Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/3/84; site grkermi.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ihnp4!ucbvax!decvax!genrad!grkermi!andrew From: andrew@grkermi.UUCP (Rockin' Louie Rogers) Newsgroups: net.music Subject: Re: deciphering rock lyrics... Message-ID: <602@grkermi.UUCP> Date: Sun, 8-Sep-85 09:59:46 EDT Article-I.D.: grkermi.602 Posted: Sun Sep 8 09:59:46 1985 Date-Received: Wed, 11-Sep-85 06:18:53 EDT References: <154@helens.UUCP> <587@grkermi.UUCP> <123@mck-csc.UUCP> <5672@tekecs.UUCP> Reply-To: andrew@grkermi.UUCP (Rockin' Louie Rogers) Organization: Tappa Kegga Bru Lines: 88 In article <5672@tekecs.UUCP> waltt@tekecs.UUCP (Walt Tucker) writes: >> I caught the middle of them once on the radio a long time ago, and it took >> about three verses before I realized it was "Louie Louie"! The twisted >> grammar makes it especially incomprehensible. >> >> Jeffrey Weiss > >The Kingsmen were one of the few local Portland, OR bands (early 60's) that >made it. They are still around the area, and do local stuff every once and >a while (of course, they are getting up in the years). Sort of. Only guitarist Mike Mitchell remains from the "Louie Louie" lineup; Dick Peterson and Barry Curtis (mid-60's group) and Freddie Dennis (early 70's) are still aboard. They appeared in Cambridge, MA not too long ago (and I didn't hear about in time! Rats!) >ANYWAY, in a recent Portland Oregonian interview, the ex-leader of the >Kingsmen was asked about "Louie, Louie" and how they arrived at that sound: > >It seems "Louie, Louie" had been recorded by a couple of national groups of >the time on albums (not released as singles), with fully comprehensible >lyrics. The original version was done by Richard Berry (bass voice on the Robins' "Riot in Cell Block #9") and the Pharoahs (no relation to Chuck Berry or Sam the Sham). Several Northwest groups had already covered it, most notably the Wailers (no relation to Bob Marley) with DJ Rockin' Robin Roberts as lead vocalist. Both were definitely released as singles (Berry's as Flip 321); it was the latter version, playing on a nightclub jukebox, that inspired the Kingsmen to learn the song. > The Kingsmen were just starting out, and decided they wanted to >make a version of the song to be released as one of their first singles... Actually, they had been together for about five years, and had already released a single, "Peter Gunn Rock". >However, the position of the microphone, quality of the studio, and the >fact that all four band members had to sing into the same microphone (lack >of equipment) led to a record that was very garbled. They did not >intentionally sing it that way -- that's just the way it came out. Singer/guitarist Jack Ely said that he had to sing into a mike suspended from the ceiling. Other members recall amps being muffled with coats, etc. Paul Revere and the Raiders, though, recorded "LL" in the same studio (Northwest Recording) the following day - and their version was much clearer. (Perhaps the Kingsmen's producer was trying to emulate the "wall of noise" sound used by Frank Guida on Gary "U.S." Bonds' party classics???) >The Kingsmen almost threw the record out, as it turned out quite different >than they intended. But, since they had already spent their money to record >it, they decided to release it. They paid $44 to record "LL". It was originally released on manager/producer Jerry Dennon's Jerden label, and became a modest hit in the Northwest. Some months later, Boston DJ Arnie "Woo Woo" Ginsberg (WMEX) broke it on the East Coast, after which Dennon licensed it to New-York based Wand (one of Florence Greenberg's Tiara/Scepter/Wand family of labels, best known for the Shirelles and Chuck Jackson - she apparantly thought the Kingsmen were an R&B group). >People thought there were all sorts of hidden meanings in the record. Perhaps we should send a copy to Mrs. Baker and Mrs. Gore! :-) >Controversy surrounded it. Some radio stations refused to play it. This >all resulted in a national hit. The rest, as they say, is history... The serious student of "Louie Louie" should refer to the articles listed below (copies of which I will send to any potential serious student.) If anyone knows the address of the organization responsible for the attempt to make "LL" the state song of Washington, please send mail. (Unfortunately, the "Louie Rebellion" advertised on the back of the Rhino LP doesn't exist. They returned my check with a note saying that they had encountered legal difficulties with the publisher over the rights to use the name. Too bad.) Rockin' Louie Rogers Credits: Liner notes, "The Best Of Louie Louie" (Rhino 605) Goldmine #87, August 1983 The Wall Street Journal, 8/25/83 P.S.: I have a budget LP called "Surf & Drag" on Columbia Special Products. It features a version of "Louie Louie", credited to the Kingsmen, with clearly enunciated lyrics. Anyone know anything about this?