In 1962, while playing a gig at the Pypo Club in
Seaside, Oregon, the band noticed the entire club dancing for hours on end to
Rockin' Robin Roberts's version of "
Louie Louie" being played on the jukebox. Ely convinced his fellow band members to learn the song, which they played at dances to a great crowd response. Unknown to him, he had changed the beat because he'd misheard it on a jukebox. Ken Chase, host of radio station
KISN, opened his own club, "The Chase", to capitalize on these dance crazes. The Kingsmen became the club's
house band, and he became the band's manager. On Friday, April 5, 1963, Chase booked the band an hour-long session at the local Northwestern Inc., studio for 10 a.m. the following day to record a demo tape for a summer cruise ship gig. Adding to the hurried atmosphere, the band had just played a 90-minute "Louie Louie" marathon the night before. Despite the band's annoyance at having so little time to prepare, the Kingsmen walked into the three-microphone recording studio on time. "
Jamaica Farewell", one partial and one full take of "Louie Louie", and "Haunted Castle" were recorded. For "Louie Louie", the only vocal number, Ely was forced to lean back and sing to a microphone suspended from the ceiling. "It was more yelling than singing", Ely said, cause I was trying to be heard over all the instruments." In addition, he was wearing
braces at the time of the performance, further compounding his infamously slurred words. Ely sang the beginning of the third verse two bars too early, but realized his mistake and waited for the rest of the band to catch up. The Kingsmen were not proud of the recording and wanted to fix their mistakes, but Chase liked the energy and rawness and assured them that the demo version could be redone before a record was released. The one hour session cost either $36, $50, or somewhere in between, and the band split the cost. With a competing "Louie Louie" version from
Paul Revere and the Raiders getting heavy play on a competing station, Chase began playing the Kingsmen's demo version on his show at KISN. He then contracted with Jerry Dennon's
Jerden Records to press a single. The B-side was "Haunted Castle", composed by Ely and
Don Gallucci, the new keyboardist; however, Lynn Easton was credited on both the Jerden and
Wand releases. "Louie Louie" reached No. 1 on the
Cashbox and
Music Vendor charts and No. 2 on the
Billboard Hot 100 chart. Additionally, it reached No. 1 on the
CHUM Canada chart, and in the UK it reached No. 26 on the
Record Retailer chart. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a
gold disc. The band attracted nationwide attention when "Louie Louie" was banned by the
governor of Indiana,
Matthew E. Welsh, also attracting the attention of the
FBI and
FCC because of alleged indecent
lyrics in their version of the song. The lyrics were, in fact, innocent, but Ely's baffling enunciation permitted teenage fans and concerned parents alike to imagine the most scandalous obscenities. (Ironically, the FBI totally missed Lynn Easton yelling "Fuck!" at 0:54 after fumbling a drum fill.) All of this attention only made the song more popular. In April 1966 "Louie Louie" was reissued and once again hit the music charts, reaching No. 65 on the
Cashbox chart and No. 97 on the
Billboard Hot 100 chart. In 1985,
Ross Shafer, host and a writer-performer of the late-night comedy series
Almost Live! on the
Seattle TV station
KING, spearheaded an effort to have "Louie Louie" replace "
Washington, My Home" by Helen Davis as
Washington's official
state song. Picking up on this initially prankish effort,
Whatcom County Councilman Craig Cole introduced Resolution No. 85–12 in the state legislature, citing the need for a "contemporary
theme song that can be used to engender a sense of pride and community, and in the enhancement of tourism and economic development". His resolution also called for the creation of a new "Louie Louie County". While the House did not pass it, the Senate's Resolution 1985-37 declared April 12, 1985, "Louie Louie Day". A crowd of 4,000, estimated by press reports, convened at the
state capitol that day for speeches, singalongs, and performances by
the Wailers, the Kingsmen, and Paul Revere and the Raiders. Two days later, a Seattle event commemorated the occasion with the premiere performance of a new, Washington-centric version of the song written by composer Berry. Other Kingsmen "Louie Louie" versions with either Lynn Easton or Dick Peterson as lead vocalist appeared on
Live & Unreleased (recorded 1963, released 1992),
Live at the Castle (recorded 1964, released 2011),
Shindig! Presents Frat Party (VHS, recorded 1965, released 1991),
60s Dance Party (1982),
California Cooler Presents Cooler Hits (recorded 1986, released 1987),
The Louie Louie Collection (as the Mystery Band, 1994),
Red, White & Rock (2002),
Garage Sale (recorded 2002, released 2003), and ''My Music: '60s Pop, Rock & Soul
(DVD, 2011). Peterson also released a solo version on the 1999 Circle of Friends, Volume 1'' CD. Over the years the Kingsmen's version of "Louie Louie" has been recognized by organizations and publications worldwide for its influence on the history of
rock and roll. Rankings and recognition in major publications and surveys are shown in the table below. == History ==