Wednesday, April 26, 2017

YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK

Richard Berry
It may not be the go-to song that it once was, but there was a time when nearly every every band played "Louie Louie" at one time or another. Need to break in a new member that's not quite ready? Need one more song to pad your set? Need to give a nod to all the garage bands that came before you? "Louie Louie" is your song. As simple as a song gets.

There's a zillion covers. Here's two from opposite ends of the spectrum. The pallid and lethargic vocal stylings of the Sandpipers vs Black Flag's louder than necessary but it sure hits the spot version, plus Richard Berry's original. And just because I ran across it, a link to a copy of the FBI investigation of the song, its misinterpreted lyrics wrongly thought to be pornographic. Fake news.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~ 
Listen:
The Sandpipers - Louie Louie mp3 at De Discos y Monstrous
Black Flag - Louie Louie mp3 at Secret Comics (?)
Richard Berry - Louie Louie mp3 at  Beware of the Blog
Visit:
The 1964 FBI Report on "Louie Louie" at FBI  119 pages
Louie Louie at Wikipedia

4 comments:

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Tom G. said...

Yo, Vanshanu Raj, removed your comment. No spam buddy.

espen. e said...

Some friends of ours had their son named after this song. Little Louie Louie is in second grade now, I think.

(And; After browsing those FBI files I think I've got to go back and listen to those lyrics again. The claimed obscenity levels have wholly escaped me, in spite of repeated encounters over the years. One hears what one wants to hear, I guess.)

e

Tom G. said...

Hey e, check the misheard lyrics on page 14 of the FBI report. My assumption, judging by stories I've heard and the date of the report, were based on the Kingsmen's version, which was the big hit in the U.S. despite being recorded in the same studio, with the same producer, and within days of Paul Revere and the Raiders' version (and the Raiders were already famous at the time! Ouch!).