I was recently exchanging e-mails with my good friend Mike when he shared some Cuban music with me that he had been listening to recently. He then educated me on the history of the song “Louie, Louie.” I tell you this to give credit where credit is due. I was actually clueless enough to have thought that The Kingsmen originated the song. Read on…..
When I was just a little kid, the first full length LP I ever bought was Paul Revere and the Raiders Greatest Hits. I bought it solely because it had their cover of “Louie, Louie” on it. I had heard it at a friend’s house whose older brother played it. I was mesmerized by the song. I had to have it. I think even all those decades ago I was aware that the song was not originally done by Paul Revere and the Raiders. But I never looked any further back than The Kingsmen. My love for the song is the reason I was fascinated by the history my friend laid out for me.
Paul Revere and the Raiders – “Louie, Louie (1965)
My first history lesson was to learn that the first real version of the song was done by Richard Barry. Check it out:
Richard Berry - "Louie Louie" (1957)
But Richard Berry didn’t come up with the song all by himself. He gives credit for the rhythm of the song to a man named Rene Touzet. You need less than ten seconds of the video below to clearly hear the origins of the song.
Rene Touzet – “El Loco Cha Cha Cha” (1955)
But wait, there’s still more interesting history of the song. We know it was made a hit by The Kingsmen. But did they simply hear the Richard Berry version and decide to cover it in 1963. No, they didn’t. They heard the song played by Rockin' Robin Roberts & The Wailers. They were the band who actually rediscovered the Richard Berry version (from the 1950’s) and first re-recorded it in the 60’s. It was not The Kingsmen, but instead another local Seattle/Tacoma band featuring teenage singer "Rockin' Robin Roberts" and his teenage guitar player/buddy, Rich Dangel. It is singer Roberts who screams "Let's give it to 'em, right now," and Dangel who plays the famous guitar part-- the riff that inspired a thousand guitar players, including the Kingsmen and even Jimi Hendrix, who reportedly knew about Rockin’ Robin & the Wailers and was impressed by them. The story my friend tells me is that The Kingsmen heard the Rockin’ Robin Roberts version, knew it would be a hit, and re-recorded it, pretty much identically. Here's the Rockin’ Robin Roberts version. The lead guitar part hits at the 1:50 mark. It’s worth a listen for sure.
Rockin' Robin Roberts & the Wailers - "Louie Louie" (1961)
And here are The Kingsmen two years later:
The Kingsmen – “Louie, Louie” (1963)
Now since this entire Louie, Louie rabbit hole started with Cuban music, I’ll share this version with you.
Mongo Santamaria – “Louie, Louie” (1966)
“Louie, Louie” has been an extremely influential song on a bunch of very cool bands. The song has been covered by some of the best-- Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, The Clash, The Stooges, Motorhead, The Kinks and so many more. Here are a couple of videos to round out the Louie, Louie deep dive. Enjoy!
The Kinks – “Louie, Louie” (1964)
The Clash – “Louie, Louie” (1977)
Motorhead - “Louie, Louie” (1978)
JCE, or John to his friends, is 63 years old and lives happily in rural VA about an hour and half outside of D.C. His wife of 35 years says he’ll never grow up, and she’s exactly right. He attributes that to his lifelong love affair with all things rock n roll. Starting with 45 rpm Monkees records at a very early age to his present massive collection of vinyl, cd’s and a digital library of God knows how many songs, he’s a rock n roll lifer.