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70-517: The namesake of LouieFest is " Louie Louie ", the most recorded rock song in history as documented by music historian Peter Blecha . According to Blecha's records and research, “Louie Louie” celebrated its 50-year mark in April, 2007 with 1,600 known recordings. The legacy of this rock and roll song phenomenon is traced directly to The Wailers of Tacoma , Washington. Rockin’ Robin Roberts (1940-1967),

140-590: A 1997 obituary for Richard Berry, termed it "a cornerstone of rock". Music historian Peter Blecha noted, "Far from shuffling off to a quiet retirement, evidence indicates that 'Louie Louie' may actually prove to be immortal." Although the song "surely resists learned exegesis ", other writers described it as "musically simple, lyrically simple, and joyously infectious", "deliciously moronic", "a completely unforgettable earworm ", "the essence of rock's primal energy", and "the immortal international hit ... that defines rock 'n' roll." Others noted that it "served as

210-445: A ban was requested by Governor Matthew Welsh . 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." However, drummer Lynn Easton later admitted that he yelled "Fuck" after fumbling

280-423: 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. Greil Marcus Greil Marcus (born June 19, 1945) is an American author, music journalist and cultural critic. He is notable for producing scholarly and literary essays that place rock music in

350-476: A bridge to the R&;B of the past and the rap scene of the future", that "it came to symbolize the garage rock genre, where the typical performance was often aggressive and usually amateurish", and that "all you need to make a great rock 'n' roll record are the chords to 'Louie Louie' and a bad attitude." Music historian and filmmaker Eric Predoehl of The Louie Report described the song as, Purity. It's just

420-640: A broader framework of culture and politics. Marcus was born Greil Gerstley in San Francisco , California , the only son of Greil Gerstley and Eleanor Gerstley ( née Hyman). His father, a naval officer , died in December 1944, when a Philippine typhoon sank the USS Hull , on which he was serving as second-in-command . Admiral William Halsey had ordered the U.S. Third Fleet to sail into Typhoon Cobra "to see what they were made of," and, despite

490-494: 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." 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". The Independent in Britain noted that it reinforced "a growing suspicion that enthusiasm

560-480: A drum fill at 0:54 on the record. 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

630-518: 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" after hearing Berry's obscure original single, and Bobby Day 's " Rockin' Robin ", which gave him his stage name. In 1959, Roberts left the Bluenotes and began singing with another local band,

700-406: 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'", termed it a "totem of magic", and recalled that "the lead singer's [Ely] voice had the air of a boy smoking

770-668: A rock critic and columnist for Rolling Stone (where he was the first reviews editor) and other publications, including Creem , the Village Voice , Artforum , and Pitchfork . From 1983 to 1989, he was on the board of directors of the National Book Critics Circle . Since 1966 he has been married to Jenny Marcus, with whom he has two daughters. Marcus' daughter Emily died on January 31, 2023 of cancer. His book Mystery Train (published in 1975 and in its sixth revised and updated edition in 2015)

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840-403: A ten-note "1-2-3 1–2 1-2-3 1–2" tumbao or rhythmic pattern. The "unforgettable hook" of "Louie Louie" was lifted directly from Touzet's composition. In Berry's mind, the words to "Louie Louie" "just kind of fell out of the sky", superimposing themselves over the repeating bassline as he scribbled backstage on a strip of toilet paper. Lyrically, the first person perspective of the song

910-544: A touching humility and humanity" and is now so well known that multiple versions by other groups duplicate it. 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. Wand president Florence Greenberg said, "... it was forced down my throat by friends. I was ashamed to put it out." Herb Alpert and A&M Records passed on

980-446: 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". American Songwriter summarized, "It might be the best-known rock song of all time. It might be

1050-427: 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" and Greil Marcus asked, "Has there ever been a bad version of 'Louie Louie'?" Paul Revere summarized, "Three chords and the most mundane beat possible. Any idiot could learn it, and they all did." The Kingsmen version in particular has been cited as

1120-569: Is Jennelle Marcus ( née Berstein). Marcus earned an undergraduate degree in American studies from the University of California, Berkeley , where he also undertook graduate studies in political science . He often cited as a major influence a Berkeley political science professor, Michael Rogin , of whom he said: "That course had more to do with putting me on the path I've followed ever since, for good or ill, than anything else." He has been

1190-430: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Louie Louie " 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

1260-513: 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". The "extraordinary roller-coaster tale of obscurity, scandal, success and immortality" and "remarkable historical impact" of "Louie Louie" have been recognized by organizations and publications worldwide. A partial list (see Recognition and rankings table below) includes

1330-405: Is notable for placing rock and roll in the context of American cultural archetypes, from Moby-Dick to The Great Gatsby to Stagger Lee . Marcus's "recognition of the unities in the American imagination that already exist" inspired countless rock journalists. On August 30, 2011, Time magazine published a list of its selection of the 100 best nonfiction books since 1923, when the magazine

1400-597: The Cash Box and Music Vendor/Record World pop charts, as well as No. 1 on the Cash Box R&;B chart. In Canada it was No. 1 for three weeks beginning December 30, 1963. It was the last No. 1 on Cash Box before Beatlemania hit the United States with " I Want to Hold Your Hand ". The Kingsmen version quickly became a standard at teen parties in the U.S. during the 1960s and, reaching No. 26 on

1470-679: 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 . 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", and also labeled it "cosmically crude". Rock critic Greil Marcus called it "a law of nature" and New York Times music critic Jon Pareles , writing in

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1540-777: 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;

1610-523: The UK Singles Chart , was the preferred tune for a popular British dance called " The Shake ". 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. 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

1680-684: The University of California, Berkeley , and teaches a lecture class, "The Old Weird America: Music as Democratic Speech – From the Commonplace Song to Bob Dylan", at the New School . During the fall of 2008, he held the Winton Chair in the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Minnesota , where he taught and lectured on the history of American pop culture. His book When That Rough God Goes Riding: Listening to Van Morrison

1750-597: The " rosetta stone " of garage rock, the defining " ur-text " of punk rock, and "the original grunge classic". "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'." Pronunciation has varied widely from Berry's original "Lou-ee Lou-ee" to "Lou-ee 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. Richard Berry

1820-763: The 1–2–3–4, 1–2, 1–2–3–4 beat on the Wailers record. 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. They also recorded " Jamaica Farewell " and what became the B-side of the release, an original "surf instrumental" by Ely and keyboardist Don Gallucci called "Haunted Castle". The Kingsmen's version with its "ragged", "sloppy", "chaotic", "shambolic, lumbering style", complete with "manic lead guitar solo, insane cymbal crashes, generally slurred and unintelligible lyrics", transformed

1890-574: The 20th Century (1989), stretched his trademark riffing across a century of Western civilization. Positing punk rock as a transhistorical cultural phenomenon, Marcus examined philosophical connections between subjects as diverse as medieval heretics , Dada , the Situationists , and the Sex Pistols . Marcus published Dead Elvis , a collection of writings about Elvis Presley , in 1991, and Ranters and Crowd Pleasers (reissued as In

1960-562: The Castle , and multiple later compilations. Roberts was killed in an automobile accident in 1967, but his "legacy would reverberate down through the ages". 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." On 6 April 1963, 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

2030-718: The Fascist Bathroom: Punk in Pop Music ), an examination of post- punk political pop, in 1993. Using bootleg recordings of Bob Dylan as a starting point, he dissected the American subconscious in Invisible Republic : Bob Dylan's Basement Tapes , published in 1997. He writes the column "Elephant Dancing" for Interview and "Real Life Rock Top Ten" for The Believer . He occasionally teaches graduate courses in American Studies at

2100-570: 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. In total,

2170-519: The Kingsmen's version spent 16 weeks on the Hot 100, selling a million copies by April 1964. " 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".) "Louie Louie" did reach No. 1 on

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2240-539: 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), The Louie Louie Collection (as

2310-577: The Mystery Band, 1994), Red, White & Rock (2002), Garage Sale (recorded 2002, released 2003), and My Music: '60s Pop, Rock & Soul (DVD, 2011). A solo version by Peterson was also included on the 1999 Circle of Friends, Volume 1 CD. 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

2380-685: The Pacific Northwest's nascent rhythm & blues scene in the 1950s and 1960s", 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. Robin Roberts developed an interest in rock 'n' roll and rhythm and blues records as

2450-481: 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 to 130,000 copies. Other versions appeared on Casino Club Presents Richard Berry (1966), Great Rhythm and Blues Oldies Volume 12 (1977), and The Best of Louie, Louie (1983). Although similar to

2520-577: The Pharaohs in April 1956. 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. Flip released

2590-552: The Richard Berry/Ron Holden arrangement" version put out at about the same time by Little Bill Englehardt (Topaz T-1305). The record was then reissued and promoted by Liberty Records in Los Angeles, but it failed to chart nationally. 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

2660-442: The Wailers , famed for their "hard-nosed R&B/rock fusion". 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. The arrangement, devised by Roberts with the band, was "the first-ever garage version of 'Louie Louie'" and included "one of the true great moments of rock", his ad-libbed "Let's give it to 'em, RIGHT NOW!!" before

2730-516: The bands" events. Holden recorded an unreleased version, backed by the Thunderbirds, for the Nite Owl label in 1959. As a leader of the "dirty but cool" Seattle R&B sound, he would often substitute mumbled, "somewhat pornographic" lyrics in "a live tour de force [that] often lasted ten minutes or longer, devastating local audiences." Lewis, "the singularly most significant figure on

2800-470: The career of another notable Northwest garage band, The Sonics , who expanded the white rhythm and blues sound. LouieFest celebrates the legacy of the much beloved three-chord sensation by closing every festival with the audience participating as an ensemble, playing “Louie Louie” in unison, rock and roll's eternally youthful anthem of the Baby Boomer generation. This music festival-related article

2870-803: The charts, reaching No. 65 in Cash Box , No. 76 in Record World , No. 97 in Billboard and cracking the Top 40 in the Washington market. Total sales estimates for the single range from 10 million to over 12 million with cover versions accounting for another 300 million. In July 2023, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) certified the song silver for sales and streaming figures exceeding 200,000 units. Another factor in

LouieFest - Misplaced Pages Continue

2940-424: The crew's urging, Gerstley refused to disobey the order, arguing that there had never been a mutiny in the history of the U.S. Navy and that "somebody had to die". The incident inspired the novel The Caine Mutiny . Eleanor Gerstley was three months pregnant when her husband died. In 1948, she married Gerald Marcus, who adopted her son and gave the boy his surname. Greil Marcus has several half-siblings. His wife

3010-455: The distribution opportunity, deeming it "too long" and "out of tune". 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

3080-419: The earlier Rockin' Robin Roberts version on which it was based into a "bumbling, bear-in-a-china-shop", "gloriously incoherent", "raw and raucous" "stomping garage-rocker" "so wrong it's right". Ely had to stand on tiptoe to sing into a boom mike, and his braces further impeded his "sinew-stretching", "giraffe-neck gabble" singing. The result was a "raw and unsanitized, unmanaged and unscrubbed" effort that

3150-407: The group hated but manager Ken Chase loved. Jerry Dennon's local Jerden label was contracted to press 1,000 vinyl 45s. The guitar break is triggered by a shout, "Okay, let's give it to 'em right now!", both lifted from the Roberts version. Critic Dave Marsh suggests it is this moment that gives the recording greatness: [Ely] went for it so avidly you'd have thought he'd spotted the jugular of

3220-556: The guitar solo. 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". 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

3290-400: 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

3360-478: 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. The company asked the Artists Rights Society to locate him which led to Berry's taking legal action to regain his rights to

3430-427: The most important rock song of all time." The Kingsmen's recording was the subject of an FBI investigation about the supposed, but nonexistent, obscenity of the lyrics that ended without prosecution. 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

3500-528: The original version of "Louie Louie" to display "Lead vocal by Jack Ely" on the label. 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

3570-509: The original, the version on Rhino 's 1983 The Best of Louie, Louie compilation is actually a note-for-note re-recording (with backup vocals by doo wop revival group Big Daddy ) created because licensing could not be obtained for Berry's 1957 version. The original version was included on a 1986 Swedish compilation, but not until the Ace Records Love That Louie release in 2002 did it see wide distribution. In

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3640-405: The particular ephemeral nuances that attend the moment of inscription. What is, from a certain perspective, mind-numbingly simple is in fact a complex network of phenomenal elements that we perceive as a whole. 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

3710-449: 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. 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

3780-513: The song at Northwestern Inc. Motion Pictures & Recording Studios at 411 SW 13th Avenue in Portland, Oregon. The one hour session, originally intended to produce an audition tape for a summer cruise ship gig, cost either $ 36, $ 50, or somewhere in between, and the band split the cost. The session was produced by Ken Chase, a local disc jockey on the AM rock station KISN who also owned The Chase,

3850-575: 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. 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), but became best known in the "El Loco Cha Cha" arrangement by René Touzet which included "three great chords, solid and true" and

3920-488: The song's eternal perpetuation", while another writer termed it "the ultimate expression of youthful rebellion". 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 ...." Richard Berry was inspired to write

3990-461: The song. The settlement made Berry a millionaire. 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. "Louie Louie" is the world's most recorded rock song, with published estimates ranging from over 1,600 to more than 2,000 "with ever more still being released and performed". It has been released or performed by

4060-459: The songs since the 1960s. 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. ' " 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

4130-439: The success of the record may have been the rumour that the vocals 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

4200-477: 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

4270-564: The title rendered as "Louie Lo v ie".) 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." 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. When Berry toured

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4340-467: The top of rock and roll fame, and subsequently inspired countless garage bands the world over. The Wailers released “Louie Louie” in 1961 on their own label, Etiquette Records, history's first artist-owned label by a garage band. They achieved a huge regional hit with the single. The Kingsmen , and Paul Revere and the Raiders , are credited with later recordings of “Louie Louie” resulting in chart-topping, national exposure. Etiquette Records also pioneered

4410-512: The unnamed vocalist of The Wailers, collaborated with founding member and lead guitarist, Richard Dangel (1942-2002) to write an arrangement of the Richard Berry Jamaican sea shanty from the B-side of a 45-single he found in a record store for ten cents. ‘Rockin’ Roberts interjected one single phrase that is said to have changed rock music forever: “Let’s give it to ‘em right now.” This immortal idiom helped launch “Louie Louie” to

4480-631: The world. Albin J. Zak in The Poetics of Rock commented, What makes the Kingsmen's "Louie Louie" a good record? Neither lyrics nor melodic design, harmonic motion, rhythmic groove, or instrumental arrangement — all of which can be represented in some fashion apart from the record (though the lyrics would be at best an approximation) — hold the key to the answer. The record's power is in its sound, which represents multiple elements, processes, and voices — song, arrangement, sounds, techniques of sound recording and processing, musical performances, and all

4550-571: Was first published; Mystery Train was on the list, one of only five books dealing with culture and the only one on the subject of American music. Writing for The New York Times , Dwight Garner said, " Mystery Train is among the few works of criticism that can move me to something close to tears. It reverberated in my young mind like the E major chord that ends the Beatles ' " A Day in the Life ." His next book, Lipstick Traces: A Secret History of

4620-482: 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). He additionally cited Chuck Berry 's " Havana Moon " and his own exposure to Latin American music for the song's speech pattern and references to Jamaica . Los Angeles-based Flip Records recorded Berry's composition with his vocal group

4690-436: Was more important to rock 'n' roll than technical competence or literal meaning." Music producer and historian Alec Palao wrote, 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

4760-582: Was on the underbill for a concert in the Seattle–Tacoma area in September 1957 and his record appeared on local radio station charts in November 1957 after "African American DJs Bob Summerrise and Eager Beaver started playing it on their radio shows”. 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

4830-523: Was published in March 2010. It focuses on "Marcus's quest to understand Van Morrison 's particular genius through the extraordinary and unclassifiable moments in his long career". The title is derived from Morrison's 1997 song " Rough God Goes Riding ". He subsequently published book, Bob Dylan by Greil Marcus: Writings 1968–2010 (2010) and The Doors: A Lifetime of Listening to Five Mean Years (2011). The Los Angeles Review of Books in 2012 published

4900-485: Was swift and positive. 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

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