'Louie Louie' singer Jack Ely dies in Oregon at 71

[webfact]

'Louie Louie' singer Jack Ely dies in Oregon at 71
STEVEN DUBOIS, Associated Press

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Jack Ely, the singer known for "Louie Louie," the low-budget recording that became one the most famous songs of the 20th century, died at his home in Redmond, Oregon, after a long battle with an illness. He was 71.

His son, Sean Ely, confirmed the death Wednesday.

"Because of his religious beliefs, we're not even sure what (the illness) was," he said.

Jack Ely was original member of the Kingsmen, a band formed in 1959 that mostly performed cover versions of songs. Four years later, the group recorded "Louie Louie" at a studio in its home city of Portland. According to lore, it cost $36.

The song was written in the mid-1950s by Richard Berry, a Los Angeles musician with roots in doo-wop music. As he recorded it in 1957, the tune had a calypso feel and described a patron telling the barkeep he had to go, to get back to his girl waiting across the sea in Jamaica.

"Louie Louie" has been covered hundreds of times, a three-chord, garage-band classic anybody could play soon after picking up an electric guitar.

Ely and the Kingsmen picked it up along with other Northwest figures such as Rockin' Robin Roberts and Paul Revere. The Kingsmen's version was recorded in 1963 and is the definitive version, going from cult classic to rock-and-roll standard. It has inspired more than a thousand cover versions and there's no reliable estimate for how many times it's been drunkenly sung at parties.

In addition to the song's fame, Ely's incoherent singing also made it one of the most misunderstood. The FBI was so mystified by the hard-to-understand lyrics that it conducted an investigation into whether the song was obscene. They found it to be "unintelligible at any speed."

Over the years, Ely and other band members attributed the indistinct lyrics to the microphone suspended from the ceiling, forcing Ely to shout up at it. Sean Ely said his father got "quite the kick" out of the FBI's 455-page investigative report. He said his father certainly knew the words, and wasn't just slurring nonsense.

"Right of his mouth, my father would say: 'We were initially just going to record the song as an instrumental and at the last minute I decided I'd sing it. It's all of this is in a 10-by-10 room with one microphone. I'm standing on my tippy toes yelling into the microphone: Louie Louie! Louie Louie! We gotta go!'"

Ely had a falling out with the band shortly after the song was recorded. He later trained horses in Central Oregon and, according to his son, was content with his legacy as a one-hit wonder — a massive one-hit wonder, to be precise.

"He wanted to try on different occasions to pursue other endeavors in the music industry, but I think when it was all done and said he was pretty happy that he did 'Louie Louie.'"


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-04-29

[redandyellow]

RIP, cause We Gotta Go..Ya yayayayaya....You Come back, Jack, do it again, we'll turn them 'round and 'round....Hit the Road Jack, don't you come back no more no more no more no more.

Now he doesn't know Jack

[redandyellow]

I'm a zero hit wonder

[Emster23]

I'm from Portland, was just becoming teen when this hit the charts. You hear what you want to hear, like "I buried Paul".... Their albums were great party albums, early ones had background sounds like recorded live. Paul Revere and the Raiders version had sax, both were on charts about the same time. BTW they weren't one hit wonders: they also had song "In the valley of the Jolly Green Giant" (reference to ad campaign for frozen veggies).

[TheKnave]

I'm from Portland, was just becoming teen when this hit the charts. You hear what you want to hear, like "I buried Paul".... Their albums were great party albums, early ones had background sounds like recorded live. Paul Revere and the Raiders version had sax, both were on charts about the same time. BTW they weren't one hit wonders: they also had song "In the valley of the Jolly Green Giant" (reference to ad campaign for frozen veggies).

"Corn...and peas!" I loved that song!

RIP, Jack, we had good times listening to you...

[Manbing]

First Keith Harris, Now this guy,

The world is short on talent today.

No Louie, and No Orville.

[Pinot]

It was THE three chord song. That three chord progression is the same as contained in all blues songs which in turn is the progression of most rock and roll songs. E A B

Louie Louie was the first song I learned to play on the guitar and I've been performing it for 50 years. Somewhere along the way I learned the correct lyrics and didn't have to garble out some nonsense through half the song.

Here they are:

Louie Louie, oh no
Sayin' we gotta go, yeah yeah, yeah yeah yeah
Said Louie Louie, oh baby
Said we gotta go

A fine little girl, she 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 no no no
Sayin' we gotta go, oh no
Said Louie Louie, oh baby
Said we gotta go

Three nights and days I sail the sea
Think of girl, all constantly
On that ship I dream she's there
I smell the rose in her hair

Louie Louie, oh no
Sayin' we gotta go, yeah yeah, yeah yeah yeah
Said Louie Louie, oh baby
Said we gotta go
Okay, let's give it to 'em, right now!

See, see Jamaica, the moon above
It won't be long, me see me love
Take her in my arms again
I'll tell her I'll never leave again

Louie Louie, oh no
Sayin' we gotta go, yeah yeah, yeah yeah yeah
Said Louie Louie, oh baby
Said we gotta go

I said we gotta go now
Let's take this on outta here
Let's go!

[webfact]

[sunshine51]

I really likedthe Kingsmen back in the day.

Jack Ely's passing just jogged my memory

& sent me on a youtube search....

RIP Mr. Ely.

Louie Louie by the Kinks....

[JLCrab]

For the musically inclined or otherwise, what in part made this song stand out so much is that most songs would go: A - D - E7 - D but Louie Louie went A - D - E minor - D

Edited April 29, 2015 by JLCrab

[NeverSure]

Actually it's most commonly in the key of A (3 sharps) and that progression is correct. It would be A, D, E^m Aor regardless of key, root, fourth, fifth minor, fourth.

Cheers

Edited April 29, 2015 by NeverSure

[Johpa]

The Kingsmen took the tune from a Tacoma band's version of the song, The Wailers, whose lead singer "Rockin Robin Roberts" came up with the vocals that Jack Ely made famous. Maybe I should lay some flowers down by the former Spanish Castle. But better yet, I will go look for where Little Bill is playing and raise a toast with one of the last of the Pacific Northwest originals.

And I think it is the laid back beat, almost reggae, and not the simplistic cord structure that makes the tune popular.

Edited April 29, 2015 by Johpa

[JingerBen]

"The FBI was so mystified by the hard-to-understand lyrics that it conducted an investigation..."

It's 455-page report must have been fascinating reading.

Your tax dollars at work in the '60s.

Incidents like this - ridiculous as they were - should have tipped us off as to the direction the country was heading in.

[JingerBen]

The Kingsmen took the tune from a Tacoma band's version of the song, The Wailers, whose lead singer "Rockin Robin Roberts" came up with the vocals that Jack Ely made famous. Maybe I should lay some flowers down by the former Spanish Castle. But better yet, I will go look for where Little Bill is playing and raise a toast with one of the last of the Pacific Northwest originals.

And I think it is the laid back beat, almost reggae, and not the simplistic cord structure that makes the tune popular.

Agreed.

It defined cool at a time when the meaning of the word was in transition.

[connda]

RIP man. You rocked my generation when we were teens. And the The Wailers. That takes me back. A lot of great music came out of the Puget Sound region during my life-time.

Edited April 30, 2015 by connda

[camble]

The original by Richard Berry was much better, but Jack Ely made this song for the Kingsman.

[Johpa]

Found this link with the three of the original recordings. I had family involved in the record business in the Northwest during that period and my uncle was very involved with the business side of releasing the song in the Northwest. Here is the original by Berry, the Wailers version, and my long time friend Little Bill's version.

[JingerBen]

Found this link with the three of the original recordings. I had family involved in the record business in the Northwest during that period and my uncle was very involved with the business side of releasing the song in the Northwest. Here is the original by Berry, the Wailers version, and my long time friend Little Bill's version.

Thanks for that.

The other renditions make me appreciate the Kingsmen's version even more.

R.I.P. Jack Ely.

[Johpa]

The other renditions make me appreciate the Kingsmen's version even more.

R.I.P. Jack Ely.

I agree that the Kingsmen's version has the great raw Northwest garage band sound that became exemplified with The Sonics, arguably the most influential band from the region, especially influential on the later grunge band era of Nirvana. But it was The Wailers who were reported to be a major influence on a very young Jimi Hendrix.

[Chicog]

Now Ben E. King has died as well.