Uploaded March 2022 | Updated September 2026, 3 hours ago
'Louie Louie' is a song written by Richard Berry back in 1955, and covered by The Kingsmen, whose hit rock n roll 1963 version is the most well-known.
It is one of the most covered songs ever, with the iconic unintelligible vocals in The Kingsmen's version making the song the subject of controversy - owing to the lyrics supposedly being of a lurid nature. This was of course was not the case (I have purposely attempted to re-create that 'garbled' vocal delivery here, obscuring some of the words in the process).
The original cause of this was mostly put down to the positioning of the vocal mic in the studio, which was apparently suspended from a high ceiling, and thus requiring Jack Ely to tilt his head back in order to try and sing in the direction of the mic - hence the 'Lou-way Lou-way' pronunciation etc. The apparent rawness of the sound was also due to the producer's idea to try and capture a 'live-sounding' performance, and as such the first and only take was the one that made it to vinyl. It should be noted that in subsequent live appearances, Jack Ely had been replaced by the band's original drummer Lynn Easton, who would mime the vocals originally sung by Ely. This practice was permanently suspended in the mid 60's following a lawsuit, and there is footage of Easton's own interpretation available to view on YouTube.
'Louie Louie' is a song written by Richard Berry back in 1955, and covered by The Kingsmen, whose hit rock n roll 1963 version is the most well-known.
It is one of the most covered songs ever, with the iconic unintelligible vocals in The Kingsmen's version making the song the subject of controversy - owing to the lyrics supposedly being of a lurid nature. This was of course was not the case (I have purposely attempted to re-create that 'garbled' vocal delivery here, obscuring some of the words in the process).
The original cause of this was mostly put down to the positioning of the vocal mic in the studio, which was apparently suspended from a high ceiling, and thus requiring Jack Ely to tilt his head back in order to try and sing in the direction of the mic - hence the 'Lou-way Lou-way' pronunciation etc. The apparent rawness of the sound was also due to the producer's idea to try and capture a 'live-sounding' performance, and as such the first and only take was the one that made it to vinyl. It should be noted that in subsequent live appearances, Jack Ely had been replaced by the band's original drummer Lynn Easton, who would mime the vocals originally sung by Ely. This practice was permanently suspended in the mid 60's following a lawsuit, and there is footage of Easton's own interpretation available to view on YouTube.
