"Louie Louie"
Single by Richard Berry
A-side	You Are My Sunshine[1]
Written	1955
Released	April 1957 (1957-04)
Recorded	April 1956
Studio	Hollywood Recorders
Genre	Rhythm and blues
Length	2:09
Label	Flip 321
Songwriter(s)	Richard Berry
Richard Berry singles chronology
"Take The Key" (1956) "Louie Louie" (1957) "Sweet Sugar You" (1957)

"Louie Louie" is a rhythm and blues song written and composed by American musician Richard Berry in 1955, recorded in 1956, and released in 1957. 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 Afro-Cuban influence on American popular music.

"Louie Louie" tells, in simple verse–chorus form, the first-person story of a "lovesick sailor's lament to a bartender about wanting to get back home to his girl".^[2]

Historical significance

The "extraordinary roller-coaster tale of obscurity, scandal, success and immortality"^[3] and "remarkable historical impact"^[4] of "Louie Louie" have been recognized by organizations and publications worldwide. A partial list (see Recognition and rankings table below) includes the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Grammy Hall of Fame, National Public Radio, VH1, Rolling Stone Magazine, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Recording Industry Association of America. Other major examples of the song's legacy include the celebration of International Louie Louie Day every year on April 11; the annual Louie Louie Parade in Philadelphia from 1985 to 1989; the LouieFest in Tacoma from 2003 to 2012; the ongoing annual Louie Louie Street Party in Peoria; and the unsuccessful attempt in 1985 to make it the state song of Washington.^[5]

Dave Marsh in his book Louie Louie: 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",^[6] and also labeled it "cosmically crude".^[7] Rock critic Greil Marcus called it "a law of nature"^[8] and New York Times music critic Jon Pareles, writing in a 1997 obituary for Richard Berry, termed it "a cornerstone of rock".^[9] Music historian Peter Blecha noted, "Far from shuffling off to a quiet retirement, evidence indicates that 'Louie Louie' may actually prove to be immortal."^[10] Although the song "surely resists learned exegesis",^[11] other writers described it as "musically simple, lyrically simple, and joyously infectious",^[12] "deliciously moronic",^[13] "a completely unforgettable earworm",^[14] "the essence of rock's primal energy",^[15] and "the immortal international hit ... that defines rock 'n' roll."^[16]

Others noted that it "served as a bridge to the R&B of the past and the rap scene of the future",^[17] that "it came to symbolize the garage rock genre, where the typical performance was often aggressive and usually amateurish",^[18] and that "all you need to make a great rock 'n' roll record are the chords to 'Louie Louie' and a bad attitude."^[19]

Music historian and filmmaker Eric Predoehl of The Louie Report described the song as,^[20]

Purity. It's just a very pure, honest rock 'n' roll song. It's a song of romantic ideals hidden amongst a three-chord melody. It's an idealistic song. It's a misunderstood song. It's a confusing and disorienting song. It's like a heartbeat.

Humorist Dave Barry (perhaps with some exaggeration) called it "one of the greatest songs in the history of the world".^[21] American Songwriter summarized, "It might be the best-known rock song of all time. It might be the most important rock song of all time."^[22]

The Kingsmen's recording was the subject of an FBI investigation about the supposed, but nonexistent, obscenity of the lyrics that ended without prosecution.^[23] The nearly unintelligible (and innocuous) lyrics were widely misinterpreted, and the song was banned by radio stations. Marsh wrote that the lyrics controversy "reflected the country's infantile sexuality" and "ensured the song's eternal perpetuation",^[24] while another writer termed it "the ultimate expression of youthful rebellion".^[25] Jacob McMurray in Taking Punk To The Masses noted, "All of this only fueled the popularity of the song ... imprinting this grunge ur-message onto successive generations of youth, ... all of whom amplified and rebroadcast its powerful sonic meme ...."^[26]

Original version by Richard Berry and the Pharaohs

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 group Ricky Rillera and the Rhythm Rockers.^[27] The tune was written originally as "Amarren Al Loco" ("Tie Up The Madman" or "Tie Up That Lunatic") by Cuban bandleader Rosendo Ruiz Jr. (also known as Rosendo Ruiz Quevedo),^[28] but became best known in the "El Loco Cha Cha" arrangement by René Touzet which included "three great chords, solid and true"^[29] and a ten-note "1-2-3 1–2 1-2-3 1–2" tumbao or rhythmic pattern.^[30][31]

In Berry's mind, the words to "Louie Louie" "just kind of fell out of the sky",^[27] superimposing themselves over the repeating bassline as he scribbled backstage on a strip of toilet paper.^[32][33] Lyrically, the first person perspective of the song was influenced by "One for My Baby (And One More for the Road)", which is sung from the perspective of a customer talking to a bartender ("Louie" was the name of Berry's bartender).^[34] Richard Berry cited Chuck Berry's "Havana Moon" and his exposure to Latin American music for the song's speech pattern and references to Jamaica.^[35]

Los Angeles-based Flip Records recorded Richard Berry's composition with his vocal group the Pharaohs in April 1956.^[22] The Pharaohs were Godoy Colbert (first tenor), Stanley Henderson (second tenor, subbing for Robert Harris), and Noel Collins (baritone). Gloria Jones of the Dreamers provided additional backup vocals. Session musicians included Plas Johnson on tenor sax, Jewel Grant on baritone sax, Ernie Freeman on piano, Irving Ashby on guitar, Red Callender on bass, Ray Martinez on drums, and John Anderson on trumpet.^[36]

Flip released the record in April 1957 with "Louie Louie" as the B-side of "You Are My Sunshine", but prior to the song's release, Berry sold his portion of the publishing and songwriting rights for "Louie Louie" and four other songs for $750 to Max Feirtag, the head of Flip Records, to raise cash for his upcoming wedding.^[27] Both 7-inch 45 RPM and 10-inch 78 RPM versions were pressed. (An early 45 RPM label misprint exists, reported by Steve Propes, with the title rendered as "Louie Lovie".)^[37][38]

A Cash Box review rated the A-side as a B+, but the B-side only rated a B with the comment, "Richard Berry chants a middle beat with a steady, syncopated rhythm that captures an excitement."^[39] Local A-side airplay was modest, but then KGFJ deejay Hunter Hancock flipped the record and put the B-side in heavy rotation, resulting in a regional hit, particularly in San Francisco.^[40] When Berry toured the Pacific Northwest, local R&B bands began to play the song, increasing its popularity. The song was re-released by Flip in 1961 as an A-side single and again in 1964 on a four-song EP, but never appeared on any of the national charts. Sales estimates ranged from 40,000^[41] to 130,000 copies.^[33]

Other versions appeared on Casino Club Presents Richard Berry (1966), Great Rhythm and Blues Oldies Volume 12 (1977),^[42] and The Best of Louie, Louie (1983). Although similar to the original, the version on Rhino's 1983 The Best of Louie, Louie compilation^[43] is actually a note-for-note re-recording (with backup vocals by doo wop revival group Big Daddy)^[44] created because licensing could not be obtained for Berry's 1957 version.^[8] The original version was included on a 1986 Swedish compilation,^[36] but not until the Ace Records Love That Louie release in 2002 did it see wide distribution.^[45][46]

In the mid-1980s, Berry was living on welfare. Drinks company California Cooler wanted to use "Louie Louie" in a commercial, but discovered it needed Berry's consent because despite having sold the publishing rights, he still owned the radio and television performance rights.^[16] The company asked the Artists Rights Society to locate him which led to Berry's taking legal action to regain his rights to the song. The settlement made Berry a millionaire.^[47][48]

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.^[27][32]

Cover versions

"Louie Louie" is the world's most recorded rock song,^[49][50] with published estimates ranging from over 1,600^[10] to more than 2,000^[51] "with ever more still being released and performed".^[52] 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. Peter Doggett labeled it "almost impossible to play badly"^[53] and Greil Marcus asked, "Has there ever been a bad version of 'Louie Louie'?"^[54] Paul Revere summarized, "Three chords and the most mundane beat possible. Any idiot could learn it, and they all did."^[55]

The Kingsmen version in particular has been cited as the "rosetta stone" of garage rock,^[45] the defining "ur-text" of punk rock,^[56][57] and "the original grunge classic".^[58] "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'."^[59]

Pronunciation has varied widely from Berry's original "Lou-ee Lou-ee" to "Lou-eye Lou-eye" (Kingsmen, 1963), "Lou-ee Lou-eye-ay" (Angels, 1964), "Lou-eye Lou-way" (Sonics, 1966; Iggy Pop, 1972), "Lou-ee-a Lou-way" (Kinks, 1964; Motörhead, 1978), "Lou-way Lou-way" (Clarke/Duke Project, 1981), and others.

1950s

Richard Berry was on the underbill for a concert in the Seattle-Tacoma area in September 1957^[60] and his record appeared on local radio station charts in November 1957 ^[61] after "African American DJs Bob Summerrise and Eager Beaver started playing it on their radio shows”.^[20] Local R&B musicians Ron Holden and Dave Lewis popularized "Louie Louie", rearranging Berry's version and performing it at live shows and "battle of the bands" events.^[62][63]

Holden recorded an unreleased version, backed by the Thunderbirds, for the Nite Owl label in 1959.^[64] As a leader of the "dirty but cool" Seattle R&B sound,^[65] he would often substitute mumbled, "somewhat pornographic" ^[66] lyrics in "a live tour de force often lasted ten minutes or longer, devastating local audiences."^[45] Lewis, "the singularly most significant figure on the Pacific Northwest's nascent rhythm & blues scene in the 1950s and 1960s",^[67] released a three chord clone, "David's Mood - Part 2", that was a regional hit in 1963.

The Wailers, Little Bill and the Bluenotes, the Frantics, Tiny Tony and the Statics, Merrilee and the Turnabouts, and other local groups soon added the song to their set lists.^[68]

1960s

Rockin' Robin Roberts and the Wailers (1961)

"Louie Louie"
Single by Rockin' Robin Roberts
B-side	"Maryanne"
Released	1961 (1961)
Recorded	1960
Genre	Rhythm and blues rock and roll
Length	2:40 single, 2:32 album
Label	Etiquette ET-1
Songwriter(s)	Richard Berry

Robin Roberts developed an interest in rock 'n' roll and rhythm and blues records as a high school student in Tacoma, Washington. Among the songs he began performing as an occasional guest singer with a local band, the Bluenotes, in 1958 were "Louie Louie", which he had "rescued from oblivion"^[8] after hearing Berry's obscure original single, and Bobby Day's "Rockin' Robin", which gave him his stage name.^[69]

In 1959, Roberts left the Bluenotes and began singing with another local band, the Wailers, famed for their "hard-nosed R&B/rock fusion".^[70] Known for his dynamic onstage performances, Roberts added "Louie Louie" to the band's set and, in 1960 recorded the track with the Wailers as his backing band.^[71] The arrangement, devised by Roberts with the band, was "the first-ever garage version of 'Louie Louie'"^[71] and included "one of the true great moments of rock", his ad-libbed "Let's give it to 'em, RIGHT NOW!!" before the guitar solo.^[45]

Released as a single on the band's own label, Etiquette, in early 1961, it became a huge hit locally, charting at No. 1 on Seattle's KJR and establishing "Louie Louie" as "the signature riff of Northwest rock 'n' roll".^[72] It also picked up play across the border in Vancouver, British Columbia, appearing in the top 40 of the CFUN chart. The popularity of the Roberts release effectively buried another "reasonably close to the Richard Berry/Ron Holden arrangement"^[45] version put out at about the same time by Little Bill Englehardt (Topaz T-1305).^[71]

The record was then reissued and promoted by Liberty Records in Los Angeles, but it failed to chart nationally.^[73] The track was included on the 1963 album The Wailers & Co, the 1964 compilation album Tall Cool One, the 1998 reissue of the 1962 album The Fabulous Wailers Live at the Castle, and multiple later compilations.^[74]

Roberts was killed in an automobile accident in 1967, but his "legacy would reverberate down through the ages".^[72] Dave Marsh dedicated his 1993 book, "For Richard Berry, who gave birth to this unruly child, and Rockin' Robin Roberts, who first raised it to glory."^[75]

The Kingsmen (1963)

"Louie Louie"
Original release
Single by the Kingsmen
from the album The Kingsmen in Person
B-side	"Haunted Castle"
Released	June 1963 (1963-06) (Jerden) October 1963 (1963-10) (Wand)
Recorded	April 6, 1963
Studio	Northwestern Inc.
Genre	Garage rock[76][77] proto-punk[56] rhythm and blues[78]
Length	2:42 (Jerden), 2:24 (Wand)[79]
Label	Jerden 712, Wand 143
Songwriter(s)	Richard Berry
Producer(s)	Ken Chase Jerry Dennon
The Kingsmen singles chronology
"Louie Louie" (1963) "Money" (1964)
Wand Re-issue
Second Wand release with "Lead vocal by Jack Ely" text

On 6 April 1963,^[80] 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 & Recording Studios at 411 SW 13th Avenue in Portland, Oregon.^[81] The one hour session, originally intended to produce an audition tape for a summer cruise ship gig, cost either $36,^[82] $50,^[83] or somewhere in between, and the band split the cost.^[84]

The session was produced by Ken Chase, a local disc jockey on the AM rock station KISN who also owned The Chase, the teen nightclub where the Kingsmen were the house band. The engineer for the session was the studio owner, Robert Lindahl. The Kingsmen's lead vocalist, Jack Ely, based his version on the recording by Rockin' Robin Roberts with the Fabulous Wailers, but unintentionally reintroduced Berry's original stop-time rhythm as he showed the other members how to play it with a 1–2–3, 1–2, 1–2–3 beat instead of the 1–2–3–4, 1–2, 1–2–3–4 beat on the Wailers record.^[85] The night before their recording session, the band played a 90-minute version of the song during a gig at a local teen club. The Kingsmen's studio version was recorded in one partial and one full take.^[86] They also recorded "Jamaica Farewell" and what became the B-side of the release, an original "surf instrumental"^[87] by Ely and keyboardist Don Gallucci called "Haunted Castle".^[84]

The Kingsmen's version with its "ragged",^[88] "sloppy",^[89] "chaotic",^[90] "shambolic, lumbering style",^[91] complete with "manic lead guitar solo, insane cymbal crashes, generally slurred and unintelligible lyrics",^[92] transformed the earlier Rockin' Robin Roberts version on which it was based into a "bumbling, bear-in-a-china-shop",^[93] "gloriously incoherent",^[94] "raw and raucous"^[95] "stomping garage-rocker"^[96] "so wrong it's right".^[97] Ely had to stand on tiptoe to sing into a boom mike, and his braces further impeded his "sinew-stretching",^[98] "giraffe-neck gabble"^[99] singing. The result was a "raw and unsanitized, unmanaged and unscrubbed"^[29] effort that the group hated but manager Ken Chase loved. Jerry Dennon's local Jerden label was contracted to press 1,000 vinyl 45s.^[100]

The guitar break is triggered by a shout, "Okay, let's give it to 'em right now!", both lifted from the Roberts version.^[101] Critic Dave Marsh suggests it is this moment that gives the recording greatness:^[102]

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 ....

Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, whose "passion for music was ignited by the Kingsmen's 'Louie Louie",^[103] recalled that "the lead singer's voice had the air of a boy smoking a cigarette with one hand while banging a tambourine in the other, an insolent distance to his delivery, a vision of being at once boss and bored."^[104]

Marsh ranked the song as No. 11 out of the 1001 greatest singles ever made, describing it as "the most profound and sublime expression of rock and roll's ability to create something from nothing".^[105] The Independent in Britain noted that it reinforced "a growing suspicion that enthusiasm was more important to rock 'n' roll than technical competence or literal meaning."^[33]

Music producer and historian Alec Palao wrote,^[45]

This is truly the quintessential garage band moment, an audio-vérité snapshot that communicates directly what red-blooded grass roots American rock 'n' roll is all about ... the Kingsmen's 'Louie Louie' spills forth with a rush of teenage hormones: raw, untutored, yet seemingly ready to take on the world.

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 twice over before the lead vocalist comes back in, it would be expected that Ely would do the same. Ely, however, missed his mark, coming in two bars 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. The error "imbued the Kingsmen recording with a touching humility and humanity"^[45] and is now so well known that multiple versions by other groups duplicate it.^[95][106]

First released in May 1963, the single was initially issued by the small Jerden label, before being picked up by the larger Wand Records in October 1963. Herb Alpert and A&M Records passed on the distribution opportunity,^[107] deeming it "too long" and "out of tune".^[108]

Sales of the Kingsmen record were initially 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.^[109]

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, backed by national promotion from Wand, acquired momentum and by the end of 1963, Columbia Records had stopped promoting the Raiders version.

It entered the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for December 7, and peaked at No. 2 the following week, a spot which it held for six non-consecutive weeks; it would remain in the top 10 throughout December 1963 and January 1964 before dropping off in early February.^[110] In total, the Kingsmen's version spent 16 weeks on the Hot 100, selling a million copies by April 1964.^[111] "Dominique" and "There! I've Said It Again" by the Singing Nun and Bobby Vinton, respectively, prevented the single from reaching No. 1 (although Marsh asserts that it "far outsold" the other records, but was denied Billboard's top spot due to lack of "proper decorum".)^[112] "Louie Louie" did reach No. 1 on the Cash Box and Music Vendor/Record World pop charts, as well as No. 1 on the Cash Box R&B chart.^[113][114] It was the last No. 1 on Cash Box before Beatlemania hit the United States with "I Want to Hold Your Hand".^[115] The Kingsmen version quickly became a standard at teen parties in the U.S. during the 1960s and, reaching No. 26 on the UK Singles Chart,^[116] was the preferred tune for a popular British dance called "The Shake".^[117] The first album, The Kingsmen In Person, peaked at No. 20 in 1964 and remained on the charts for over two years (131 weeks total) until 1966.^[118]

Due to the lyrics controversy and supported by the band's heavy touring schedule, the single continued to sell throughout 1965 and, after being reissued in 1966 as "Louie Louie 64-65-66", briefly reappeared on the charts, reaching No. 65 in Cash Box, No. 76 in Record World, No. 97 in Billboard^[119][120] and cracking the Top 40 in the Washington market.^[121] Total sales estimates for the single range from 10 million^[35] to over 12 million with cover versions accounting for another 300 million.^[122] In July 2023, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) certified the song silver for sales and streaming figures exceeding 200,000 units.^[123]

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 lyrics that were allegedly 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 a ban was requested by Governor Matthew Welsh.^{[124][125][126][127]} These actions were taken despite the fact 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."^[23] However, drummer Lynn Easton later admitted that he yelled "Fuck" after fumbling a drum fill at 0:54 on the record.^{[128][129][130][131]}

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.^[132] Ely released "Love That Louie" (as Jack E. Lee and the Squires) in 1964 and "Louie Louie '66" and "Louie Go Home" (as Jack Ely and the Courtmen) in 1966 without chart success. He re-recorded "Louie Louie" in 1976 and again in 1980, and these versions appear on multiple 60s hit compilations credited to "Jack Ely (formerly of the Kingsmen)" or "re-recordings by the original artists".

Subsequent Kingsmen "Louie Louie" versions with either Lynn Easton or Dick Peterson as lead vocalist appeared on Live & Unreleased (recorded 1963, released 1992), Live at the Castle (recorded 1964, released 2011), Shindig! Presents Frat Party (VHS, recorded 1965, released 1991), 60s Dance Party (1982), California Cooler Presents Cooler Hits (recorded 1986, released 1987),^[133] The Louie Louie Collection (as the Mystery Band, 1994), Red, White & Rock (2002), Garage Sale (recorded 2002, released 2003), and My Music: '60s Pop, Rock & Soul (DVD, 2011).^[134] A solo version by Peterson was also included on the 1999 Circle of Friends, Volume 1 CD.^[135]

On 9 November 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.^[136][137]

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.'"^[138] 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.^[139]

When Mike Mitchell died on April 16, 2021, he was the only remaining member of the Kingsmen's original lineup who still performed with the band.^[140] His "Louie Louie" guitar break has been called "iconic",^[141] "blistering",^[142] and "one of the most famous guitar solos of all time".^[143] Guitar Player magazine noted, "Raw, lightning-fast, and loud, the solo's unbridled energy helped make the song a No. 2 pop hit, but also helped set the template for garage-rock – and later hard-rock – guitar."^[144]

Citing it as “the only piece of pop music I can remember from my youth”, British writer Peter Ackroyd selected the Kingsmen's "Louie Louie", along with works by Beethoven, Bach, and Prokofiev as music selections on the BBC Radio 4 show, Desert Island Discs.^[145] Britain's Independent in 2015 declared it the "party anthem of the universe".^[98]

Paul Revere & the Raiders (1963)

"Louie Louie"
Original release
Single by Paul Revere & the Raiders
from the album Here They Come!
B-side	"Night Train"
Released	May 1963 (1963-05) (Sandē) June 1963 (1963-06) (Columbia)
Recorded	April 1963
Studio	Northwestern Inc.
Length	2:38
Label	Sandē 101, Columbia 4-42814
Songwriter(s)	Richard Berry
Producer(s)	Roger Hart
Paul Revere & the Raiders singles chronology
"So Fine" (1963) "Louie Louie" (1963) "Louie Go Home" (1963)
National release

Paul Revere & the Raiders also recorded a "cleaner, more accomplished"^[45] version of "Louie Louie", probably on April 11 or 13, 1963, in the same Portland studio as the Kingsmen.^{[146][147][148]} Personnel included Mark Lindsay (sax, vocals), Steve West (guitar), Paul Revere (bass), and Mike Smith (drums).^[149] The recording was paid for and produced by KISN radio personality Roger Hart, who soon became personal manager for the band.^[150] Released on Hart's Sandē label and plugged on his radio show,^[146] their version was more successful locally. Columbia Records issued the single nationally in June 1963 and it went to No. 1 in the West and Hawaii, but only reached No. 103 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart. The quick success of "Louie Louie" faltered, however, due to lack of support from Columbia and its A&R man Mitch Miller,^[151] a former bandleader (Sing Along With Mitch) with "retrogressive taste"^[152] who disliked the "musical illiteracy" of rock and roll.^[153]

The Raiders version opened with a distinctive "Grab yo woman, it's-a 'Louie Louie' time!" followed by a saxophone intro similar to the Rockin' Robin Roberts version (guitar in later releases).^[154] Another signature phrase was "Stomp and shout and work it on out". Lyrically, only the first verse was used with Mark Lindsay improvising the remaining vocals. The original version also contains a scarcely audible "dirty lyric" when Lindsay says, "Do she fuck? That psyches me up!" behind the guitar solo.^[155]

Robert Lindahl, president and chief engineer of NWI and sound engineer on both the Kingsmen and Raiders recordings, stated that the Raiders version was not known for "garbled lyrics" or an amateurish recording technique, but, as one author noted, their "more competent but uptight take on the song" was less exciting than the Kingsmen's version.^[156]

Live versions were included on Here They Come! (1965), Paul Revere Rides Again! (1983), and The Last Madman of Rock and Roll (1986, DVD). Later releases featured different lead vocalists on Special Edition (1982, Michael Bradley), Generic Rock & Roll (1993, Carlo Driggs), Flower Power (2011, Darren Dowler), and The Revolutionary Hits of Paul Revere & the Raiders (2019, David Huizenga).

The Raiders also recorded Richard Berry's "Have Love, Will Travel", a "'Louie Louie' rewrite",^[157] and "Louie, Go Home", an answer song penned by Lindsay and Revere after Berry declined their request to write a "Louie Louie" follow-up,^[158] as well as "Just Like Me", a "first cousin to 'Louie Louie'".^[159]

The Beach Boys (1964)

Surf music icons the Beach Boys released their version on the 1964 album Shut Down Volume 2 with lead vocals shared by Carl Wilson and Mike Love. Their effort was unusual in that it was rendered "in a version so faithful to Berry's Angeleno-revered original"^[160] instead of the more common garage rock style as they " tribute to the two most important earlier recordings of 'Louie Louie' — the 1957 original by Richard Berry and the Pharaohs, and the infamously unintelligible 1963 cover by the Kingsmen".^[161] Other surf music versions included the Chan-Dells in 1963, the Pyramids and the Surfaris in 1964, the Trashmen, the Invictas, and Jan and Dean in 1965, the Challengers in 1966, the Ripp Tides in 1981, and the Shockwaves in 1988.^[162]

Otis Redding (1964)

Otis Redding's "spunky ... free-associating"^[45] version was released on his 1964 album Pain in My Heart. Dave Marsh called it "the best of the era" and noted that he "rearranged it to suit his style" by adding a full horn section and "garble the lyrics so completely that it seems likely he made up the verses on the spot" as he "sang a story that made sense in his life" (including making Louie a female).^[163]

Other versions by R&B artists included Bobby Jay and the Hawks in 1964, Ike & Tina Turner, the Tams, and Nat & John in 1968, Wilbert Harrison in 1969, the Topics in 1970, and Barry White in 1981.^[162]

The Angels (1964)

With a version on their 1964 album A Halo to You, the Angels were the first girl group to cover "Louie Louie".^[160] Their "unlikely stab at frat rock staple"^[164] was also one of the first to deliberately duplicate the Jack Ely early vocal re-entry mistake after the bridge. The Best of Louie Louie, Volume 2 included their rendition.^[165]

A Minnesota girl group, the Shaggs, released a version as a 1965 single (Concert 1-78-65), and Honey Ltd. covered the song on a 1968 album and as a single (LHI 1216); however, the distinction of first girl group participation on a version of "Louie Louie" would go to the Shalimars, an Olympia girl group who provided overdubbed backing vocals in 1960 for a recording by Little Bill (Englehardt) released as a single in 1961 (Topaz 1305).^[71]

Female solo artist versions in the 1960s included Italian singer Maddalena in 1967 as a single titled "Lui Lui", Ike and Tina Turner in 1968 (released in 1988 on Ike & Tina Turner's Greatest Hits, Volume 2), and Julie London on her 1969 album Yummy, Yummy, Yummy.^[162]

The Kinks (1964)

The Kinks recorded "Louie Louie" on October 18, 1964. It was released in November 1964 in the UK on the Kinksize Session EP, reaching No. 1 on the Record Retailer EP chart.^[166] It was also released in 1965 on two US-only albums, Kinks-Size and Kinkdom, and on a French album, A Well Respected Man. Live 1960s versions were released on bootlegs The Kinks in Germany (1965), Kinky Paris (1965), Live in San Francisco (1969), Kriminal Kinks (1972), and The Kinks at the BBC (2012).^[167] The Kast Off Kinks continue to perform it live, occasionally joined by original Kinks members.^[168]

Sources vary on the impact of "Louie Louie" on the writing of "You Really Got Me" and "All Day and All of the Night". One writer called the two songs "sparse representations of a 'Louie Louie' mentality",^[169] while another succinctly called the former "a rewrite of the Kingsmen's 'Louie Louie'".^[170] A 1965 letter to London's Record Mirror opined, "Besides completely copying the Kingsmen's vocal and instrumental style, The Kinks rose to fame with two watery twists of this classic...."^[171] An opposing opinion was voiced by a different author who noted that the "You Really Got Me" riff is "unquestionably a guitar-based piece, fundamentally differs from "Louie Louie" and other earlier riff pieces with which it sometimes is compared".^[172]

Dave Marsh asserted that the Kinks "blatantly based their best early hits" on the "Louie Louie" riff.^[173] Other sources stated that Davies wrote "You Really Got Me" while trying to work out the chords of "Louie Louie" at the suggestion of the group's manager, Larry Page.^[174] According to biographer Thomas M. Kitts, Davies confirmed that Page suggested that "he write a song like 'Louie Louie'", but denied any direct influence.^[175]

Biographer Johnny Rogan noted no "Louie Louie" influence, writing that Davies adapted an earlier piano riff to the jazz blues style of Mose Allison, and that he was further influenced by seeing Chuck Berry and Gerry Mulligan in Jazz on a Summer's Day, a 1958 film about the Newport Jazz Festival. Rogan also cited brother Dave Davies' distorted power chords as "the sonic contribution that transformed the composition" into a hit song.^[176]

Whether directly or indirectly, the Kingsmen version influenced the musical style of the early Kinks. They were huge fans of the Kingsmen's "Louie Louie" and Dave Davies remembered the song inspiring Ray's singing, saying in an interview:^[177][178]

We played that record over and over. And Ray copied a lot of his vocal style from that guy . I was always trying to get Ray to sing, because I thought he had a great voice, but he was very shy. Then we heard The Kingsmen and he had that lazy, throwaway, laid-back drawl in his voice, and it was magic.

Alec Palao in the Love That Louie CD liner notes highlighted Davies' "supremely lecherous, almost drunken vocal" and suggested that "Davies drew from 'Louie' the urchin persona that populated so much of the Kinks' early work".^[45]

The Sandpipers (1966)

After their No. 1 hit "Guantanamera", the Sandpipers, with producer Tommy LiPuma and arranger Nick DeCaro, "cleverly revived"^[179] the same soft rock, smooth ballad, Spanish language approach with a "quiet, yet majestic",^[45] "sweet interpretation"^[180] of "Louie Louie", reaching No. 30 and No. 35 on the Billboard and Cashbox charts, respectively (the highest charting U.S. version after the Kingsmen). The success of their "smoky version"^[181] heralded the entry of the ever adaptable "Louie Louie" into the MOR and easy listening categories and many followed: David McCallum and J.J. Jones (1967), Honey Ltd. (1968), Julie London (1969), Sounds Orchestral (1970), Line Renaud (1973), Dave Stewart and Barbara Gaskin (1991), and others released singles and albums featuring slower and mellower versions of what had previously been an up tempo pop and rock standard.^[182]

Travis Wammack (1966)

With the only instrumental version to make the charts, Travis Wammack reached No. 128 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 in April 1966.^[183] An early guitar innovator and "precursor to guitar-hero shredding", his distinctive sound on "Louie Louie" was "liberally laced with fuzztone"^[45] created by playing through an overdriven drive-in movie speaker.^[184]

Released as a single (Atlantic 2322), the track was not included on Wammack's first album in 1972 or any thereafter. It appeared on a 1967 French release (Formidable Rhythm And Blues (Vol. 3)), but not again until two Wammack compilations, That Scratchy Guitar From Memphis (1987) and Scr-Scr-Scratchy! (1989). It was also included on two later various artists compilations, Love That Louie: The Louie Louie Files (2002) and Boom Boom A Go-Go! (2014).

Other notable 1960s instrumental versions included the Ventures, Ian Whitcomb, and Sandy Nelson in 1965, Ace Cannon and Pete Fountain in 1966, Floyd Cramer 1967, and Willie Mitchell in 1969.^[162]

The Sonics (1966)

The Sonics released their "blistering makeover ... definitive punk arrangement"^[45] as a 1965 single (Etiquette ET-23) and on the 1966 album Boom. Later versions appeared on Sinderella (1980) and Live at Easy Street (2016).

Described as a major influence on punk and garage music worldwide,^[185] the group's characteristic hard-edged, fuzz-drenched sound and "abrasive, all-out approach"^[186] "took the Northwest garage sound to its most primitive extreme"^[187] and made their "Louie Louie" version ahead of its time. They also made it more "fierce and threatening"^[188] by altering the traditional 1-4-5-4 chord pattern to the "darker, more sinister" 1-3b-4-3b.^[45]

Mongo Santamaria (1966)

Cuban percussionist and bandleader Mongo Santamaria's version, a "cousin of 'Watermelon Man'",^[189] returned "Louie Louie" to its Afro-Cuban roots, echoing Rene Touzet's "El Loco Cha Cha" with his conga- and trumpet-driven Latin jazz version. Originally released on the 1966 album Hey! Let's Party, it was also included on the 1983 compilation The Best of Louie Louie, Volume 2.^[165] Other early Latin-flavored versions were released by Pedrito Ramirez con los Yogis (Angelo 518, 1965), Pete Terrace (El Nuevo Pete Terrace, 1966), Eddie Cano (Brought Back Live from P.J.'s, 1967), Mario Allison (De Fiesta, 1967), and Rey Davila (On His Own, 1971).

Latin American jazz/rock innovator Carlos Santana compared Tito Puente's 1962 "Oye Como Va" to "Louie Louie" saying, "... how close the feel was to 'Louie Louie' and some Latin jazz tunes" ^[190] and "... this is a song like 'Louie Louie' or 'Guantanamera'. This is a song that when you play it, people are going to get up and dance, and that's it."^[191]

Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention (1967)edit

"Louie Louie" occurred repeatedly as an "idée fixe" in the musical lexicon of Frank Zappa in the 1960s with the Soul Giants^[192] and the Mothers of Invention. He categorized the riff as one of several "Archetypal American Musical Icons ... whose presence in an arrangement puts a spin on any lyric in their vicinity"^[193] and used it initially "to make fun of the old-fashioned rock 'n' roll they had transcended".^[8] Although he characterized the Kingsmen version as a "mutilation"^[194] and an "Animal House joke",^[195] he had a higher opinion of Richard Berry, calling him "one of the most important figures in the West Coast rhythm-and-blues scene of the Fifties"^[194] and saying, "No one may not underestimate [sic] the impact of 'Louie Louie', the original Richard Berry version."^[196]

His original compositions "Plastic People" and "Ruthie-Ruthie" (from You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 1) were set to the melody of "Louie Louie" and included "Music by Richard Berry" credits.^[197] Zappa said that he fired guitarist Alice Stuart from the Mothers of Invention because she couldn't play "Louie Louie", although this comment was obviously intended as a joke.^[198]

At a 1967 concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London, Mothers of Invention keyboardist Don Preston climbed up to the venue's famous pipe organ, usually used for classical works, and played the signature riff (included on the 1969 album Uncle Meat). Quick interpolations of "Louie Louie" also frequently turn up in other Zappa works.^[199]

Other 1960s versionsedit

• Little Bill with the Adventurers and the Shalimars, as a 1961 single (Topaz T-1305).^[71]
• Terry Kath, on a 1963 single with his first group, The Mystics.^[200][201]
• The Swamp Rats, on a 1964 single (St. Clair MF69). Also released on their 1979 album Disco Sucks.^[162]
• The Standells, on a 1964 album The Standells in Person at P.J.s.^[162]
• Leon Russell, "pumping chords all the way through" as a session player on The Top-40 Song Book, a 1964 singalong album by arranger H. B. Barnum and producer David Axelrod.^[202]
• The Sentinals, on their 1964 album Vegas Go Go.^[162]
• Pat Metheny, in the 1960s with his first group, The Beat Bombs.^[203]
• John Fogerty, live in 1964 with the Golliwogs^[204]
• Allen Collins, with his first group, The Mods, in 1964^[205]
• The Bobby Fuller Four, recorded 1964, released on a French bootleg LP I Fought The Law in 1983 and on El Paso Rock: Early Recordings, Vol. 1 in 1996.^[162]
• Jan and Dean, live on their 1965 Command Performance album backed by the Fantastic Baggys;^[162] considered by some the "best track on the album".^[206]
• Steven Tyler, with his group Steven and the Strangeurs in 1965.^[207]
• Sandy Nelson, an instrumental version on his 1965 album Boss Beat.^[162]
• Marshall Crenshaw, with his first group in Detroit in the mid-1960s.^[208]
• The Invictas, on their 1965 album The Invictas À Go-Go; re-released in 1983.^[162]
• The Pink Finks (Australia), on a 1965 charting single (Mojo MO-001)^[209] with Ross Wilson singing "whatever sounded right to him".^[210]
• The Outcasts (New York), recorded 1960s, released in 1987 on The Battle Of The Bands Live!^[162]
• The Ventures, an instrumental version on their 1965 album The Ventures a Go-Go.^[162]
• Ian Whitcomb, an instrumental piano version on a 1965 single (Tower 216).^[162]
• The Castaways, live in 1965 at the Cow Palace.^[211]
• Jim Morrison's first vocal performance on stage was "Louie Louie" in 1965 with Rick and the Ravens (with Ray Manzarek) at the Turkey Joint West in Santa Monica,^[212][213] and the newly formed Doors initially used it as their opening number.^[214]
Zdroj:https://en.wikipedia.org?pojem=Louie,_Louie
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