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.'"
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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
