Louie, Louie

"Louie Louie" is a rhythm and blues song written and composed by American musician Richard Berry in 1955, recorded in 1956, and released in 1957. It is best known for the 1963 hit version by the Kingsmen and has become a standard in pop and rock. The song is based on the tune "El Loco Cha Cha" popularized by bandleader René Touzet and is an example of Afro-Cuban influence on American popular music.

"Louie Louie" tells, in simple verse–chorus form, the first-person story of a Jamaican sailor returning to the island to see his lover.

Historical significance

The "remarkable historical impact" of "Louie Louie" has been recognized by organizations and publications worldwide for its influence on the history of rock and roll. A partial list (see Recognition and rankings table below) includes the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Grammy Hall of Fame, National Public Radio, VH1, ''Rolling Stone'' Magazine, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Recording Industry Association of America. Other major examples of the song's legacy include the celebration of International Louie Louie Day every year on April 11; the annual Louie Louie Parade in Philadelphia from 1985 to 1989; the LouieFest in Tacoma from 2003 to 2012; the ongoing annual Louie Louie Street Party in Peoria; and the unsuccessful attempt in 1985 to make it the state song of Washington.

Dave Marsh in his book ''The History and Mythology of the World's Most Famous Rock 'n' Roll Song'' wrote, "It is the best of songs, it is the worst of songs", and also called it "cosmically crude". Music historian Peter Blecha noted, "Far from shuffling off to a quiet retirement, evidence indicates that 'Louie Louie' may actually prove to be immortal." Rock critic Greil Marcus called it "a law of nature" and ''New York Times'' music critic Jon Pareles", and "the essence of rock's primal energy". Others noted that it "served as a bridge to the R&B of the past and the rap scene of the future", that "it came to symbolize the garage rock genre, where the typical performance was often aggressive and usually amateurish", and that "all you need to make a great rock 'n' roll record are the chords to 'Louie Louie' and a bad attitude." Humorist Dave Barry (perhaps with some exaggeration) called it "one of the greatest songs in the history of the world".

The Kingsmen's recording was the subject of an FBI investigation about the supposed, but nonexistent, obscenity of the lyrics that ended without prosecution. The nearly unintelligible (and innocuous) lyrics were widely misinterpreted, and the song was banned by radio stations. Marsh wrote that the lyrics controversy "reflected the country's infantile sexuality" and "ensured the song's eternal perpetuation", while another writer termed it "the ultimate expression of youthful rebellion". Jacob McMurray in '' Taking Punk To The Masses'' noted, "All of this only fueled the popularity of the song ... imprinting this grunge ur-message onto successive generations of youth, ... all of whom amplified and rebroadcast its powerful sonic meme ...."

Original version by Richard Berry and the Pharaohs

Richard Berry was inspired to write the song in 1955 after listening to an R&B interpretation of "El Loco Cha Cha" performed by the Latin R&B group Ricky Rillera and the Rhythm Rockers. The tune was written originally as "Amarren Al Loco" ("Tie Up the Madman") by Cuban bandleader Rosendo Ruiz Jr., also known as Rosendo Ruiz Quevedo, but became best known in the "El Loco Cha Cha" arrangement by René Touzet which included a ten-note "1-2-3 1–2 1-2-3 1–2" tumbao or rhythmic pattern.

In Berry's mind, the words "Louie Louie" "just kind of fell out of the sky", superimposing themselves over the repeating bassline. Lyrically, the first person perspective of the song was influenced by "One for My Baby (And One More for the Road)," which is sung from the perspective of a customer talking to a bartender ("Louie" was the name of Berry's bartender). Berry cited Chuck Berry's " Havana Moon" and his exposure to Latin American music for the song's speech pattern and references to Jamaica.

Los Angeles-based Flip Records recorded Berry's adaptation with his vocal group the Pharaohs in 1956 and released it in April 1957 as a single B-side of "You Are My Sunshine". The Pharaohs were Godoy Colbert (first tenor), Stanley Henderson (second tenor, subbing for Robert Harris), and Noel Collins (baritone). Gloria Jones of the Dreamers provided additional backup vocals. Session musicians included Plas Johnson on tenor sax, Jewel Grant on baritone sax, Ernie Freeman on piano, Irving Ashby on guitar, Red Callender on bass, Ray Martinez on drums, and John Anderson on trumpet.

Just prior to the song's release, Berry sold his portion of the publishing and songwriting rights for "Louie Louie" and four other songs for $750 to Max Feirtag, the head of Flip Records, to raise cash for his upcoming wedding. The single was a regional hit on the West Coast, particularly in San Francisco, and when Berry toured the Pacific Northwest, local R&B bands began to play the song, increasing its popularity. The song was re-released by Flip in 1961 as an A-side single and again in 1964 on a four-song EP, but never appeared on any of the various record charts. The label reported that the single had sold 40,000 copies.

Other versions appeared on ''Casino Club Presents Richard Berry'' (1966), ''Great Rhythm and Blues Oldies Volume 12'' (1977), ''The Best of Louie, Louie'' (1983), and ''In Session: Great Rhythm & Blues'' (2002). Although similar to the original, the version on Rhino's 1983 ''The Best of Louie, Louie'' compilation is actually a note-for-note re-recording (with backup vocals by doo wop revival group Big Daddy) created because licensing could not be obtained for Berry's 1957 version. The original version was not legitimately re-released until the Ace Records ''Love That Louie'' compilation in 2002.

While the title of the song is often rendered with a comma ("Louie, Louie"), in 1988, Berry told '' Esquire'' magazine that the correct title of the song was "Louie Louie" with no comma.

Cover versions

"Louie Louie" is the world's most recorded rock song, with published estimates ranging from over 1,600 to more than 2,000. It has been released or performed by a wide range of artists from reggae to hard rock, from jazz to psychedelic, from hip hop to easy listening. Peter Doggett labeled it "almost impossible to play badly" and Greil Marcus proclaimed, "Has there ever been a bad version of 'Louie Louie'?"

The Kingsmen version in particular has been cited as the "rosetta stone" of garage rock, the defining " ur-text" of punk rock, and "the original grunge classic". "The influential rock critics Dave Marsh and Greil Marcus believe that virtually all punk rock can be traced back to a single proto-punk song, 'Louie Louie'."

1950s

Richard Berry was on the underbill for a concert in the Seattle-Tacoma area in September 1957 and his record appeared on local radio station charts in November 1957. Local R&B groups like Ron Holden and the Playboys and the Dave Lewis Combo popularized "Louie Louie", rearranging Berry's version and performing it at live shows and "battle of the bands" events.

Holden recorded an unreleased version, backed by the Thunderbirds, for the Nite Owl label in 1959. As a leader of the "dirty but cool" Seattle R&B sound, he would often substitute mumbled, "somewhat pornographic" lyrics in live performances. Lewis, "the singularly most significant figure on the Pacific Northwest's nascent rhythm & blues scene in the 1950s and 1960s", released a three chord clone, "David's Mood - Part 2", that was a regional hit in 1963.

The Wailers, Little Bill and the Bluenotes, the Frantics, Tiny Tony and the Statics, Merrilee and the Turnabouts, and other local groups soon added the song to their set lists.

1960s

Rockin' Robin Roberts and the Wailers (1961)

Robin Roberts developed an interest in rock 'n' roll and rhythm and blues records as a high school student in Tacoma, Washington. Among the songs he began performing as an occasional guest singer with a local band, the Bluenotes, in 1958 were "Louie Louie", which he had heard on Berry's obscure original single, and Bobby Day's " Rockin' Robin", which gave him his stage name.

In 1959, Roberts left the Bluenotes and began singing with another local band, the Wailers, famed for their "hard-nosed R&B/rock fusion". Known for his dynamic onstage performances, Roberts added "Louie Louie" to the band's set and, in 1960 recorded the track with the Wailers as his backing band. The arrangement, devised by Roberts with the band, was "the first-ever garage version of 'Louie Louie'" and included his ad-lib "Let's give it to 'em, RIGHT NOW!!" Released as a single on the band's own label, Etiquette, in early 1961, it became a huge hit locally, charting at No. 1 on Seattle's KJR and establishing "Louie Louie" as "''the'' signature riff of Northwest rock 'n' roll". It also picked up play across the border in Vancouver, British Columbia, appearing in the top 40 of the CFUN chart. The popularity of the Roberts release effectively buried another version put out at about the same time by Little Bill Englehardt (Topaz T-1305).

The record was then reissued and promoted by Liberty Records in Los Angeles, but it failed to chart nationally. The track was included on the 1963 album ''The Wailers & Co'', the 1964 compilation album ''Tall Cool One'', the 1998 reissue of the 1962 album ''The Fabulous Wailers Live at the Castle'', and multiple later compilations.

Roberts was killed in an automobile accident in 1967, but his "legacy would reverberate down through the ages". Dave Marsh dedicated his 1993 book, "For Richard Berry, who gave birth to this unruly child, and Rockin' Robin Roberts, who first raised it to glory."

The Kingsmen (1963)

On 6 April 1963, the Kingsmen, a rock and roll group from Portland, Oregon, chose "Louie Louie" for their second recording, their first having been "Peter Gunn Rock". The Kingsmen recorded the song at Northwestern Inc. Motion Pictures & Recording Studios at 411 SW 13th Avenue in Portland, Oregon. The one hour session cost either $36, $50, or somewhere in between and the band split the cost.

The session was produced by Ken Chase, a local disc jockey on the AM rock station 91 KISN who also owned the teen nightclub that hosted the Kingsmen as their house band. The engineer for the session was the studio owner, Robert Lindahl. The Kingsmen's lead vocalist, Jack Ely, based his version on the recording by Rockin' Robin Roberts with the Fabulous Wailers, but unintentionally reintroduced Berry’s original rhythm as he showed the other members how to play it with a 1–2–3, 1–2, 1–2–3 beat instead of the 1–2–3–4, 1–2, 1–2–3–4 beat on the Wailers record. The night before their recording session, the band played a 90-minute version of the song during a gig at a local teen club. The Kingsmen's studio version was recorded in one partial and one full take. They also recorded " Jamaica Farewell" and what became the B-side of the release, an original "surf instrumental" by Ely and keyboardist Don Gallucci called "Haunted Castle". Jerry Dennon’s local Jerden label pressed 1,000 copies.

A significant error on the Kingsmen version occurs just after the lead guitar break. As the group was going by the Wailers version, which has a brief restatement of the riff twice over before the lead vocalist comes back in, it would be expected that Ely would do the same. Ely, however, missed his mark, coming in two bars too soon, before the restatement of the riff. He realized his mistake and stopped the verse short, but the band did not realize that he had done so. As a quick fix, drummer Lynn Easton covered the pause with a drum fill. The error is now so well known that multiple versions by other groups duplicate it.

The Kingsmen's version with its "ragged", "chaotic", "shambolic, lumbering style", complete with "manic lead guitar solo, insane cymbal crashes, generally slurred and unintelligible lyrics", transformed the earlier Rockin' Robin Roberts version on which it was based into a "gloriously incoherent", "raw and raucous" romp. Ely had to stand on tiptoe to sing into a boom mike, and his braces further impeded his singing. The guitar break is triggered by a shout, "Okay, let's give it to 'em right now!", both lifted from the Roberts version. Critic Dave Marsh suggests it is this moment that gives the recording greatness: " lywent for it so avidly you'd have thought he'd spotted the jugular of a lifelong enemy, so crudely that, at that instant, Ely sounds like Donald Duck on helium. And it's that faintly ridiculous air that makes the Kingsmen's record the classic that it is, especially since it's followed by a guitar solo that's just as wacky." Marsh ranked the song as No. 11 out of the 1001 greatest singles ever made, describing it as "the most profound and sublime expression of rock and roll's ability to create something from nothing". In ''Rock and Roll: An Introduction'', Michael Campbell notes, "The greater freedom of the rhythm section and a blues-influenced guitar solo style were among the features that distinguish rock from the music that came before it. Their use by the Kingsmen shows that they were becoming common practice."

First released in May 1963, the single was initially issued by the small Jerden label, before being picked up by the larger Wand Records in October 1963. Herb Alpert and A&M Records passed on the distribution opportunity, deeming it "too long" and "out of tune".

Sales of the Kingsmen record were initially so low (reportedly 600) that the group considered disbanding. Things changed when Boston's biggest DJ, Arnie Ginsburg, was given the record by a pitchman. Amused by its slapdash sound, he played it on his program as "The Worst Record of the Week". Despite the slam, listener response was swift and positive.

By the end of October, it was listed in ''Billboard'' as a regional breakout and a "bubbling under" entry for the national chart. Meanwhile, the Raiders version, with far stronger promotion, was becoming a hit in California and was also listed as "bubbling under" one week after the Kingsmen debuted on the chart. For a few weeks, the two singles appeared destined to battle each other, but demand for the Kingsmen single, backed by national promotion from Wand, acquired momentum and by the end of 1963, Columbia Records had stopped promoting the Raiders version.

It entered the top ten on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart for December 7, and peaked at No. 2 the following week, a spot which it held for six non-consecutive weeks; it would remain in the top 10 throughout December 1963 and January 1964 before dropping off in early February. In total, the Kingsmen's version spent 16 weeks on the Hot 100, selling a million copies by April 1964. " Dominique" by the Singing Nun and "There! I've Said It Again" by Bobby Vinton prevented the single from reaching No. 1 (although Marsh asserts that it "far outsold" the other records, but was denied ''Billboard's'' top spot due to lack of "proper decorum".) "Louie Louie" did reach No. 1 on the '' Cashbox'' and '' Music Vendor/Record World'' pop charts, as well as No. 1 on the ''Cashbox'' R&B chart. It was the last No. 1 on ''Cashbox'' before Beatlemania hit the United States with "I Want to Hold Your Hand". The Kingsmen version quickly became a standard at teen parties in the U.S. during the 1960s and, reaching No. 26 on the UK Singles Chart, was the preferred tune for a popular British dance called " The Shake". The first album, '' The Kingsmen In Person'', peaked at No. 20 in 1964 and remained on the charts for over two years (131 weeks total) until 1966.

Due to the lyrics controversy and supported by the band's heavy touring schedule, the single continued to sell throughout 1965 and briefly reappeared on the charts in 1966, reaching No. 65 in ''Cashbox'', No. 76 in ''Record World'', and No. 97 in ''Billboard''. Total sales estimates for the single range from 10 million to over 12 million with cover versions accounting for another 300 million.

Another factor in the success of the record may have been the rumor that the lyrics were intentionally slurred by the Kingsmen—to cover up lyrics that were allegedly laced with profanity, graphically depicting sex between the sailor and his lady. Crumpled pieces of paper professing to be "the real lyrics" to "Louie Louie" circulated among teens. The song was banned on many radio stations and in many places in the United States, including Indiana, where a ban was requested by Governor Matthew Welsh. These actions were taken despite the small matter that practically no one could distinguish the actual lyrics. Denials of chicanery by Kingsmen and Ely did not stop the controversy. The FBI started a 31-month investigation into the matter and concluded they were "unable to interpret any of the wording in the record." However, drummer Lynn Easton later admitted that he yelled "Fuck" after fumbling a drum fill at 0:54 on the record.

By the time the Kingsmen version had achieved national popularity, the band had split. Two rival editions—one featuring lead singer Jack Ely, the other with Lynn Easton who held the rights to the band's name—were competing for live audiences across the country. A settlement was reached later in 1964 giving Easton the right to the Kingsmen name but requiring all future pressings of the original version of "Louie Louie" to display "Lead vocal by Jack Ely" on the label. Ely released "Love That Louie" (as Jack E. Lee and the Squires) in 1964 and "Louie Louie '66" and " Louie Go Home" (as Jack Ely and the Courtmen) in 1966 without chart success. He re-recorded "Louie Louie" in 1976 and again in 1980, and these versions appear on multiple 60s hit compilations credited to "Jack Ely (formerly of the Kingsmen)" or "re-recordings by the original artists".

Subsequent Kingsmen "Louie Louie" versions with either Lynn Easton or Dick Peterson as lead vocalist appeared on ''Live & Unreleased'' (recorded 1963, released 1992), ''Live at the Castle'' (recorded 1964, released 2011), ''Shindig! Presents Frat Party'' (VHS, recorded 1965, released 1991), ''60s Dance Party'' (1982), ''California Cooler Presents Cooler Hits'' (recorded 1986, released 1987), ''The Louie Louie Collection'' (as the Mystery Band, 1994), ''Red, White & Rock'' (2002), ''Garage Sale'' (recorded 2002, released 2003), and ''My Music: '60s Pop, Rock & Soul'' (DVD, 2011).

On 9 November 1998, after a protracted lawsuit that lasted five years and cost $1.3 million, the Kingsmen were awarded ownership of all their recordings released on Wand Records from Gusto Records, including "Louie Louie". They had not been paid royalties on the songs since the 1960s.

When Jack Ely died on April 28, 2015, his son reported that "my father would say, 'We were initially just going to record the song as an instrumental, and at the last minute I decided I'd sing it. When it came time to do that, however, Ely discovered the sound engineer had raised the studio's only microphone several feet above his head. Then he placed Ely in the middle of his fellow musicians, all in an effort to create a better "live feel" for the recording. The result, Ely would say over the years, was that he had to stand on his toes, lean his head back and shout as loudly as he could just to be heard over the drums and guitars.

When Mike Mitchell died on April 16, 2021, he was the only remaining member of the Kingsmen's original lineup who still performed with the band. His "Louie Louie" guitar break has been called "iconic", "blistering", and "one of the most famous guitar solos of all time". ''Guitar Player'' magazine noted, "Raw, lightning-fast, and loud, the solo's unbridled energy helped make the song a No. 2 pop hit, but also helped set the template for garage-rock – and later hard-rock – guitar."

Paul Revere & the Raiders (1963)

Paul Revere & the Raiders also recorded a version of "Louie Louie", probably on April 11 or 13, 1963, in the same Portland studio as the Kingsmen. The recording was paid for and produced by KISN radio personality Roger Hart, who soon became personal manager for the band. Released on Hart's Sandē label and plugged on his radio show, their version was more successful locally. Columbia Records issued the single nationally in June 1963 and it went to No. 1 in the West and Hawaii, but only reached No. 103 on the ''Billboard'' Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart. The quick success of "Louie Louie" faltered, however, possibly due to lack of support from Columbia and its A&R man Mitch Miller, a former bandleader (''Sing Along With Mitch'') with "retrogressive taste" who disliked the "musical illiteracy" of rock and roll.

The Raiders version opened with a distinctive "Grab yo woman, its-a 'Louie Louie' time!" followed by a sax intro similar to the Rockin' Robin Roberts version (guitar in later releases). Another distinctive lyric was "Stomp and shout and work it on out". The original version also contains a scarcely audible "dirty lyric" when Mark Lindsay says, "Do she fuck? That psyches me up!" behind the guitar solo.

Robert Lindahl, president and chief engineer of NWI and sound engineer on both the Kingsmen and Raiders recordings, stated that the Raiders version was not known for "garbled lyrics" or an amateurish recording technique, but, as one author noted, their "more competent but uptight take on the song" was less exciting than the Kingsmen's version.

Live versions were included on ''Here They Come!'' (1965), ''Paul Revere Rides Again!'' (1983), and ''The Last Madman of Rock and Roll'' (1986, DVD). Later releases featured different lead vocalists on ''Special Edition'' (1982, Michael Bradley), ''Generic Rock & Roll'' (1993, Carlo Driggs), ''Flower Power'' (2011, Darren Dowler), and ''The Revolutionary Hits of Paul Revere & the Raiders'' (2019, David Huizenga).

The Beach Boys (1964)

Surf music icons the Beach Boys released their version on the 1964 album ''Shut Down Volume 2'' with lead vocals shared by Carl Wilson and Mike Love. Their effort was unusual in that it was rendered "in a version so faithful to Berry's Angeleno-revered original" instead of the more common garage rock style as they "pay tribute to the two most important earlier recordings of 'Louie Louie' — the 1957 original by Richard Berry and the Pharaohs, and the infamously unintelligible 1963 cover by the Kingsmen". Other surf music versions included the Chan-Dells in 1963, the Pyramids and the Surfaris in 1964, the Trashmen, the Invictas, and Jan and Dean in 1965, the Challengers in 1966, the Ripp Tides in 1981, and the Shockwaves in 1988.

Otis Redding (1964)

Otis Redding's version was released on his 1964 album '' Pain in My Heart''. Dave Marsh called it "the best of the era" and noted that he "rearranged it to suit his style" by adding a full horn section and "garbles the lyrics so completely that it seems likely he made up the verses on the spot" as he "sang a story that made sense in his life" (including making Louie a female). Other versions by R&B artists included Ike & Tina Turner, the Tams, and Nat & John in 1968, Wilbert Harrison in 1969, the Topics in 1970, and Barry White in 1981.

The Angels (1964)

With a version on their 1964 album ''A Halo to You'', the Angels were the first girl group to cover "Louie Louie". Their rendition also appeared on ''The Best of Louie Louie, Volume 2''.

A Minnesota girl group, the Shaggs, released a version as a 1965 single (Concert 1-78-65), and Honey Ltd. covered the song on their eponymous 1968 album and as a single ( LHI 1216); however, the distinction of first girl group participation on a released version of "Louie Louie" would go to the Shalimars, an Olympia girl group who provided overdubbed backing vocals in 1960 for a recording by Little Bill (Englehardt) released as a single in 1961 (Topaz 1305).

Female solo artist versions in the 1960s included Maddalena in 1967, titled "Lui Lui", as a single (RCA Italiana 3413), Tina Turner in 1968, released in 1989 on ''The Best of Louie Louie, Volume 2'', and "a sexiest-of-all version by smokey-voiced diva Julie London" released as a single (Liberty 56085) and included on her 1969 album ''Yummy, Yummy, Yummy''.

The Kinks (1964)

The Kinks recorded "Louie Louie" on October 18, 1964. It was released in November on the ''Kinksize Session'' EP and on two 1965 US-only albums, ''Kinks-Size'' and ''Kinkdom''. Live 1960s versions were released on bootlegs ''The Kinks in Germany'' (1965), ''Kinky Paris'' (1965), ''Live in San Francisco'' (1969), ''Kriminal Kinks'' (1972), and ''The Kinks at the BBC'' (2012). The Kast Off Kinks continue to perform it live, occasionally joined by Ray Davies at the annual Kinks Konvention.

Sources vary on the impact of "Louie Louie" on the writing of "You Really Got Me" and " All Day and All of the Night". One writer called the two songs "sparse representations of a "Louie Louie" mentality", Another noted that the "You Really Got Me" riff is "unquestionably a guitar-based piece, hatfundamentally differs from "Louie Louie" and other earlier riff pieces with which it sometimes is compared", while another succinctly calls it "a rewrite of the Kingsmen's 'Louie Louie'". A 1965 letter to London's Record Mirror opined, "Besides completely copying the Kingsmen's vocal and instrumental style, The Kinks rose to fame with two watery twists of this classic...."

Dave Marsh asserted that the Kinks "blatantly based their best early hits" on the "Louie Louie" riff. Other sources stated that Davies wrote "You Really Got Me" while trying to work out the chords of "Louie Louie" at the suggestion of the group's manager, Larry Page. According to biographer Thomas M. Kitts, Davies confirmed that Page suggested that "he write a song like 'Louie Louie'", but denied any direct influence.

Biographer Johnny Rogan noted no "Louie Louie" influence, writing that Davies adapted an earlier piano riff to the jazz blues style of Mose Allison, and that he was further influenced by seeing Chuck Berry and Gerry Mulligan in "'' Jazz on a Summer's Day''", a 1958 film about the Newport Jazz Festival. Rogan also cited brother Dave Davies' distorted power chords as "the sonic contribution that transformed the composition" into a hit song.

Whether directly or indirectly, the Kingsmen version influenced the musical style of the early Kinks. They were huge fans of the Kingsmen’s "Louie Louie" and Dave Davies remembered the song inspiring Ray’s singing, saying in an interview:

''We played that record over and over. And Ray copied a lot of his vocal style from that guy ack Ely I was always trying to get Ray to sing, because I thought he had a great voice, but he was very shy. Then we heard The Kingsmen and he had that lazy, throwaway, laid-back drawl in his voice, and it was magic.''

The Sandpipers (1966)

After their No. 1 hit "Guantanamera", the Sandpipers, with producer Tommy LiPuma and arranger Nick DeCaro, "cleverly revived" the same soft rock, smooth ballad Spanish language approach to "Louie Louie", reaching No. 30 and No. 35 on the Billboard and Cash Box charts, respectively (the highest charting U.S. version after the Kingsmen). The success of their "smoky version" heralded the entry of the ever adaptable "Louie Louie" into the MOR and easy listening categories and many followed: David McCallum and J.J. Jones (1967), Honey Ltd. (1968), Julie London (1969), Sounds Orchestral (1970), Line Renaud (1973), Dave Stewart and Barbara Gaskin (1991), and others released singles and albums featuring slower and mellower versions of what had previously been an up tempo pop and rock standard.

Travis Wammack (1966)

With the only instrumental version to make the charts, Travis Wammack reached No. 128 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 in April 1966. An early guitar innovator, his proto-fuzztone sound on "Louie Louie" was created by playing through an overdriven drive-in movie speaker.

Released as a single (Atlantic 2322), the track was not included on Wammack's first album in 1972 or any thereafter. It appeared on a 1967 French release (''Formidable Rhythm And Blues (Vol. 3)''), but not again until two Wammack compilations, ''That Scratchy Guitar From Memphis'' (1987) and ''Scr-Scr-Scratchy!'' (1989). It was also included on two later various artists compilations, ''Love That Louie: The Louie Louie Files'' (2002) and ''Boom Boom A Go-Go!'' (2014).

Other notable 1960s instrumental versions included the Ventures and Ian Whitcomb in 1965, Ace Cannon and Sandy Nelson in 1966, Floyd Cramer and Pete Fountain in 1967, and Willie Mitchell in 1969.

The Sonics (1966)

The Sonics released their version as a 1965 single (Etiquette ET-23) and on the 1966 album '' Boom''. Later versions appeared on ''Sinderella'' (1980) and ''Live at Easy Street'' (2016).

Described as a major influence on punk and garage music worldwide, the group's characteristic hard-edged, fuzz-drenched sound and "abrasive, all-out approach" "took the Northwest garage sound to its most primitive extreme" and made their "Louie Louie" version ahead of its time. They also made it more "fierce and threatening" by altering the traditional 1-4-5-4 chord pattern to the "sinister-sounding" 1-3b-4-3b.

Mongo Santamaria (1967)

The " Watermelon Man", Cuban percussionist and bandleader Mongo Santamaria, returned "Louie Louie" to its Afro-Cuban roots, echoing Rene Touzet's "El Loco Cha Cha" with his conga- and trumpet-driven Latin jazz version. Originally released on the 1967 album ''Hey! Let's Party'', it was also included on the 1983 compilation ''The Best of Louie Louie, Volume 2''. Other early Latin-flavored versions were released by Pedrito Ramirez con los Yogis (Angelo 518, 1965), Pete Terrace (''El Nuevo Pete Terrace'', 1966), Eddie Cano (''Brought Back Live from P.J.'s'', 1967), Mario Allison (''De Fiesta'', 1967), and Rey Davila (''On His Own'', 1971).

Latin American jazz/rock innovator Carlos Santana compared Tito Puente's 1962 " Oye Como Va" to "Louie Louie" saying, "... how close the feel was to 'Louie Louie' and some Latin jazz tunes" and "... this is a song like 'Louie Louie' or 'Guantanamera'. This is a song that when you play it, people are going to get up and dance, and that's it."

Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention (1967)

"Louie Louie" repeatedly figured in the musical lexicon of Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention in the 1960s; he categorized the riff as one of several "Archetypal American Musical Icons ... hosepresence in an arrangement puts a spin on any lyric in their vicinity" and used it initially "to make fun of the old-fashioned rock 'n' roll they had transcended".

His original compositions " Plastic People" and "Ruthie-Ruthie" (from You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 1) were set to the melody of "Louie Louie" and included Richard Berry co-writer credits. Zappa said that he fired guitarist Alice Stuart from the Mothers of Invention because she couldn't play "Louie Louie", although this comment was obviously intended as a joke.

At a 1967 concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London, Mothers of Invention keyboardist Don Preston climbed up to the venue's famous pipe organ, usually used for classical works, and played the signature riff (included on the 1969 album '' Uncle Meat''). Quick interpolations of "Louie Louie" also frequently turn up in other Zappa works.

Other 1960s versions

*Little Bill with the Adventurers and the Shalimars, as a 1961 single (Topaz T-1305).
*The Wailers, on their 1963 album ''The Wailers and Company''.
* The Standells, on a 1964 album ''The Standells in Person at P.J.s.''
*Pat Metheny, in the 1960s with his first group, The Beat Bombs.
* John Fogerty, live in 1964 with the Golliwogs
* The Bobby Fuller Four, recorded 1964, released on a French bootleg LP ''I Fought The Law'' in 1983 and on ''El Paso Rock: Early Recordings, Vol. 1'' in 1996.
*Jan and Dean, live on their 1965 ''Command Performance'' album backed by the Fantastic Baggys.
* The Invictas, on their 1965 album ''The Invictas À Go-Go''; re-released in 1983.
*The Pink Finks (Australia), as a 1965 single (Mojo MO-001).
*The Castaways, live in 1965 at the Cow Palace.
*The Troggs, on their 1966 '' From Nowhere'' album. Their 1966 hit single " Wild Thing" also used a very similar chord progression. A rerecorded version was released on the 2013 album ''This Is The Troggs''.
* The song underwent psychedelic treatment courtesy of the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band in 1966 on their debut album '' Volume One'', Friar Tuck on his 1967 album ''Friar Tuck and His Psychedelic Guitar'', Neighb'rhood Childr'n on their 1997 album (recorded 1967) ''Long Years in Space'', and the Underground All-Stars on their 1968 album ''Extremely Heavy!''.
*The Beau Brummels, on a 1966 album Beau Brummels '66 and a second version on the 1968 compilation ''The Best of the Beau Brummels, Vol. 44''.
*The Swingin' Medallions, on their 1966 album ''Double Shot''.
* The Syndicate of Sound, a live version from 1966 was released in 1991 by ''Cream Puff War'' magazine.
* Jim Morrison's first vocal performance on stage was "Louie Louie" in 1965 with Rick and the Ravens (with Ray Manzarek) at the Turkey Joint West in Santa Monica.
* Pink Floyd, in an earlier incarnation as The Pink Floyd Sound, regularly included psychedelic "Louie Louie" versions with "wild improvised interludes" and "echo-laced discordant jams" in their setlists in the mid-60s.
* Jefferson Airplane and Grateful Dead (Joey Covington (vocals), Jerry Garcia, Jorma Kaukonen, Gary Duncan, Jack Casady, Mike Shrieve, others), live at the Family Dog at Great Highway, San Francisco on September 7, 1969.
* The Beatles, from the ''Get Back/Let It Be'' sessions in 1969; released on the 1995 ''Jamming With Heather'' bootleg CD.

1970s

Iggy Pop (1972)

Iggy Pop (then known as Jim Osterberg) began performing "Louie Louie" "with his own version of the dirty lyrics" in 1965 as a member of the Iguanas. Later with the Stooges and as a solo performer, he recorded multiple versions of the song. As the "godfather of punk", he inspired a host of punk rock successors, including many with their own versions as the song became a "live staple for many punk-rock bands of the 1970s".

An early London rehearsal version from 1972 was released on ''Heavy Liquid'' (2005) and again on ''Born In A Trailer'' (2016). A 1973 live version was released on ''The Detroit Tapes'' (2009). '' Metallic KO'' (1976) featured a provocative version with impromptu obscene lyrics from the last performance of Iggy and the Stooges in 1974 at the Michigan Palace in Detroit where, according to Lester Bangs, "you can actually hear hurled beer bottles breaking on guitar strings". ("55 Minute Louie-Louie", released in 2017 by Shave on their ''High Alert'' digital album, commemorated the occasion.) ''Consequence'' called this version "a rock standard blown up from the inside out" and said, "The band’s cover of 'Louie Louie' somehow both honors their rock ‘n’ roll forebears and spits on their legacy. In other words, it's punk at its best."

Pop later wrote a new version with political and satirical verses instead of obscenities that was released on '' American Caesar'' in 1993. One lyric in particular captured Pop's long term relationship with the song: "I think about the meaning of my life again, and I have to sing "Louie Louie" again." ''Far Out Magazine'' called it "the best version of the song out there". It was used during the opening credits of Michael Moore's '' Capitalism: A Love Story'' and as an ending song in Jim Jarmusch's '' Coffee and Cigarettes'' in which Pop took part as himself. The Just Dance video game also featured this version performed by a dancing Iggy Pop avatar.

Multiple live versions were released on ''Nuggets'' (recorded 1980, released 1999), ''Where The Faces Shine - Volume 2'' (recorded 1982, released 2008), ''The Legendary Breaking Point Tour'' (recorded 1983, released 1993), ''Kiss My Blood'' (1991, VHS), ''Beside You'' (1993), and ''Roadkill Rising'' (1994).

Toots and the Maytals (1972)

"Louie Louie" journeyed to its lyrical Jamaican destination with a reggae version by Toots and the Maytals. It was released as a 1972 UK single (Trojan TR-7865) and on the 1973 ''Funky Kingston'' album, described by rock critic Lester Bangs writing in ''Stereo Review'' as "Perfection, the most exciting and diversified set of reggae tunes by a single artist yet released".

A BBC reviewer said, "The goofy garage anthem becomes both fiery sermon and dance-til-you-drop marathon. And, thanks to Toots’ soulman’s disregard for verbal meaning, the words are, if anything, even harder to discern than in the Kingsmen's version." Rolling Stone wrote, "And it passes the toughest test of any 'Louie Louie' remake — it rocks hard" and '' Hi-Fi News & Record Review'' cited its "incomprehensible majesty" and "crazy vigour" that made it "the best version ever". Another author, writing about the song's use in a scene in '' This Is England'' noted, "A black Jamaican band's cover of a black American song, made famous by a white American band, seems an appropriate signifier of the racial harmony that irector ShaneMeadows seeks to evoke ...."

The group performed the song frequently in concert and a live version appeared on the 1998 various artists album ''Reggae Live Sessions Volume 2''. Toots Hibbert also performed it solo and with other acts, most notably the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Dave Matthews Band.

"Brother Louie" (1973)

Although musically not a true cover version, " Brother Louie", Errol Brown and Tony Wilson's song about an interracial romance, was termed by Dave Marsh as "one of the truest heirs Richard Berry's 'Louie Louie' ever had" based on its theme of separated lovers and its minor key reprise of the chorus. The original release by Hot Chocolate reached No. 7 on the UK singles chart. A cover version by Stories was a No. 1 hit in the U.S. later the same year, but with the racial roles reversed. In 1993, the Quireboys' version reached No. 31 in the UK.

Patti Smith (1975)

Multiple live versions by Patti Smith, the "punk poet laureate", were released in the mid-1970s on bootleg albums ''Let's Deodorize The Night'', ''Teenage Perversity & Ships In The Night'', ''In Heat'', and ''Bicentenary Blues'', usually as a medley in which Lou Reed's "Pale Blue Eyes" would "sacrilegiously segue" into "Louie Louie". Her cover version has been described as tapping "directly into the primal, urchin-like spirit of rock's renaissance".

Jon the Postman (1977)

Described as "a committed and omnipresent figure on the punk and post-punk scene in Manchester",Inglis, Ian (2006) ''Performance of Popular Music: History, Place and Time'', Ashgate, , p. 93 Jon the Postman became known for waiting until headline bands like the Buzzcocks, the Fall, and Warsaw (later Joy Division) had finished their sets (sometimes before they had finished) before mounting the stage in a drunken state, grabbing the microphone, and performing his own versions of "Louie Louie".Ogg, Alex (2006) ''No More Heroes: A Complete History of UK Punk from 1976 to 1980'', Cherry Red Books, , pp. 310–311 The first occurrence was at a Buzzcocks concert at the Band on the Wall venue on May 2, 1977,Quantick, David "''John the Postman's Puerile'' (review)", '' Q'', September 1998 which he described:

''I think the Buzzcocks left the stage and the microphone was there and a little voice must have been calling, 'This is your moment, Jon.' I've no idea to this day why I sang 'Louie Louie,' the ultimate garage anthem from the 60s. And why I did it '' a cappella'' and changed all the lyrics apart from the actual chorus, I have no idea. I suppose it was my bid for immortality, one of those great bolts of inspiration. For some reason it appeared to go down rather well. I suppose it was taking the punk ethos to the extreme – anyone can have a go. Before punk it was like you had to have a double degree in music. It was a liberation for someone like me who was totally unmusical but wanted to have a go.''

A version of the song by The Fall with Jon on vocals appeared on the '' Live 1977'' album which was described by Stewart Home as taking "the amateurism of the Kingsmen to its logical conclusion with grossly incompetent musicianship and a drummer who seems to be experiencing extreme difficulty simply keeping time". A version with his group Puerile was included on the 1978 album ''John the Postman's Puerile''.

Motörhead (1978)

"Louie Louie" was Motörhead's first single for Bronze Records in 1978, following their initial release on Chiswick Records in 1977. A "rough-edged cover of the garage rock warhorse" with Clarke's guitar emulating the Hohner Pianet electric piano riff, it was released with "Tear Ya Down" as a 7" vinyl single. Supported by a "back-breaking" touring schedule, the "high-octane" version reached No. 68 on the UK Singles Chart.

The track also appeared on the CD re-issues of '' Overkill'' (1996) and '' The Best of Motörhead'' (2000). On 25 October 1978 a pre-recording of the band playing the song was broadcast on the BBC
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