Just saw this on AP news:

Jack Ely, the singer whose 1963 version of "Louie Louie" still makes the rounds on oldies radio, lives with his wife in a mobile home on a horse ranch in Oregon. Ely says they share $30,000 a year from her teacher's pension and his Social Security checks. They are paying down a mortgage.

So sometimes it bothers Ely, 65, when he hears his voice singing "Louie Louie" on the radio or in sports arenas, knowing he's not getting paid.

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Here's the rest of the story:

http://apnews.myway.com//article/20090503/D97UT3M00.html

...or as the Raiders version starts....

Grab your Woman, It's Louie Louie Time......

Not much in the way of royalties for the one hitters!

Not sure of the solution except for benevolent record companies, wealthy muscians and the industry as a whole setting up a fund for older musicians who have falen on tough times.....
The Motion Picture Academy has a similar plan.

I'm kind of a hard ass about this one.

There is no one creative work that entitles somebody to lifetime payments.

I also support much stronger and shorter royalties, and do not support the *IAA, "We are for the artists, when we aren't."

The idea being you can really make a killing being creative. And that we encourage being creative, by limiting the term of that royalty.

The larger body of work available to be creative work, would encourage more creativity than we have now, which often looks like a rehash of a rehash of a rehash. Rambo 13, Tremors 4? (Yeah, Bacon lost his money to Madoff)

The shorter terms were better. Current terms are way too long.

Perhaps with a better contract, and higher royalties, our Louie Louie guy would have had a better shot at security.

All of that said, I think the fund is a totally good thing. Since we have a *IAA, they might as well be "for the artists" as much as is possible.

This is a classic story of a classic song. One guy, the lead singer admits to squandering his royalties. The writer sells his rights for chump change and then, through an amazing stroke of luck and legal manuevering regains them.

While this is happening through the years, Radio stations throughout the country are playing the song and making payments to either ASCAP or BMI for the rights to do so.

If the recording company had negotiated a fair contract with Mr. Ely, or Mr. Ely had done a better job negotiating for himself, he'd be a rich man. That was an issue between the recording company and the artist.

None of this would have happened at all if someone had not sent a copy of this song to a Radio station and the Radio station had not been able to play it for free.

Its 1965 and you're the music director who receives this 45 in the mail. But instead of being able to play anything you want for free, there are royalty payments to consider. If you had your choice, would you play something by a known group, or take a chance on a song on a small label by a group no one has ever heard of?

This is why the proposed performance fees for Radio stations must be defeated in the Congress, and you should contact your representative in the House and ask him/her to vote for HCR 49...the Radio preservation bill. Undiscovered artists will thank you in years to come.

I was fortunate to spend some time with Richard Berry while he was in Portland. A very kind, and gentle person, proudly wearing his "Louie, Louie" T-shirt. I have sitting on my desk next to me as I write the book that former Rolling Stone Mag Editor Dave Marsh wrote fittingly titled, Louie, Louie. It's a good read. Richard, Jack Ely, Mike Mitchell, Dick Peterson of the Kingsmen all signed and gave me a personal copy.

PR&R's version was mentioned above. Its notable that PR&R's version did chart big first and went to #1 in the West as far as Hawaii. Timing is everything. So, Mitch Miller of Columbia Records pulled it so that momentum of charting the West didn't reach the far bigger East, and once Hoover said The Kingsmen version was filled with dirty lyrics, that catapulted it past PR&R's.

Now with that said, both The Kingsmen and PR&R agree on this, "While we (The Kingsmen) got the National hit (out of Louie, Louie), Paul Revere & The Raiders got the career." How true that is! With all the details in this, it sure would make a great screenplay. Mike Rich??

By the way, Eric Predoehl who is still making the Louie, Louie documentary has some great L,L info at www.louielouie.net

The only PR&R album I have left.......

For the Raiders it was all imaging. They got the Face time... Probably wound up bigger than they might have been given the times, but not as big as possible, again, given the times. PR&R were fun. not as dark as the times were projecting. Viet Nam, Riots, and the S.F. sound along with the evolution of the Beatles, and subsequent British music, made the Raiders more of an Oasis than a defense.

Just a personal opinion.

...My brother back at home with his Beatles and his Stones, We never got it off on that Revolution stuff.......

I much preferred

...to his friend the bun boy he confessed his misery, I think I'd like to start a group so come along with me.......

I can't say that I feel Mr. Ely's pain. I think that this guy is just asking for a right to rest on his laurels.

Many early groups and bands never thought about those legal things....they were just making music. The Kingsmen were classmates playing together in high school a few years before they recorded Louie, Louie. Except for Jack Ely, they all were at David Douglas H.S. I forget which school Jack went to... Washington, Cleveland, Franklin....one of those I think. The originals were Lynn Easton (Drums, who also played bagpipes when a sophomore), Mike Mitchell (lead guitar), and Bob Nordby (bass). Gray Abbot joined after graduation on drums which allowed Lynn to move to keyboards and saxophone. Jack was rhythm guitar. I think Nordby was the first to leave (probably before Louie Louie) and that might be when Peterson came in. I did not know him but he did not go to school with us.

I got a tape recorder and went to one of their practice sessions at Lynn's house and made demo tape with some cuts and sent it to the A&R guy at Liberty Records (Dan Blocker). I think we were seniors at the time. He returned it and said they were good but needed some more practice time. Little did we know what would happen in a few years.
Somehow, I don't remember now....it has been a long time ago....I got a copy of the "dirty" lyrics. If you read the words as Jack was singing (some say mumbled) you would hear those words. Not knowing them, you would hear the real words. So, someone with some imagination came up with the "dirty" words and spread them around.

Actually, The Wailers recorded the tune long before the Kingsmen or Raiders did. Somewhere, in my collection, I still have the original 45 of that version. Maybe even Richard Berry's.

"I got a tape recorder"

Ampex 354? Years ago, I purchased a used 354 from Northwestern (on Broadway), and was told that "Louie Louie" was recorded on a 354.

I don't know what Louie Louie was recorded on but I did not have an Ampex 354. That was a stereo deck that was introduced in 1960.
I used a mono portable recorder that I borrowed from a friends dad. He worked for the labor union at the UGN headquarters and he got one that they had there. I don't remember what it was. Probably not an Ampex. Maybe a Sony.

Jimbo...
You are correct, The Wailers with Rockin' Roberts did record Louie, Louie first. Its that version that turned both groups on to the song.

As with probably most guitar players, "Louie, Louie" was the first song I learned to play.

I've always wanted to put together a mix of all the songs that sound like or are based on "LL".

Or has someone already done that?

Ah but Warner it's that opening keyboard riff that really establishes LL. We keyboard players truly understand that.

Iggy Pop said that whenever a gig was going badly, he knew he could play "Louie Louie" and that would get the crowd going again.

Scowl-What a great idea. At anytime you're having a bad day just break out into LL.

Think of times over the course of history of when things were going bad and LL would have been great to hear.

Custer's Last Stand
Gettysburgh
Et Tu Brute?
Maddoff
Bush's second term

The list is endless.

LOL..what Chris Taylor said. Every keyboard player in America (including yours truly) agrees!

Bob-

Our mutual friend and keyboard wizard Jim Fischer would probably concur as well.

I forgot,
Cliff Waits joined the group for a spell, also. Another DDHS classmate. He did saxophone, also...an instrument that seems to have been gone from R&R for a long time. Cliff went on to be a music teacher at PCC.
Yes, at dances, that tune always gets the group going......young and old. I know it always works at our reunions. Now, if Sam Elliott would show up...he was in the same class.

Ahhhhhh...but don't forget about the Sax intro for PR&R's LL. What it does for you keyboardists, is what it does for the saxaphonists.

So, as in life, it takes all the instruments working together to make a band!

I'll probably start a music thread on "LL" on the other side.

Nothing against PR&Rs and their saxophonist- BUT- it's that keyboard open with the Kingsmen that gets that instant crowd reaction.

Yes, the saxophone start on PR&R's version. Actually, I think I like their version better because you can hear all the words.
If memory serves me correctly, I believe Mark Lindsay was their saxophonist.

"Louie Louie" Richard Berry's 45:

http://www.louielouie.net/pix-2008/rb-flip-45.jpg

"Louie Louie" The Kingsmen:

http://www.louielouie.net/pix-2008/jerden-kingsmen-45.jpg

February 4, 1964 letter [Criminal Investigation]:

https://www.amoeba.com/dynamic-images/blog/lou1.jpg

"Louie Louie" Rockin Robin Roberts:

http://www.historylink.org/db_images/RockinRobinRoberts_LouieLouie45_Tacoma_1961 .jpg

Last year I was talking to a person close to the Kingsmen, who told me Jack Ely does share in the royalties from the lawsuit that established rites with The Kingsmen.

"rights"

Heh...

Carry on!

The Kingsmen used to play at the place by Clackamas Town Center every New Years Eve for awhile. I went one time and they regaled us with just the medley you were talking about. The only other song I can remember from the medley was "Farmer John".

And to add an anal part to this thread. Since I had some time yesterday I took a listen to each version of LL that Craig posted.

Richard Berry's version is done in the key of A.
The Kingsmen play it in G.
And PR&Rs version is done in B flat. A good saxophone key as I recall.

Could not find Rockin' Robin Roberts version online.

Would anyone care to comment about "Beg, Borrow and Steal" by the Ohio Express? It has the same opening DA-DA-DA DA-DA riff as LL. This was long before the Ohio Express went down in infamy with Yummy Yummy Yummy.

Would anyone care to comment about "Beg, Borrow and Steal" by the Ohio Express?

No...this is a thread about Louie, Louie. Not the Ohio Express. There are a lot of songs that use that 3 Chord progression. Thats a separate thread.

"Could not find Rockin' Robin Roberts version online."
From my Etiquette ET-1, same as the label from Craig. I also found "The Witch" by the Sonics labeled ET-11. Roberts version starts a lot like the Raiders starts, with a saxophone.

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=5c150e84c4a5ae692fb2ca15d7ea42d9e04e75f6e8ebb 871

Thanks Jimbo. Rockin' Robin Roberts version is in the same key at PR&Rs.

Glad we have this solved.

Regarding "Beg, Borrow and Steal," and other songs similar to LL, there is a thread on the Politics board.