Today is International Louie, Louie Day. A day set aside to honor the greatest song in rock n roll history. Why April 11th? That is the birthday of Richard Berry, the guy who wrote it.. Here are some random facts about Louie, Louie to help celebrate the holiday. Take some time today and crank up your favorite version. Remember; The Beatles said, 'All you need is love' but all we really need is: DUH DUH DUH- -DUH DUH--DUH DUH DUH--DUH DUH etc...
Random Facts About Louie, Louie
—Louie Louie is one of the world's most recorded rock n roll tunes having been recorded over sixteen hundred times. Some of the artists who have covered the song, either live or in the studio, include; Frank Zappa, Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Julie London, Led Zeppelin, The Clash, John Belushi, Lou Reed, Motorhead, Grateful Dead, The Fat Boys, George Duke, The University Of Washington Marching Band, The Doors, Barry White, Dave Matthews Band, Sherman Hemsley (George Jefferson of The Jeffersons TV show), Richard Simmons, Todd Snider, Bruce Springsteen, Young MC, Deep Purple and, of course, The Kingsmen. Here is Bob Dylan and Tom Petty performing the song.
-- The song was written by Richard Berry, an L.A based Doo-Wop and R&B performer. He was inspired to write the song after hearing "El Loco Cha-Cha" by Rene Touzet. Berry also said that Louie, Louie was inspired by Chuck Berry's (no relation) Havana Moon. The record was released in 1957 on the L.A based Flip Records and did well in Southern, California but did not chart nationally. Richard Berry eventually sold the rights to the song to Flip Records for $750.
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--In the early sixties, Louie, Louie became extremely popular in Tacoma, Washington. Tacoma had a thriving music scene of local teen garage bands and Louie, Louie
was a staple of most of those group's repetoire. A local band called The Wailers had a regional hit in the Northwest, United States with their version of the song in 1960.
--A couple of years later two Portland, Oregon bands, Paul Revere And The Raiders and The Kingsmen, recorded the song on the same week and at the same studio, Northwestern Recorders. Both records became minor hits locally.
--The Kingsmen 45, somehow, found it's way into the hands of a Boston, Massachusetts radio disc jockey named Arnie "Woo Woo" Ginsburg. Ginsburg thought the record was terrible and played it on "The Worst Record Of The Week"segment of his show. To his amazement, his audience loved the record and, as they say, the rest is history. In 1963, the record spent six weeks at number 2 on
the Billboard charts. To date, it has sold over 12 million copies.
—Shortly after recording the song and before it became a hit, The Kingsmen’s lead singer, Jack Ely, either quit or was fired from the band. (There are several versions of what actually happened.) After he left the band, the drummer, Lynn Easton, became the lead singer. Easton’s vocal style was completely different from Ely’s so when the band performed Louie, Louie live, it sounded nothing like the 45 which resulted in some unhappy audience reaction. Jack Ely formed his own version of The Kingsmen and went out on the road, as well, often booking gigs in the same city that Easton’s Kingsmen were playing. Eventually, everybody “lawyerd up“. The Kingsmen won the rights to their band name and Ely toured as, Jack Ely & The Courtmen.
--The Governor of Indiana banned the song due to it's alleged dirty lyrics. The FBI undertook a two year investigation attempting to prove that the lyrics were pornographic only to come to the conclusion that Louie, Louie was 'unintelligible at any speed".
—In 1978, Louie, Louie was featured in the movie Animal House introducing the song to a whole new audience. (Mainly drunken fraternity dudes.) John Belushi, who starred in the movie, released his own wildly out of tune version. Below is a video of The Kingsmen performing the song at the actual Delta House from the movie. The House was torn down shortly after this was filmed.
--At 6PM on Friday August 19, 1983 KFJC, a college radio station in Los Altos Hills California, kicked off Maximum Louie, Louie a Louie, Louie marathon in which they played nothing but Louie, Louie for sixty three straight hours with no versions played more than once. In all they played eight hundred different versions of the song. On the second day of the event, Richard Berry (who wrote the song) and Jack Ely (The Kingsmen's original lead vocalist) performed the song live on the air. It was the only time they performed the song together. You can watch the video below.
--In 1985, the Washington State Legislature attempted to make Louie, Louie the official state song. Sadly, the measure did not pass but it is considered by many to be the "Unofficial" state song.
--Richard Berry, who sold the rights to Louie, Louie for $750 back in the late fifties, eventually sued to get the rights to his song back. After years of litigation, he settled out of court and became a millionaire.
-- The Louie, Louie Street Party has been held every Memorial Day weekend in Peoria, Illinois for over thirty years with proceeds from the event going to St. Jude Children's Hospital. To date, they have raised over $300,000.
Songs That Ripped Off Louie, Louie (In a good way)
Okay, so "Ripped Off" may be a strong way to put it. Some of these songs have the exact same chord progression, others don't but they all seem to be, at least in some way, influenced by Louie.
"Hang On Sloopy". The McCoys
"Farmer John" The Premieres
"I Want Candy" The Strangeloves
"Wild Thing" The Troggs
"Brother Louie" The Stories
"Mary, Mary" The Monkees
"Parties In The USA". Jonathan Richman
"R.O.C.k In The USA" John Mellencamp
"All Day, All Night". The Kinks
"I Can't Explain". The Who
"Roadrunner". The Modern Lovers
Further Reading
--In 1993, music critic and author Dave Marsh published his book,
Louie, Louie: The History & Mythology Of The World's Most Famous Rock N Roll Song. An informative and really fun read. Highly recommended. I think you can buy a used copy on Amazon. Most of the information on this post came from that book.
--Former Kingsmen member Dick Peterson published a memoir in 2005 called, Me Gotta Go Now.. Dick didn't join the band until after they recorded Louie, Louie but he was their for the tour that followed and the FBI brouhaha. Good book and still available.
--A guy named Eric Predhole runs a website calked, The Louie, Louie Report. It is an incredible resource for all things Louie, Louie and it is constantly being updated. You can check it out HERE
Shameless Personal Plug
I host and produce a music podcast called, Casey's Musical Dustbin. A few years back, I did an all Louie, Louie show. It doesn't last sixty-three hours like KFJC's did but you get an hour's worth of Louie with some versions you've probably never heard. You can listen to the show HERE
—Written by
Casey Redmond
April 11, 2020
Casey’s Website