The Kingsmen

For the Southern Gospel vocal group, see The Kingsmen Quartet.

The Kingsmen
L-R Don Galluci, Jack Ely, Lynn Easton, Mike Mitchell, and Bob Nordby
Background information
Origin	Portland, Oregon, United States
Genres	Garage rock
Years active	1959–present
Labels	Jerden, Wand, Sundazed
Website	www.louielouie.org
Members
Mike Mitchell (1959-present) Dick Peterson (1963-present) Steve Peterson (1988-present) Todd McPherson (1992-present) Dennis Mitchell (2006-present)
Past members
Lynn Easton (1959-1967) Jack Ely (1959-1963) Bob Nordby (1959-1963) Don Gallucci (1962-1963) Gary Abbott (1962-1963) Norm Sundholm (1963-1967) Barry Curtis (1963-2005) Kerry Magness(1966-1967) J.C. Reick (1966-1967) Turley Richards (1967) Pete Borg (1967) Jeff Beals (1967-1968) Steve Friedson (1967-1973) Fred Dennis (1972-1984) Andy Parypa (1982-1984) Kim Nicklaus (1982-1984) Marc Willett (1984-1992) Keith Blake (1994-1999)

The Kingsmen is a 1960s garage rock band from Portland, Oregon, United States. They are best known for their 1963 recording of Richard Berry's "Louie Louie", which held the #2 spot on the Billboard charts for six weeks. The single has become an enduring classic.

"Louie Louie"

When recorded the band members were Jack Ely (vocalist/rhythm guitar), Lynn Easton (drummer), Mike Mitchell (lead guitar), Don Gallucci (electric piano) and Bob Nordby (bass guitar). Ken Chase (Kingsmen manager and Portland radio station KISN music director) produced the recording session. Robert Lindahl (Northwestern Inc. recording studio owner) was the audio engineer.

"Louie Louie" was kept from the top spot on the charts in late 1963 and early 1964 by the Singing Nun and Bobby Vinton, who monopolized the #1 slot for four weeks apiece. The Kingsmen single reached #1 on the Cashbox chart and #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Additionally in the UK it reached #26 on the Record Retailer chart. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.^[1] The B-side of the single was an instrumental, "Haunted Castle".

The band attracted nationwide attention when "Louie Louie" was banned by the governor of Indiana, Matthew E. Welsh, and attracted the attention of the FBI because of alleged indecent lyrics in the Kingsmen's version of the song. The lyrics were, in fact, innocent, but Ely's baffling enunciation permitted teenage fans and concerned parents alike to imagine the most scandalous obscenities. All of this attention only made the song more popular. In April 1966 "Louie Louie" was reissued and once again hit the music charts, reaching #65 on the Cashbox chart and #97 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

The Kingsmen name

After the success of "Louie Louie", the members of the Kingsmen took varied paths. Easton, whose mother had registered the name of the group and therefore owned it, declared that from this point on he intended to be the singer, forcing Ely to play the drums. This led Jack Ely and Bob Nordby to quit the group.

Ely would later form his own "Jack Ely & the Kingsmen". Don Gallucci was forced out because he wasn't old enough to tour and later formed Don and the Goodtimes, which morphed into the short-lived Touch. Later, Gallucci would become a record producer with Elektra Records, with his most famous production being The Stooges' seminal second album Fun House. ("Louie Louie" was frequently performed at Stooges concerts; the song appears on their live album as well as an Iggy Pop solo record.) The two remaining original Kingsmen, Lynn Easton and Mike Mitchell, toured as the official band.

Following legal action on both sides, Easton established his right to the "Kingsmen" name. Thus Ely was forced to stop using it, and Easton was forced to stop lip syncing to Ely's vocals. This initially hurt the Easton Kingsmen's popularity, after audiences realized that this was no longer the band they had come to see. Eventually, though, the official band (with Easton on vocals) charted several more singles in the 1960s.

The Kingsmen's 1964 follow up to "Louie Louie" was a party version of "Money (That's What I Want)" which hit the Billboard Hot 100 at #16 and on Cashbox at #17. Then came "Little Latin Lupe Lu" peaking on Billboard at #46 and Cashbox at #49. After that it was "Death of An Angel" #33 on Cashbox and #42 on Billboard.

1965 saw the Kingsmen return to the Top 10 nationally with "The Jolly Green Giant" reaching #4 on Billboard and #8 on Cashbox. The follow-up song was "The Climb" #45 on Cashbox and #65 on Billboard. "Annie Fanny" was released next reaching #43 on Cashbox & #47 on Billboard. Next came "(You Got) The Gamma Goochee" #98 on Cashbox & #122 on Billboard.

In 1966 the Kingsmen continued to hit the charts, with "Killer Joe" reaching #77 on Billboard & #81 on Cashbox. In 1967 they made the chart for the last time with "Bo Diddley Bach" reaching #128 on Billboard.

On November 9, 1998, The Kingsmen were awarded ownership of all their early recordings released on Wand Records from Gusto Records, including "Louie Louie." They had not been paid royalties on the songs since the 1960s.^[2]

Other uses of the name

Prior to this group's formation, another group called The Kingsmen operated in 1958 and was made up of members of Bill Haley & His Comets who were moonlighting from their regular work with Haley. This group scored a hit record (#35) on Billboard with the instrumental entitled "Week End", written by Rudy Pompilli, Franny Beecher, and Billy Williamson, backed with "Better Believe It" as the B side. They released a follow-up single on East West Records featuring "The Catwalk" backed with "Conga Rock". Although the Comets did the actual recordings, when The Kingsmen went on tour a different set of musicians performed instead of Haley's people. The band made at least one appearance on American Bandstand in 1958.

Various other groups have used the name "The Kingsmen", including a gospel vocal group formed in 1956 (also referred to as The Kingsmen Quartet) and bands that were later re-named as Flamin' Groovies, The Gants and The Statler Brothers. An a cappella group at Columbia University is traditionally known as The Kingsmen; one incarnation of that group became Sha Na Na; also circa 1962-63, Bruza / Magnoli / Nofz / Tomczyk adopted that name in SE MI until dis-banding during the late-1970s.

Discography

Singles

Listed in chronological release order with peak chart position (Billboard Hot 100) noted.

• Louie Louie/Haunted Castle (Jerden 712) 1963
• Louie Louie/Haunted Castle (Wand 143) 1963 (#2) -- B-side changed to Little Green Thing on later pressings; Re-released in 1966 as Louie Louie 64-65-66 w/ Haunted Castle B-side
• Money/Bent Scepter (Wand 150) 1964 (#16)
• Little Latin Lupe Lu/David's Mood (Wand 157) 1964 (#46)
• Death Of An Angel/Searching For Love (Wand 164) 1964 (#42)
• The Jolly Green Giant/Long Green (Wand 172) 1964 (#4)
• The Climb/The Waiting (Wand 183) 1965 (#65)
• Annie Fanny/Give Her Lovin’ (Wand 189) 1965 (#47)
• (You Got) The Gamma Goochee/It's Only The Dog (Wand 1107) 1965 (#122)
• Little Green Thing/Killer Joe (Wand 1115) 1966 (#77)
• The Krunch/The Climb (Wand 1118) 1966
• My Wife Can't Cook/Little Sally Tease (Wand 1127) 1966
• If I Needed Someone/Grass Is Green (Wand 1137) 1966
• Trouble/Daytime Shadows (Wand 1147) 1967
• Children's Caretaker/The Wolf of Manhattan (Wand 1154) 1967
• (I Have Found) Another Girl/Don’t Say No (Wand 1157) 1967
• Bo Diddley Bach/Just Before the Break of Day (Wand 1164) 1968 (#128)
• Get Out of My Life Woman/Since You’ve Been Gone (Wand 1174) 1968
• On Love/I Guess I Was Dreamin’ (Wand 1180) 1968
• You Better Do Right/Today (Capitol 3576) 1973

Studio albums

Listed in chronological order with peak chart position (Billboard) noted.

• The Kingsmen In Person (Wand WDM/WDS-657) 1963 (#20)
• The Kingsmen, Volume II (Wand WDM/WDS-659) 1964 (#15)
• The Kingsmen, Volume 3 (Wand WDM/WDS-662) 1965 (#22)
• The Kingsmen on Campus (Wand WDM/WDS-670) 1965 (#68)
• 15 Great Hits (Wand WDM/WDS-674) 1966 (#87)
• Up and Away (Wand WDM/WDS-675) 1966
• The Kingsmen – A Quarter To Three (Picc-A-Dilly PIC-3329) 1980
• The Kingsmen - Ya Ya (Picc-A-Dilly PIC-3330) 1980
• The Kingsmen - House Party (Picc-A-Dilly PIC-3346) 1980
• Live and Unreleased (Jerden 7004) recorded 1963, released 1992
• Since We’ve Been Gone (Sundazed 6027) recorded 1967, released 1994
• The Kingsmen – Plugged (Kingsmen CD #1) 1995
• Garage Sale (Louie Louie Records – no catalog #) 2003

Compilation albums

• The Kingsmen Greatest Hits (Wand WDM/WDS-681) 1967
• The Best of the Kingsmen (Scepter/Citation Series CTN-18002) 1972
• The Kingsmen Greatest Hits (Picc-A-Dilly PIC-3348) 1981
• The Best of the Kingsmen (Rhino RNLP 126) 1985
• Rock & Roll – Kingsmen (Starday N5-2125) 1985
• Louie Louie – The Kingsmen (Prime Cuts 1322) 1986
• The Kingsmen – 12 Greatest (Golden Circle CS 57582) 198?
• The Kingsmen – Louie, Louie (Golden Circle GC57881) 1987
• The Jolly Green Giant (Richmond 2125) 1988
• The Kingsmen – Louie Louie (Highland Music/Richmond 2138) 1988
• The Best of the Kingsmen (Rhino 70745) 1989
• The Kingsmen – Louie Louie and More Golden Classics (Collectables 5073) 1991
• The Kingsmen – 20 Greats (Highland Music/Festival FST FCD 4417) 1991
• The World of the Kingsmen/Louie Louie (Trace 0400612) 1992
• The Best of the Kingsmen (Laserlight/Delta 124 24) 1995
• The Very Best of the Kingsmen (Varese Sarabande/Varese Vintage 5905) 1998
• The Kingsmen’s Greatest Hits (K-tel K4185-2) 1998
• Louie Louie: The Very Best of the Kingsmen (Collectables 5628) 1999
• The Kingsmen – America’s Premier 60s Garage Band (Edel America 70172) 2000

Further reading

• Ace Records (UK); 'Love that Louie' CD sleevenotes.
• Rhino Records; 'The Best of Louie Louie' CD sleevenotes.
• Renaissance Records; 'Touch' CD sleevenotes.
• Louie Louie; Me Gotta Go Now by Drummer Dick Peterson , Thalian Press 2005

References

1. ^ Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 161. ISBN 0-214-20512-6. 
2. ^ Louielouie.org

External links

• Official Kingsmen webpage