The Kingsmen Louie, Louie ( Shindig 1965)

A rock roll band from Portland, Oregon, the Kingsmen s one big hit Louie, Louie defined the garageband style and became one of the alltime classics. The original lineup included Jack Ely (lead singer and guitar), Lynn Easton (drums), Mike Mitchell (lead guitar), Bob Nordby (bass), and Don Galucci (piano). After Ely had incorrectly taught the rest of the band the Wailers version of Richard Berry s Louie Louie (thus altering the basic rhythm into the now famous duhduhduh, duhduh, duhduhduh, duhduh riff that has become the only way anyone has played it since), they recorded it for fifty dollars at a primitive local recording studio with only three mikes, Ely hollering the lyrics into an overhead boom mike suspended ten feet in the air. Released on a local label, the record went nowhere after Paul Revere the Raiders quickly covered it in the Northwest market, although it had quickly become a standard for all teen bands in that area. In 1964, the record started to break nationally, causing the br