All the Kings Men
April 20, 2021
Stephen Jay Morris
©Scientific Morality
Mike Mitchel died yesterday. He was the lead guitarist of a Pacific Northwest garage band, The Kingsmen. One thing I hate about being an old fart is how I now have a front seat from which to watch my heroes die, one by one. Every day I’ll ask myself, “Oh, who died today?” And the cause of death is typically either from natural causes or diseases like dope or alcohol addiction. It doesn’t impact just my generation, either. The Rap community experiences this, also. DMX recently died from some drug related illness. He was 50. I have searched and investigated, ad nauseam, for answers to why artists do this to themselves. But that is not my subject this morning.
Richard Berry, who wrote the infamous song, “Louie Louie,” initially wrote it as a Calypso tune. It turned into an R&B song that did okay on the charts in 1957, then quietly disappeared. Berry needed some money, so he sold his rights to the song to some publishing company. He was paid $750. Some time later, though, he bought back the rights and became a millionaire five years before he died.
In the interim, in 1961, something unexpected happened. Some dude named Rockin Roberts covered the song and released it as a single, however, his version was closer to Rock and Roll. Rockin Roberts would become a member of the legendary garage band, “The Wailers,” who ultimately re-recorded the song for their first album.
Well, in 1963, the damn burst! Some dance band from Portland, Oregon wanted to snag a gig to play on a cruise ship. They needed a demo to get it. They knew someone from a radio station who could help them so, with 35 bucks and one microphone hanging from the ceiling, they recorded “Louie Louie” – the unmistakable version we all know and love! Think of it! Just one stinking microphone recorded that iconic song! They didn’t get the cruise ship gig, but their song quickly garnered national attention when one DJ played it on his show. Enter: The Kingsmen! They were lucky; they got their hit just before the Beatles hogged up the airways in 1964.
After the Kingsmen’s, “Louie Louie” hit, everybody and their mother covered it. The song was easy to play and everyone liked it. College fraternities, in particular, loved it. It was great to drink to! Even though the lyrics were about a homesick sailor who wanted to see his girlfriend again, somehow, teens related to it.
When I was nine years old, I saw some teenagers on their front lawn, on our street, washing and waxing their parents’ car – a Chrysler Valiant. The car radio was tuned to KHJ. That was the first time I heard “Louie Louie.” Some kid in a straw hat was dancing with his bikini clad girlfriend. I was sitting on my bike, listening to the song, when the this pimple-faced dude shouted to me, “Hey, kid! You want something?” I shook my head no, to which he replied loudly, “Then make like a banana and split! Go back to Ma Ma!” When I got home, I got out my transistor radio and tuned in to the local rock station, hoping to hear the song again. I did! But I didn’t know who the band was. I wouldn’t find out for another two years.
I remember hearing the Kingsmen’s novelty song, “Jolly Green Giant.” That song influenced me in my writing of novelty songs. It didn’t go far, peaking at number 25 on the charts. The Kingsmen were competing with Dylan, the Beatles, and the Stones at the time, so it was tough. If they’d released that song in 1963, it might have charted higher. “Louie Louie” would be their only number one song.
“Louie Louie” had everything that makes for a great rock song. Mike Mitchel’s guitar solo was pretty funky for someone without any guitar effects. The lead vocalist didn’t know all of the words, so he mumbled some of the lyrical lines. The drummer dropped his sticks 52 seconds into the song and yelled “Fuck!” If you listen closely, you can hear him say it.
Why didn’t the FBI catch that? The FBI? What? You’d think the FBI was looking for communists under every bed! The Agency got thousands of complaints from parents who declared the song was obscene. For two fucking, years the FBI investigated the song! They played it forwards, backwards, and upside down. They slowed down the speed and play it faster. They managed to isolate the vocals, concluding that the singer was mumbling nonsense. Your tax money hard at work, even back then!
If I had to pick the best rock song in the history of pop tunes, it would be “Louie Louie.” My band, The 100th Monkey, even played it and I sang it. Only, I changed the words to “Ronald Reagan, you got to go!” Now I got to go. Bye!