Delivery 122, Saturday, March 15, The Ides of March, 2014. THE KINGSMEN – LOUIE, LOUIE. Released May, 1963. Produced by Ken Chase and Jerry Dennon. Ok, let’s deal with it right off the bat…does he say it or doesn’t he say it? If you don’t know what I’m talking about here you must be on the young side of…what, 40? Do people in their 30s or younger today know about the song “Louie, Louie?” If you’re like me and closer to burial than birth, I KNOW you remember this song. In post-Eisenhower early 1960s America, in a time when Lucy and Ricky had to sleep in separate single beds, the song “Louie, Louie” sent middle-aged parents across the nation into shock. Parents of young children during the early 60s were having a hard enough time trying to fight off the bad influences surrounding their offspring ( I would’ve been one of those offsprings) such as Communism and the Beatniks. NOW here comes this unheard of Northwestern band that seems to be about college age, as was their audience, and THIS band has recorded a song WHERE THE SINGER SUPPOSEDLY MUMBLES AN ACTUAL VULGAR REFERENCE TO THE PROCREATIVE/RECREATIVE ACTIVITY OF…well, I can’t say it here…J. Edgar Hoover may still be keeping a list of anybody who uses that term. He kept the list in the left front pocket of his favorite nightgown. That’s right…”Louie Louie” by the Kingsmen now added to the worries of early 60s suburban parents…now their young kids were going to be barraged with this song on that radio that was going to flood their minds with S*X!!! That’s right! There was trouble…right here in River City! And in your town too, I bet. I’m sure you had a club somewhere in your town that resembled the following…here in Jacksonville on the Northside, we had a teen club on North Pearl Street called the Brad Tradenick Youth Center. (Jax folks, help me with the name spelling if I got it wrong.) In 1965 and for a few years following, teens would attend dances at “The Brad” and local bands would be playing classic pop hits of the day. Tunes by the Beach Boys, Beatles, Paul Revere and The Raiders, Sam the Sham and The Pharoahs, and….THE KINGSMEN….oh yeah, when teens heard the guitarist hit those classic ten notes that introduce “Louie, Louie,” the whole club would erupt into this suburban tribal ritual where the teased-hair girls and the English Leather-doused boys would circle each other and put a little hoochie coo into their dancing…yeah, it definitely went to a different level of carnality whenever the band would play the tune. The hormonal ozone level rose inside the Youth Center so much so that, after the band finished the song they’d take a break and everybody would have to file out onto the patio out back and have a Marlboro (Red, flip open box top only) to cool down. The bands sometimes played “Louie Louie” every set, or if it was a house party, they might just keep playing it over all night long! Yeah! It was that big of a tune!!! ALL BECAUSE PEOPLE THOUGHT THE SINGER SAID “F” BUT THEY COULDN’T REALLY TELL…..how different is that from today when every other performer just spews that “F” word several times per song and in between songs as well? Isn’t it an interesting comment on society (or whatever) that the POSSIBILITY of the singer saying the “F” word turned out to be a bigger draw and point of contention/controversy/publicity than the certainty of hearing people say the word openly today? And you know what? J. EDGAR HOOVER MIGHT’VE BEEN ON TO SOMETHING ( I mean about the Kingsmen, not about his negligee)…THAT’S RIGHT!!! Did you know that most of those teenagers attending those Youth Center dances ACTUALLY WENT ON TO BECOME INVOLVED IN PROCREATIVE/RECREATIVE ACTIVITIES IN THEIR LIVES? CAN’T YOU SEE THE EVIL INFLUENCE OF THIS ALBUM NOW? The early 60s….the birth control pill AND The Kingsmen all at once? Sheesh….probably the biggest crime you can lay on “Louie Louie” is that it was so popular that nobody paid any attention to the other great period piece tunes on this classic record. I don’t know, could you call this “Frat Rock?” Frat Rock was played by early 60s bands that were caught in that uncomfortable time period after Elvis went into the Army and the Beatles hit our shores. Frat Rock bands usually had guitars, drums, Vox or Farfisa organs, bass, and usually a sax, and they often dressed in identical slightly showy outfits. Just look at the early pictures of the Beach Boys, or, actually look at a picture of the Kingsmen. But bands like this could ROCK! The Kingsmen were a teen club band from Portland, Oregon. They played mean and nasty. This album is filled with excellent teen club/college panty raid party music that made up the sets of many bands like the Kingsmen…here are some of the songs on this album other that “Louie Louie”….”Mojo Workout”…”Fever”…”Money”…”Long Tall Texan”…”You Can’t Sit Down”…”Twist and Shout”…”Night Train”…”Mashed Potatoes”….now THAT’S a solid line up of prime Frat Rock or prime pre-Beatles teen music from the period. And it’s all played down and dirty. Musicians owe it to themselves to listen to this album for the history lesson included. The album was recorded live at the teen club in Portland where The Kingsmen had a residency. Listen, musicians…The Kingsmen will show you how it’s done. That’s right, veterans of early 60s dances at the Brad Tradenick Youth Center…this album will immediately flash you right back to that dirty linoleum floor and those crimson curtains behind that low, low bandstand. An ironic side note here that all musicians will understand….The Kingsmen were on the verge of splitting up after the initial release of this album sold less than 600 copies. After a DJ’s campaign to promote the album caught on and “Louie Louie” became an international hit, arguments broke out among the group and the group split into two factions, both claiming to be The Kingsmen. Both factions sued each other and the money for album royalties for “Louie Louie” was tied up until the late 1990s, and there’s no telling how much of the settlement had to go toward paying lawyers. Many participants in the recording of this prime period piece never saw a cent from it. So it really is the ultimate rock and roll story, isn’t it? Incidentally, you can google the original lyrics to “Louie Louie.” The author was Richard Berry. SPOILER ALERT….don’t look at the lyrics if you are content with your current perception of the tune.
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 10:27:39 +0000
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