Misplaced Pages

#249750

22-516: (Redirected from Rhythm Rockers ) Rhythm Rocker may refer to: Rick Rillera and the Rhythm Rockers, featuring Richard Berry Crazy Cavan and the Rhythm Rockers , Welsh band The Rhythm Rockers, Robert Valdez, Gil Roman and David Perper Kawasaki Rhythm Rocker , a synthesizer Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with

44-412: A girl with whom he attended high school, in 1957, and they had two children, Pam and Marcel. They divorced in 1968. Dorothy pursued a music career, recording for Garpax Records , Challenge Records , Little Star Records and Tangerine . She was a Raelette for Ray Charles until the early 1980s. Berry had six children in total, Pamela, Richard Marcel, Stephani, Karen, Linda and Christy. Christy, who

66-430: A lawyer visited Berry. The lawyer mentioned the possibility of Berry's taking action to gain the rights to his song. The publishers settled out of court, making Berry a millionaire. In the early 1980s, Berry recorded a duet with his ex-wife Dorothy titled 'The World Needs Peace'. He re-recorded it a few years later in a gospel version retitled "What We Need", with his six children providing backup harmony vocals. During

88-686: A national and international hit in 1963. Paul Revere & the Raiders also recorded the tune in the same studio the week after the Kingsmen, but their version was not a hit. The nearly unintelligible (and innocuous) lyrics were widely misinterpreted as obscene, and the song was banned by radio stations and even investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation . The song has been recorded over 1,000 times. However, Berry received little financial reward for its success for many years, having sold

110-589: A performer. Other songs included "Crazy Lover", recorded by the Rollins Band and "Oh! Oh! Get Out of the Car", covered by the Treniers . For Rhino 's 1983 The Best of Louie, Louie compilation album, Berry created a note-for-note re-recording of "Louie Louie" because licensing could not be obtained for the original version. Backup vocals were provided by doo wop revival group Big Daddy . The original version

132-445: Is a 1955 song by Etta James . It was one of several answer songs to " Work with Me, Annie " and has the same 12-bar blues form. The song was written by Johnny Otis , Hank Ballard , and Etta James. Etta James recorded it for Modern Records , with uncredited vocal responses from Richard Berry . It was popularly known as "Roll with Me Henry". This original version was considered too risqué to play on pop radio stations. The song

154-577: Is a dialogue between "Henry" and the singer: The context is the dance floor. The Midnighters also recorded an "answer to the answer": "Henry's Got Flat Feet (Can't Dance No More)". Under the title "The Wallflower," the single became a rhythm and blues hit, topping the US Billboard R&;B chart for four weeks. On Billboard 's Top R&B Records of 1955 list, it ranked No. 6 according to retail sales, No. 3 according to disk jockey plays and No. 15 according to jukebox plays. The song

176-438: Is best known as the composer and original performer of the rock standard " Louie Louie ". The song became a hit for the Kingsmen and others, and it is one of the most recorded songs of all time; however, Berry received little financial benefit for writing it until the 1980s, having signed away his rights to the song in 1959. He also wrote and released " Have Love, Will Travel " which has been recorded by many other artists. Berry

198-686: The 1980s, "Louie Louie" received a number of accolades, with hundreds of cover versions issued on CD compilations and played on radio marathons. He continued to play shows and in 1993 played two sets at the 100 Club in London. In February 1996, Berry performed for the final time, reuniting with the Pharaohs and the Dreamers for a benefit concert in Long Beach, California. His health declined shortly afterward, and he died of heart failure in 1997. He

220-523: The Coasters. The Robins continued to record (with two new members) in California for other labels, including Whippet, Lavender, Arvee, and others. Berry's voice was used at Modern, again uncredited, as the counterpoint to Etta James on her first record and big hit " The Wallflower (Dance with Me, Henry) " and several of its less successful follow-ups. Berry also recorded with several other groups on

242-642: The Modern and Flair labels, including Arthur Lee Maye and the Crowns, and the Dreamers (who later became the Blossoms ). By the end of 1954, Berry left the Flairs to form his own group, the Pharaohs, as well as continued to work with other groups as a singer and songwriter. One of the groups Berry played with after leaving the Flairs was Rick Rillera and the Rhythm Rockers, a Latin and R&B group. In 1955, Berry

SECTION 10

#1732787754250

264-629: The Pharaohs recorded and released the song as the B-side to his cover of " You Are My Sunshine " on Flip Records in 1957. It became a minor regional hit, selling 130,000 copies. It was re-released as an A-side, and when the group toured the Pacific Northwest, several local R&B bands began to adopt the song and established its popularity. "Louie Louie" finally became a major hit when the Kingsmen 's raucous version – with little trace of its calypso-like origins other than in its lyrics – became

286-492: The copyright for $ 750 in 1959 to pay for his wedding. Berry said in 1993 "Everybody sold their songs in those days. I never was bitter with the record companies. They provided a vehicle for five young black dudes to make a record." Berry continued to write and record into the early 1960s, including " Have Love, Will Travel " (which later became a local hit for the Sonics ), but with little commercial success, and also continued as

308-984: The corridors. He began singing and playing in local doo-wop groups, recording with a number of them including the Penguins , the Cadets , the Chimes, the Crowns, the Five Hearts, the Hunters, the Rams, the Whips, and the Dreamers, an otherwise all-female quartet from Fremont High . He then joined the Flairs (who also recorded as the Debonaires and the Flamingoes) in 1953. The Flairs' 1953 record "She Wants to Rock" on Modern Records featured Berry's bass vocals, and

330-471: The title Rhythm Rocker . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rhythm_Rocker&oldid=720442076 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Richard Berry (musician) He

352-466: Was an early production by Leiber and Stoller . A few months later, when the producers needed a bass voice for the Robins ' " Riot In Cell Block #9 " on Spark Records , they recruited Berry to provide the menacing lead vocal on the song – uncredited because he was contracted to Modern. The Robins later split. Three members remained with the Robins and two went to New York with Leiber & Stoller to form

374-535: Was born in Extension , south of Monroe, Louisiana, and moved with his family to Los Angeles as a baby. As a child, he suffered a hip injury and had to walk on crutches until he was six. His first instrument was the ukulele , which he learned when attending a summer camp for crippled children. Berry attended Jefferson High School in Los Angeles, and with many other pupils practiced singing vocal harmonies in

396-684: Was born in 1969, handled his career in his later years. Marcel played bass on stage with his father in the 1980s. Recordings with Richard Berry credited as the main artist Recordings where Richard Berry appears uncredited or as part of a group With the Flairs With Arthur Lee Maye & The Crowns With The Robins With Jennell Brown (Ricky and Jennell) With the Rams (Richard Berry, Arthur Lee Maye and Johnny Coleman With Etta James The Wallflower (Dance with Me, Henry) " The Wallflower " (also known as " Roll with Me, Henry " and " Dance with Me, Henry ")

418-477: Was inspired to write " Louie Louie ", a calypso-style song, based on the Rhythm Rockers' version of René Touzet 's "El Loco Cha Cha", as well as influenced by Chuck Berry 's "Havana Moon". Berry also stated he had Frank Sinatra 's " One for My Baby " in mind when writing the lyrics. One night while waiting backstage at Anaheim's Harmony Park Ballroom, Berry took the rhythm of "El Loco Cha Cha" and began to add lyrics, writing them on toilet paper. Richard Berry and

440-775: Was interred in the Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California. " Louie Louie " is the most recorded rock song of all time, and in 2003 was ranked at No. 54 on Rolling Stone magazine's " The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time ". In 2024, the Northeast Louisiana Music Trail placed a commemorative marker in his honor at the Locust Hill Baptist Church in Extension, Louisiana. Berry married Dorothy Adams,

462-638: Was not legitimately re-released until the Ace Records Love That Louie compilation in 2002. In the mid-1980s, Berry was living on welfare at his mother's house in South Central Los Angeles . Drinks company California Cooler wanted to use "Louie Louie" in a commercial, but discovered it needed Berry's signature to use the song. The company asked the Artists Rights Society to locate him, and

SECTION 20

#1732787754250

484-406: Was reissued as "Roll with Me, Henry" on Kent Records in 1960. In 2008, Etta James received a Grammy Hall of Fame Award for her 1955 recording. In 1955, the song was covered for the pop market by Georgia Gibbs , with uncredited vocal responses from Thurl Ravenscroft , under the title "Dance with Me Henry." That version charted, hitting the top five of several pop charts, including No. 1 on

#249750