way.) "Oh that ship, I dream she's there. (On my bed, I'll lay her there.) "I smell the rose in her hair." (I feel my bone, ah, in her hair.)
  
  "See Jamaica, the moon above." (Hey lovemaker, now hold my thing.) "It won't be long, me see my love." (It won't take long, so leave it alone.) "Take her in my arms again." (Hey, senorita, I'm hot as hell.) "Tell her I'll never leave again." (I told her I'd never lay her again.)
• Many bands in the Northwest US played this at their concerts. The Kingsmen lifted their version from The Wailers, a Seattle band who missed out on the song's success.
• This song was prominently featured in the film Animal House, starring John Belushi, despite the fact that it wasn't actually recorded until almost two years after the period of time in which the movie is set (1962). (thanks, Sam - Lincoln, NE)
• This cost $50 to record. The Kingsmen went to the studio after a radio station executive in Portland saw them perform it live and suggested they record it.
• Paul Revere and The Raiders, also on the Northwest touring scene, recorded their version the day after The Kingsmen at the same studio. Their version was superior musically, but was just regional hit as they could not generate the publicity The Kingsmen did.
• This was the only Kingsmen song with lead vocals by Jack Ely. Before this became a hit, he quit when band leader Lynn Easton assumed vocals and ordered Ely to drums. When this became a hit, Easton would lip-sync to Ely's vocals on TV performances.
• Ely tried to capitalize on the success of this by releasing similar songs on his own, including "Louie Louie 66," "Love That Louie," and "Louie Go Home."
• This became a national hit when a disc jockey in Boston played it and declared that it was the worst song he ever heard.
• Indiana governor Matthew Welsh was particularly offended by this song. He declared it "Pornographic" in 1964 and asked the Indiana Broadcasters Association to ban it.
• According to lead singer Jack Ely, the studio had a 19-foot ceiling with a microphone suspended from it. Ely claims that was the cause of the "garbled" lyrics, but Paul Revere and the Raiders recorded their version of "Louie Louie" in the same studio the day after the Kingsmen's session, and their partly ad-libbed lyrics are clearly heard. (thanks, Brad Wind - Miami, FL)
• On August 24, 2003, 754 guitarists played this at "Louie Fest" in Tacoma, Washington. The event was held to raise money for music programs. Dick Peterson from The Kingsmen was one of the guitarists.
• The "See" in the lyrics "See Jamaica" comes in one line too early and is repeated.
• This was used in the movie Down Periscope with Kelsey Grammer. As a submarine captain in a series of war games, Grammer and his crew sing this song loudly to confuse their pursuer's radar into thinking that they were a fishing trawler full of drunk fishermen. (thanks, Brandon - Peoria, IL)
• Iggy Pop recorded a version with new lyrics for his 1993 album American Caesar. His band The Stooges would often play the song and change the words to the supposedly offensive lyrics. This version of the song was the last one they played at their February 9, 1974 show at the Michigan Palace, which would be their last until a reunion in 2003. (thanks, Bertrand - Paris, France)
• According to Kenny Vance, who was the musical director on Animal House, John Belushi sang in a garage band that used to perform this song at fraternities. Belushi would sing his version of the dirty lyrics, which he did in the studio while recording his vocals for the movie. Sadly, the tape of Belushi singing his dirty version of the song was lost in 2012 when Hurricane Sandy wiped out Kenny's home in Queens. (Read more in our interview with Kenny Vance.)
• In the 1990 movie Coupe de Ville, Patrick Dempsey, Arye Gross and Daniel Stern star as brothers who have an argument over the meaning of this song. They debate if it is about lovemaking, or if it is a sea shanty. (thanks, Gordon - Jacksonville, FL)
• In 1966, The Sandpipers took this song to #30 in the US. Another notable cover: the West Coast Punk band Black Flag 

                                                                  

Please Sign This Petition So Ms. Lucille Mitchell Hendrix who is the Mother of Jimi Hendrix Will Be Added To The Circle of Family That Surrounds Mr. Jimi At His Memorial!

    Janie I am well aware of the trials and tribulations we all go through within our own families & please know that my request is for the benefit of only two people! The two people I am speaking on the behalf of are both past away and unable to say what I can only know and imagine is a topic of great interest to them both in the spirit world! Thee open air tomb that is Jimi's Memorial has the three sections of 9 stones that surround it; each stone representing each year of your brother's life within Jimi's Memorial. Jimi's Family; his father,your mother,aunts & uncles and spots for future siblings of James's to be laid to rest when their times come! Jimi's Real True To Blood Birth Giving Mother Ms. Lucille Mitchell Hendrix lays all by her lonesome buried alone on the same property within The Greenwood Memorial Home several thousands of feet away way across thee other side of the property! Janie know that a son is without his mother & a mother is without her son & do the right thing; not for me & not for you or anyone else for that matter other than Ms. Lucille & her little Mr. Jimi & invite her & have her moved into the circle of 27 Stones so she & her son who so many of us around the world feel a relation through his words and music and his love and mission for everyone to "Keep On Movin, Straight Ahead!"  Thank You To All That Read This & Feel The Same Way!    -ryan m. menges I have added a link to a video I put together just a little more than one year ago on April 2, 2014 please all that watch it, watch it all the way through & hear the words that are shared in the first song, even if the style of music is not the style you may think is fitting because it surely is fitting & then the let Jimi bring you all home on the second song in this 5:53 video i made not knowing I was going to make this petition one year later! I FIND IT ALL TO BE RELATIVE...

LETTER TO

Experience Hendrix

Janie Hendrix

I am requesting that The CEO of Experience Hendrix who is also The Stepsister Of Mr. James Marshall Hendrix & Thee Overseer Of Jimi's Memorial to stand up and do the right thing as Mr. Jimi would want!

This Just In From Seattle Music History!!!https://www.change.org/p/experience-hendrix-janie-hendrix-i-am-requesting-that-the-ceo-of-experience-hendrix-who-is-also-the-stepsister-of-mr-james-marshall-hendrix-thee-overseer-of-jimi-s-memorial-to-stand-up-and-do-the-right-thing-as-mr-jimi-would-want

Pearl Jam & Their Fans Buy A Home For Andrew Wood’s Mother

This Just In From Seattle Music History!!!                                                                          The Kitsap Sun has a great new article up on Pearl Jam and their fans buying a new home for Mother Love Bone/Malfunkshun frontman Andrew Wood’s mother Toni Wood.

“The part of the house I like best is the love that got it for me,” she said.Wood had been living in a broken down mobile home with tarps on the roof, working as a part-time caregiver. When Stone Gossard learned of Toni’s living situation, he called her.“He said, ‘Why don’t we see about getting you a new house,’” she said. “Him saying that — it was magic to me. It took my breath away.”On the band’s website, Gossard said he and Jeff Ament felt they had to help, “The more (Ament) and I learned about her situation, the more we felt we couldn’t ignore it. We decided to go for it and get her a new trailer.”Fans donated more than $36,000, while the members of Pearl Jam and Mother Love Bone’s former manager chipped in $40,000.A few days ago, Wood got a nice surprise when she visited her bank.“I always go and whisper to my teller, ‘How much do I have left?’ because my account’s always verging on setting off all kinds of bells and whistles,” Wood said. “And she came back and said ‘I don’t think you have to worry.’” The money has covered a full replacement of Wood’s home, and some for landscaping, which Wood will use for a garden.

Listen to Previously Unreleased Jimi Hendrix Song, ‘Station Break’ From his DAZE Touring With Curtis Knight & The Squires!!!

This Just In From Seattle Music History!!!                                                                                                                                                                               The track premiered earlier last month at the Daily Beast, which also details the story behind the recordings. Hendrix was a member of Curtis Knight & the Squires from 1965-66. Signed to Ed Chalpin’s PPX International, they recorded a handful of sides that went nowhere. However, once Hendrix became a star a year later, Chalpin repackaged many of the songs and sold them as the new Hendrix albums Get                                                                                                    

http://www.vevo.com/watch/curtis-knight-the-squires/Station-Break-(audio)/USQX91500360That Feeling (in December 1967) and Flashing (in October 1968).                                                                                                     by Dave Lifton PMOn March 24, some of Jimi Hendrix‘s earliest recordings were  released as You Can’t Use My Name: Curtis Knight & the Squires (Featuring Jimi Hendrix) – The RSVP/PPX Sessions. You can hear one of the previously unreleased tracks, an instrumental called “Station Br BY CLICKING ON THIS LINK! ----->    http://www.vevo.com/watch/curtis-knight-the-squires/Station-Break-(audio)/USQX91500360        

After more than a decade of litigation, Experience Hendrix, L.L.C., the company run by the Hendrix family to oversee his legacy, acquired the tapes. They then hired Eddie Kramer, Hendrix’s longtime engineer, to clean up the tapes as best as possible so that they could get a proper release.
Rolling Stone‘s original review of Get That Feeling called it “barely representative of what Hendrix is now doing and is an embarrassment to him as a musician. Moreover, while it does show the early elements of the style he has now developed, it is so badly recorded to be of little historical value.”
That said, “Station Break” is a solid, if rough and unspectacular, instrumental. The music in the verses seems to take a cue or two from Sam Cooke‘s “Another Saturday Night,” while the B-section features a four-bar break. Hendrix doesn’t show off, but you can hear his familiar Stratocaster tone and hammers-on approach even at this early stage.
Read More: Listen to Previously Unreleased Jimi Hendrix Song, 'Station Break' | http://ultimateclassicrock.com/jimi-hendrix-station-break/?trackback=tsmclip 

“I Found My Friends: The Oral History of Nirvana”

Before Nirvana got famous, the members of the band were part of a working community. In a fascinating new book, British author Nick Soulsby probes that period of the band’s early career, interviewing more than 200 musicians.

“I Found My Friends: The Oral History of Nirvana”Nick SoulsbySt. Martin’s Griffin,

When Nirvana’s “Nevermind” topped the Billboard charts in January 1992, like-minded folks.

the trio became the most famous rock group to ever come out of Seattle. But this newfound fame rested uneasily on the band members’ shoulders; in interviews they liked to stress that Nirvana was part of a community of “I Found My Friends” digs deeply into that community, featuring interviews with more than 200 fellow musicians who shared the stage with the band. The book is an extension of British-based author Nick Soulsby’s previous project, the 2014 compilation “No Seattle: Forgotten Sounds of the North-West Grunge Era 1986-97.”

While researching Nirvana, Soulsby became intrigued by the picturesque names of supporting acts at Nirvana’s shows, such as Oily Bloodmen, Gobblehoof and 3 Merry Widows. Soulsby began tracking down the bands, and while the music on “No Seattle” is limited to groups from the Northwest, the interviews in “I Found My Friends” draw from a larger pool.

Previous oral histories such as Mark Yarm’s “Everybody Loves Our Town” and Greg Prato’s “Grunge Is Dead” focused on the members of big acts like Soundgarden and Pearl Jam. What makes Soulsby’s book so interesting is that he unearths a hidden history by speaking to the members of lesser-known groups.

You get a clear sense of Nirvana’s early struggles It offers an inside look at Nirvana’s development as recounted by the fellow travelers who were destined to be left behind, once the band achieved superstar status.

“They could've easily, at first blush, been one of those bands you see a couple of times then fades away, never to be seen again,” is how Bruce Purkey of the band Soylent Green, remembered Nirvana’s early days.

It wasn't an unusual perception. Kurt Cobain tried to make an impression by donning satin trousers and platform shoes for a show, but “beyond the clothing there was nothing memorable about the stagecraft,” says Paul Morris, of the Sons of Ishmael.

That soon changed, of course. But along with admiring the band’s musicianship, memories of the pre-fame Nirvana are remarkably consistent: guitarist/lead singer Kurt Cobain, shy and withdrawn; bassist Krist Novoselic, outgoing and a bit goofy; early drummer Chad Channing, friendly and personable.

It was the kind of band that was ready to lend a helping hand. After one show, Gobblehoof’s Tim Aaron said Cobain gave him $100 out of Nirvana’s earnings, when he learned Gobblehoof wasn’t getting paid.

All of which makes the latter part of the book especially sad. Fame isolated Nirvana from former friends and allies. During an Australian tour, the Guttersnipes’ Paul Brockhoff was told by a bouncer to not even talk to Nirvana, “or we’d get thrown out.” Cobain further isolated himself with drugs. It’s a bittersweet look at the life of a working rock band, from those in the best position to observe it.