Understanding Louie, Louie...

[luisam]

The song "Louie, Louie" is considered the last number 1 song of the pre Beatle era.  At the end of 1963, as the radio stations played Christmas music, this song was the chart topper.  Then as the new year began, out of nowhere, "I Want To hold Your Hand" became the number 1 song and, just like that, the British Invasion had begun!  A weird detail about this last pre Beatle number 1 hit was that no one understood the words to the song.  Apparently, not even the lead singer of  the group who recorded the song knew exactly what he was singing. His loud mumbling moved the F.B.I. to investigate the song for obscenity.

The version that "made it" was recorded by The Kingsmen. Originally from Oregon, The Kingsmen were a west coast U.S. group through and through but had that English sounding name "Kingsmen" and were constantly mistaken for a British band.  If they had been a British band, it would have been The Kingsmen and not The Beatles who started The British Invasion.  However, their version of "Louie Louie" remained very popular through 1964 and 1965, when the British groups were very popular.  

 

After a lot of listening to different versions, lyrics could be decrypted and here you have the final version:

 

Louie Louie by The Kingsmen

 

Louie Louie, oh no
Me gotta go
Aye-yi-yi-yi, I said
Louie Louie, oh baby
Me gotta go
Fine little girl waits for me
Catch a ship across the sea
Sail that ship about, all alone
Never know if I make it home
Louie Louie, oh oh no
Me gotta go, oh no
Louie Louie, oh baby
I said we gotta go
Three nights and days I sail the sea
Think of girl, constantly
On that ship, I dream she's there
I smell the rose in her hair.
Louie Louie, oh no
Me gotta go
Aye-yi-yi-yi, I said
Louie Louie, oh baby
Me gotta go
Okay, let's give it to 'em, right now!
See Jamaica,…

 

A fascinating fact is that "Louie Louie" had been around since 1956. It had been recorded a couple of times previously without much success but finally after it was made a hit by The Kingsmen, is became one of the most recorded songs of all time as a rock standard. The fact is that by those years every local four man band had this song in their act.  Even more interesting is that Paul Revere and The Raiders, another act who would be mistaken for an English band, had cut Louie Louie days before The Kingsmen did. Both versions of this song were on the west coast charts at the same time.  Eventually, The Kingsmen's version would wrest control of the song's popularity

war and become a number 1 record.

 

Louie, Louie was wrote by Richard Berry Jr. (April 11, 1935 – January 23, 1997) a singer, songwriter and musician who performed with many Los Angeles doo-wop and close harmony groups in the 1950s, including The Flairs and The Robins but he is known for being the composer and original performer of "Louie Louie". Berry received little financial benefit for writing it until the 1980s, having signed away his rights to the song in 1959. In that same year, he wrote and released "Have Love, Will Travel", which has been covered by many artists. 

 

 

This is the cover recorded by Paul Revere and The Raiders

 

 

[Batu69]

You found Louie Louie, here is Brother Louie