The Kingsmen

The Kingsmen are that band that, without intending to, became a phenomenon that transcended their time. Their sound — raw, direct, and with a drive that seems to come from a garage — was forever marked by a song that wasn’t even theirs: Louie Louie. They didn’t write the song, but they made it their own to the point that no one imagines it without their version. They recorded it in a single take, with Jack Ely singing into a microphone hung from the ceiling because the studio only had three microphones for everyone. Ely, with braces on and his rhythm sped up by the night before (they had played a 90-minute Louie Louie marathon), ended up shouting more than singing. The result was so chaotic that the manager, Ken Chase, preferred to keep that energy rather than correct the mistakes. The record cost between $36 and $50, and the band paid for it together. What started as a demo for a summer cruise ended up as a track that sold over a million copies and earned them a gold record.

The success caught them by surprise. Louie Louie climbed to #2 on the Billboard chart and stayed there for six weeks, but it wasn’t easy: first they competed against Dominique by the Singing Nun, then against There! I’ve Said It Again by Bobby Vinton. The song even sparked a scandal when the governor of Indiana, Matthew E. Welsh, banned it for alleged obscene lyrics (which didn’t actually exist). The FBI got involved, but all of that only gave it more fame. By the time they re-released it in 1966, it was already an anthem with no owner, covered by everyone from The Stooges to Iggy Pop. The band, however, couldn’t handle the change: Lynn Easton, the legal owner of the name, took the microphone away from Jack Ely and forced him to play drums. Ely and bassist Bob Nordby left, and the group carried on with Easton as the singer. The initial magic was gone.