Louie Louie

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Louie Louie is an American rock 'n' roll song written by Richard Berry in 1955. It has become a standard in pop and rock, with hundreds of versions recorded by different artists. The song is written in the style of a Jamaican ballad; and tells, in simple verse-chorus form, the first-person story of a Jamaican sailor returning to the island to see his lady love.

A version by The Kingsmen recorded in 1963 is perhaps the best-known recording; it was also the subject of an FBI investigation about the supposed but non-existent obscenity of the lyrics, an investigation that ended without prosecution.

While the title of the song is often rendered with a comma ("Louie, Louie") Berry stated in an interview for the September 1988 issue of Esquire magazine that the correct title of the song was "Louie Louie", with no comma.

1 Original version
2 Version by The Kingsmen
3 Legacy
4 The Louie Louie Riff
5 Sample
6 Footnotes
7 References

[edit] Original version

Berry was inspired to write the song in 1955 after listening to and performing René Touzet's "El Loco Cha Cha" with Ricky Rillera and the Rhythm Rockers, another example of the influence of the "Spanish Tinge". In Berry's mind, the words "Louie Louie" superimposed themselves over the bass line of the song, a walking ten-note riff. 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. Berry cited Chuck Berry's "Havana Moon" and his exposure to Latin music for the song's speech pattern and references to Jamaica.<ref>Liner notes, Rhino Records re-release The Best of Louie Louie (1989; Rhino R1 70605)</ref>

Richard Berry released his version in April 1957 with his backing band, the Pharaohs (Originally the b-side of "You Are My Sunshine", Flip Records 321), and scored a minor success on the rhythm and blues charts in the U.S., which were dominated by African-American artists and bought almost exclusively by black listeners.

[edit] Version by The Kingsmen

In the U.S. music industry of the 1950s and 1960s, mainstream white artists would often re-record songs by black artists. On April 6 1963, a rock and roll group from Portland, Oregon called The Kingsmen chose "Louie Louie" as their second recording, their first being "Peter Gun Rock" recorded the year before.

There is some controversy as to the circumstances of this recording. It is definitely known that the Kingsmen recorded it at Northwestern, Inc., Motion Pictures and Recording in Portland Oregon. The group paid a small sum of $52 for a one hour Saturday morning session. The Kingsmen's lead singer, Jack Ely, taught the song to the band at least a year earlier, basing his version on a 1961 recording of Berry's tune by another band from the Pacific Northwest, Rockin' Robin Roberts and the Fabulous Wailers (no relation to The Wailers headed by Bob Marley years later), unintentionally introducing a slight change in the rhythm as he did.

The Kingsmen's version was recorded in one or two takes (with the second being used); according to some reports, the band may have thought they were rehearsing rather than laying down the final track. Ely himself, depending on which source one believes, was either hoarse from singing the night before, wearing braces on his teeth, hung over, obliged to shout the lyrics into a boom microphone which couldn't be adjusted to his height, or some combination thereof - or it could have been that Ely, along with the rest of the group, simply lacked the talent to produce a proper recording.

"Actually," says Ely, "we did have the "talent," but we were directed by producer Ken Chase to set up in a circle around a boom mic hung up by the ceiling and I was directed by Ken to sing up into that one mic in order to capture that same live sound we normally had at his club. It is rather comical to note at this time that, while we were recording Louie Louie, Mr. Lindahl had been purposely locked out of the sound booth by Mr. Chase so as not to interfere with Chase's engineering. He was as they say, "Madder than a wet hen," but what was done was done, and he proceeded to expel us all from his studio."

Robert Lindahl, then-president and chief engineer of NWI, and the sound engineer on the Kingsmen's and Paul Revere & the Raiders' later session of the same song in the exact same studio, mistakenly recalled in interviews that both times the boom mics were parked against the wall and never used, and noted that the Raiders' version is not known for "garbled lyrics" or an amateurish recording technique. Another error left on the track is when singer Jack Ely begins singing the verse of the song much too early after the guitar break in the middle, at about 1:58. He realizes he's made a mistake and drummer Lynn Easton was left to cover the error with a drum fill.

Whatever the factors in the session, the Kingsmen transformed Berry's relatively easy-going ballad into a raucous romp, complete with a twangy guitar, occasional background chatter, and almost completely unintelligible lyrics by Ely. The version quickly became a standard at teen parties in the U.S. during the 1960s (fueled by tremendous but inexplicable popularity in Boston), and reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and number one on the slightly less popular Cashbox chart.

Another factor in the success of the record may have been the rumor that the lyrics were intentionally slurred by the Kingsmen to cover the fact that it was laced with profanity, usually in the graphic depiction of 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 it was personally banned by the Governor, Matthew Welsh, simply on the rumor alone, as practically no one could understand the actual lyrics. The Kingsmen and Ely protested, when asked, that the lyrics were sung more or less as Berry had written them, but this did not stop the controversy. Even the FBI became involved in the controversy - but concluded a 31-month investigation with a report that they were "unable to interpret any of the wording in the record" [1].

Oddly enough, the song does contain one possibly obscene moment that the FBI missed. Immediately before the second verse (approximately 54 seconds into the song), drummer Lynn Easton supposedly banged his sticks by accident and shouted "Fuck!".

[edit] Legacy

The Kingsmen's version has remained the most popular version of the song, retaining its association with wild partying. It enjoyed a brief comeback which also associated it with college fraternity parties in the 1970s when it was sung, complete with the supposedly obscene lyrics, by Bluto (John Belushi) and his fellow fraternity brothers in the movie National Lampoon's Animal House. A more faithful rendition of the song was recorded by Belushi for the accompanying soundtrack album. The song's inclusion in the film is in fact a bit of a gaffe; the film's action is set in 1962, one year prior to the Kingsmen's recording.

It is unknown exactly how many versions of Louie Louie have been recorded, but it is believed to be over 1,500 variations, according to LouieLouie.net. This popularity helped Berry receive overdue compensation for unpaid royalties.

Some bands have taken liberties with the lyrics, including attempts to record the supposed "obscene lyrics". It is believed the first artists to do so were The Stooges. Iggy Pop would later record a more civilized cover version of the song, with new lyrics composed by Pop, for his 1993 album American Caesar.

Ray Davies says that he wrote The Kinks first hit, "You Really Got Me" while trying to work out the chords of Louie Louie. The band later recorded it on an EP, but still didn't get the chords quite right.

A version of Louie Louie performed by The Clash can be found on a vinyl bootleg of the band called "Louie is a Punkrocker".

Paul Revere & The Raiders recorded and released a version of Louie Louie at roughly the same time as The Kingsmen. In addition to claiming some credit for the success of the song, they also recorded a follow-up called "Louie, Go Home".

Howard Stern performed a parody version of Louie Louie titled "Baldy Baldy" at his infamous Dabella Funeral in Philadelphia.

Louie Louie has figured in the musical lexicon of Frank Zappa. An early live version of his original composition "Plastic People" (from his "You Can't Do That Onstage Anymore" series of live albums) is set to the melody of "Louie, Louie". (The official version was released on the album Absolutely Free.) At a Zappa concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London, Mothers Of Invention keyboardist Don Preston climbed up to the legendary venue's pipe organ, usually used for classical works, and played the signature riff. Quick interpolations of "Louie, Louie" also frequently turn up in other Zappa works.

"Louie Louie" was Motörhead's first single for Bronze Records. It was a relatively faithful cover of the song, with "Fast" Eddie Clarke's guitar emulating the Hohner Pianet electric piano riff.

Nirvana's popular single "Smells Like Teen Spirit" uses as its introduction a loose adaptation of the Louie Louie chord line by way of Boston's "More Than a Feeling", according to Kurt Cobain in a 1992 Rolling Stone interview.

Black Flag released its own version of Louie Louie in 1981 on Posh Boy Records, then reissued the single on its own SST label and as part of the anthology The First Four Years. It features Dez Cadena on vocals for the lead track, with Cadena's own lyrics for the song as an alternate version heard on the 1982 outtakes compilation Everything Went Black. A live recording of Black Flag's version from the 1986 live album Who's Got the 10½? features Henry Rollins following in the band's tradition of improvising new lyrics for the song.

In 1988, rap trio The Fat Boys covered the song for its fourth album Comin' Back Hard Again, with new lyrics by the band that focused on the history of the song.

In 1985, Ross Shafer, host and a writer-performer of the late-night comedy series Almost Live! on the Seattle TV station KING, spearheaded an effort to have "Louie Louie" replace "Washington, My Home" by Helen Davis as Washington's official state song. <ref>Seattle Weekly (October 27, 1999) Music: "The State I'm In", by Kurt B. Reighley</ref> Picking up on this initially prankish effort, Whatcom County Councilman Craig Cole introduced Resolution No. 85-12 in the state legislature, citing the need for a "contemporary theme song that can be used to engender a sense of pride and community, and in the enhancement of tourism and economic development". His resolution also called for the creation of a new "Louie Louie County". While the House did not pass it, the Senate's Resolution 1985-37 declared April 12, 1985, "Louie Louie Day". A crowd of 4,000, estimated by press reports, convened on the state capitol that day for speeches, singalongs, and performances by the Wailers, the Kingsmen, and Paul Revere and the Raiders. Three days later, a Seattle event commemorated the occasion with the premiere performance of a new, Washington-centric version of the song written by composer Berry.<ref>The Bellingham Herald (Feb. 20, 2006): "What Would You Pick as State Vegetable?", by Dean Kahn</ref> <ref>Liner notes, The Best Of Louie Louie Volume 2 (Rhino R1 70515), by Doc Pelzell</ref>

In the early '80s, Rhino Records released on vinyl and cassette two editions of The Best of Louie Louie. The first features Richard Berry's original recording, the Kingsmen's influential version, Black Flag's version, and several other, often bizarre versions, including one by the Rice University Marching Owl Band and one recorded especially for the album by an unidentified a cappella group singing the song's title to the melody of Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus".

An instrumental version is heard during the last scene and closing credits of The Naked Gun. In the film, the University of Southern California Marching Band plays the band seen trampling Ricardo Montalban's character, but the audio of the song is provided by the Rice Marching Owl Band, from the same recording as appears on the Rhino record.

A version of "Louie Louie" performed by Robert Plant is on the soundtrack of the 1993 film, Wayne's World 2.

The Kingsmen's version appears on the closing credits of The Simpsons episode Homer Goes To College.

In August 2003, 754 guitarists played a ten-minute rendition of Louie Louie at Cheney Stadium, in Tacoma, Washington, United States [2].

There is a movement to declare April 11, Richard Berry's birthday, as International Louie Louie Day. [3] [4]

The oldschool rap band Ultramagnetic MC's have a song called "Travelling at the Speed of Thought" which contains a sample of the Louie Louie riff.

Transvision Vamp's song, "Baby I Don't Care", has an opening guitar riff that's uncannily similar to The Sonics cover of Louie Louie. Wendy James's vocals are very similar to the Sonics'.

In 2006, the Dave Matthews Band sampled Louie Louie in jams during various live versions of fan favourite - Warehouse (Under the Table and Dreaming.

[edit] The Louie Louie Riff

The chords to the main riff to Louie Louie (As played by the Kingsmen) are A major, D major, and E minor. (In tablature: A-A-A, D-D, Em-Em-Em, D-D.)