November
1999 (#9.2)
by Eric
Predoehl
Last updated November 28, 1999
(all rights reserved)
(spot the typos, win a prize!!)
Welcome to the latest update from LOUIELOUIE.NET,
the information source also known as THE
LOUIE REPORT! It's been quite a few months
since my last update to the LOUIE REPORT, and I figured
it was time to change that. I am still waiting for certain
things to happen that are beyond my control, yet the
documentary continues to be produced, and the quest
continues.
SEASIDE REVISITED
 In the last LOUIE LOUIE.NET
news update, I reported the upcoming reunion of Jack
Ely & the Courtmen in Seaside, Oregon. Jack
Ely was the original vocalist for the
Kingsmen, providing the lead vocals for their
most successful recording. When he parted ways with
the original Kingsmen, as led by Lynn Easton,
it wasn't exactly on amicable terms. As the recording
became more popular, Jack was convinced by a music promoter
to create an alternative group called "Jack
Ely & the Kingsmen" to cash in on the new
success. At the time, there had been other groups named
"The Kingsmen," and who would have guessed
that Lynn Easton had actually registered the title?
Needless to say, there were two groups on the road in
the early 1960's with the name "The Kingsmen,"
both claiming to be the band that sang "Louie Louie."
After a lawsuit stopped Jack Ely from ever using the
Kingsmen title again, Jack renamed his group "Jack
Ely & The Courtmen," and continued to tour
across the country until Jack and half of his band was
drafted into armed service in 1967. Up until a few months
ago, the last time Jack Ely & the Courtmen ever
performed in public was at a UC Santa Barbara
music show that featured Jefferson Airplane,
Spirit, and the Seeds. Immediately after
that show, Jack Ely entered the US Army, and the Courtmen
disappeared into garage rock obscurity.
This year, John Thoennes of Seaside,
Oregon, fulfilled one of his great ambitions. As a young
teenager working part-time at the local dance club known
as the Pypo Club during the early 1960's, John
saw a lot of bands pass through this venue, and many
years later, he dreamed about putting together a show
that would reunite the best of these groups. This year,
he had such an opportunity when he joined the Seaside
High School Reunion Committee. As a member of the
class of 1969, he wanted to create a celebration that
embraced the spirit of those times. Earlier in March
of this year, there was a tragedy in Africa that made
national headlines. Rob Haubner, the 1968 class
president of Seaside High School, and his wife Susan
Miller, two senior executives with Intel,
were killed by Rwandan rebels during a violent uprising
in Uganda. At the time, they were on a special
photographic excursion to view rare mountain gorillas
in the eastern African country. Those that knew Rob
and Susan were completely shocked by this tragic turn
of events.
If there was ever a time to assemble a
reunion of old high school friends, this would be the
moment. John Thoennes thought this would be a
worthy occasion to assemble a cavalcade of old Northwest
bands, creating an opportunity for new reunions on various
levels. Altogether, John arranged for 11 bands to perform
at this event, with such performers as James Henry
& the Olympics, Disraeli, George Barner,
United Flight, Washington MerryGoRound,
Fox, Teddy & the Rough Riders, Syncopated
Sound, Crystal Green, Whatever's Fair,
and the grand finale act to end it all, Jack Ely
& the Courtmen. Working around the clock for
this special show, John Thoennes logged insane hours
to produce this very special event, providing what he
called "a second chance at a memory."
For those that made it to this event,
it was certainly a memorable occasion that could never
be forgotten. In my case, I flew up to Oregon from San
Francisco with my co-producer, Jesse Block, and
we came back with many hours of great material that
will make THE MEANING OF LOUIE that much more
amazing as a documentary. There was a certain magic
in the air seeing Jack Ely and his old bandmates-
Gordon Hirsch, Wally Todd and Billy
Truitt, together for the first time since 1967,
sharing laughs, memories, and great music. Playing this
special event, their reunion was not for the big money,
but merely to celebrate their friendship, something
that could never be bought.
While I was at this event, I had the pleasure
of meeting George Barner, one of the former politicians
behind the Washington state initiative to make LOUIE
LOUIE a state song; Jack's son Sean Ely, who
shared memories of his father; and my old friend Pat
Mason, a legendary music promoter in the Northwest,
a virtual reservoir of musical history.
To commemorate this very special occasion,
John Thoennes is in the process of assembling a
videotape that will highlight every band that performed
at this event. Proceeds from this videotape will benefit
the Robert Haubner Seaside High School Scholarship
Fund. For more information, please write to: John
Thoennes, 221 Avenue i, Seaside, OR 97138.
Seaside, Oregon was certainly a site for
lots of LOUIE LOUIE activity, and in my last LOUIE REPORT,
I mentioned the legendary Seaside Riots of early 1960s.
Buck Ormsby of the
Wailers sent me some feedback:
"In reference
to the Seaside riots. The Wailers were playing the
roller rink in Seaside, Ore when the riots started
about 8:00/9:00 that evening. The promoter was Terry
Bassett. The police asked us to shut down our dance
which we did. We escaped to the hotel across the street
from the Pypo Club, which was at the ocean end of
the street, and viewed the rioting mess from our 2nd
floor rooms. Since the riots went on all night and
didn't seem to be getting quelled by any means the
next morning, Bassett and The Wailers came up with
a plan. The Oregon Lt. Governor was in attendance
at our meeting and thought our plan of playing on
the roof of the Pypo Club pointing all sound equipment
toward the beach, while the police and firemen began
pushing everyone on the main street towards the ocean
beach and onto the sand was a good idea and may help
calm them down."
"We moved
our equipment up to the roof and started playing.
With the officials' help everyone began heading toward
the beach and started dancing in the sand. This can
have a pretty tiring affect on the body. Once they
were all dancing, hundreds of people, they became
more docile, and seemed content. The Lt. Governor
made a speech, we kept rockin' & rollin', they
kept dancin', and the riot was over. The Lt. Governor
or another official even asked the crowd to pass the
hat, since the actions of the riot caused us to cancel
our gig. The crowd obliged and everything was fun
from that point on."
AND THE OTHER KINGSMEN....
 While visiting in Portland, Oregon, homebase
for the
Kingsmen, the band that Jack
Ely was once a part of, I had an opportunity
to shoot some video footage with Bill Bounds,
their road manager, and auto mechanic extraordinaire.
Up until recently, Bill was the guy who ran the merchandising
division of the group, responsible for mailing out all
the t-shirts, kazoos, CDs, watches, and other licensed
Kingsmen goodies. With the expansion of the Official
Kingsmen Fan Club out of Arizona, all mail-order
sales will now be handled by that organization, run
by Ms. Millie
Besey, who recently obtained the LOUIELOUIE.ORG
website. Look for their official launch party any day
now! My sincere thanks again to Bill for fixing my car in time of
need! What a great
guy!
The Kingsmen recently created a
massive singalong at a show in Portland, Oregon, with
some 10,000 people singing the song that drove J.
Edgar Hoover to launch an investigation. There was
talk that they might have 60,000 people singing the
song in Houston, but the details are unclear at this
point. Either way, expect to
see an all-new CD from the Kingsmen in the year 2000,
featuring an all-new recording of THAT SONG.
Ken Chase, the man who produced
that wonderful recording by the Kingsmen, was recently
inducted as "record producer" into the Oregon
Music Hall of Fame. Norm Sunholm, bass
player for the Kingsmen, and his brother Conrad
Sunholm, were both inducted under the "music
instrument" category for their work as founders
of Sunn Amplifiers,
one of the pioneers in electric guitar amplification.
The Sunholm brothers did sell this company to Fender
Musical Instruments Corporation sometime in the
1970's, and this year, Sunn was recently revived by
Fender as an active division of the company.
THREE AMIGOS
 To bring LOUIE LOUIE into the modern
age of tech music, three DJ/mixmasters from Europe named
The Three Amigos created an all-new mix of the
legendary Kingsmen recording. It's a catchy little
re-arrangement, and it's worth checking out if you can
find it. As it turns out, their logo looks remarkably
like the official Kingsmen logo. Big thanks go to Theo
de Grood, Frank Sabadin Jr, and some
others whose names escape me for alerting me to this
new recording.
LOUIE LOUIE 2000?
In an earlier LOUIE REPORT, I mentioned
my half-hearted efforts to push for a goal of "LOUIE
LOUIE 2000," a collection of 2,000 different recordings
of Richard Berry's
song. At the time, there
were some 1,200 confirmed recordings of the song,
and in all honesty, I don't really have the time or
resources to follow up on all the different recordings
of LOUIE LOUIE unless they happen to fall in my lap.
Until I can get the sponsorship I need to complete this
ambitious documentary, and could hire someone to help
me fine-tune
the massive LOUIE LOUIE database, it's not going
to happen in the immediate future. "LOUIE
LOUIE 2001"- maybe, but "LOUIE
LOUIE 2000"- probably not.
 Luckily, I've got some good spies that
have alerted me to some great recordings of the song
that I would have otherwise missed. Phil Milstein
of American Song-Poem
Music Archives, has sent me some rather obscure
versions, including one particularly odd one by a 1970's
band known as Faust. Jeff
"Stretch" Riedle continues to provide
me with a ton of different renditions, including a recent
live performance by his band The Shockwaves,
who played live at Bonnie Dunes beach in Santa Cruz,
California. Both Phil & Jeff alerted me to a CD
by John the Postman, a strange little post-punk
recording of a rather silly Englishman that fluctuates
between psychedelia, folk-punk, and rather insane ranting.
Tom Yeates, noted comic book illustrator for
Tarzan, Zorro, and some other fine projects,
also sent me a version of the song featuring his own
band, Goat Rockefeller, who performed the song
at a special birthday party.
The Beatgrinders, from Eskilstuna,
Sweden provided me with a nice little MP3 file, which
I was able to download, and bump to a CD-R. If you'd
like to check out this nice little recording, and some
other great garage recordings, jump over to their site
at: http://members.xoom.com/garagefuzz/sound.htm.
After you've had the chance to enjoy this FREE recording,
be sure to tell Mikke Holmberg "thank you
for this recording" at miho@trio.se.
Anyone else with MP3 files of rare
LOUIE LOUIE recordings should let me know of their existence,
and I'll be glad to acknowledge them in the complete
LOUIE
LOUIE DISCOGRAPHY, which has been recently updated.
This discography is in the Adobe
Acrobat format, which can be read for free with
the proper software.
By the way, PLEASE
DO NOT SEND ME UNSOLICITED ATTACHMENTS. If
you would like to share photos, music files, or other
documents, please let me know which website I can retrieve
them from at my leisure, rather than sending me attachments
that tie up my email.
On the topic of "LOUIE LOUIE 2000,"
you might want to note which "LOUIE LOUIE"
bands are playing at the end of the millennium, and
make your New Year's Eve plans accordingly.
The
Wailers are performing at The Kitsap County
Fairgrounds Pavilion in Washington as part of a giant
New Years "Wailers House Party". Go to their
website for more information about this show, and how
you can purchase a "Special Wailers Millennium
Time Capsule."
Paul
Revere & the Raiders are performing at the
Center on the Grove in Boise, Idaho.
Mark
Lindsay will be performing at the Global Millennium
Celebration, Hilton Head Island Beach and Tennis Resort
in South Carolina.
The
Kingsmen may still be available for bookings.
Go to their website for the latest updates, or contact
T-E-I,
their booking agent.
While Jack
Ely & the Courtmen aren't actively pursuing
the musical careers they once had, they might be willing
to perform at select venues, if the situations sound
like fun, and the promoters aren't total slimeballs.
If you are interested in booking the man whose voice
launched the most popular garage rock anthem of the
world, you can contact Billy Truitt at (702)
594 -7132 or email
billytruitt@psinet.com. If you're lucky, you might
be able to book this band for your turn-of-the-century
party.
The
Legendary Beachcombers will be playing New Years
Eve at the Shilo Inn Resort located right on the beach
in the city of Ocean Shores, Washington.
Stretch Riedle, owner of the world's
largest collection of LOUIE LOUIE recordings, is performing
with his band The
Sub-Mersians at the First Night Celebration
in Santa Cruz, California.
If your band
is planning on performing "LOUIE LOUIE" on
New Year's Eve 1999/2000, please contact me, and I'll
be happy to list you on this website.
RICHARD BERRY LIVES!
Those that knew Richard
Berry will never forget him. The long-awaited
Richard Berry recordings haven't quite made it to the
legitimate CD market yet, but not for lack of trying.
There are some interesting developments regarding his
old FLIP recordings, the sessions he did with
Gary Paxton (and Kim Fowley), and the
1996 reunion with the original Pharaohs, but
unfortunately, things are still in the process of negotiation,
and it's best to say nothing until things are completely
settled. Rest assured, that when all is confirmed, subscribers
to the LOUIE LOUIE REPORT will receive the first word.
In the meantime, I've discovered some
great tracks by Richard Berry that I never knew
about. When Richard was alive, he couldn't remember
all of his recordings, and it was a real treat when
someone found something he'd forgotten about long ago.
 Joe Vincent introduced me to a great little
song recorded by Don Julian & the Larks,
entitled "Shorty the Pimp." Don
Julian was a great friend to Richard, and acted
as one of the pallbearers at Richard's funeral. In this
song, originally released in 1973, Richard does a great
little spoken word intro, reminiscent of Issac Hayes.
"Shorty the Pimp" was the title song for a
Blaxploitation movie of the same name that never got
released. Described as a "Monkees-meet-Shaft
extravaganza," this production ran out of money
before it was completely edited, and all efforts to
find even a rough cut have been unsuccessful. The soundtrack
album, featuring Don Julian & the Larks, originally
slated to be released in conjunction with the film,
was scrapped, and the various tracks were released in
different forms. In 1998, Ace Records sorted
through the original analog tape masters, and released
the soundtrack as it was originally intended. Years
after the 1973 release of the original single, rap artist
Too Short sampled this song for his own, retaining
some of Richard's original vocals. Surprisingly, I could
find no written acknowledgment of Richard's vocals in
these recordings in the liner notes of this semi-recent
Ace release, but listening to this recording, there
can be no doubt that this is indeed Richard Berry,
creator of "Louie Louie," and original vocalist
for the Robins/Coasters hit "Riot in Cell
Block Number Nine."
Incidentally, there is a rumor that Quentin
Tarrantino may own a rough cut of "Shorty
the Pimp." If anybody close to Mr. Tarrantino
could confirm or deny this, that would be greatly appreciated.
As with the
LOUIE LOUIE DISCOGRAPHY, I've recently updated
the RICHARD
BERRY DISCOGRAPHY. Once part of the RICHARD
BERRY WEBSITE, I've decided to treat this as a separate
document.
When you read this Acrobat
file, you'll see some new listings, including some obscure
jazz recordings he did under the name of "the
Soul Senders."
My thanks to all the people that brought
the rare Soul Senders singles to my attention.
As always, if you happen to run across any Richard
Berry records, including cameos on other artists'
records, please drop me a line to see if I own a copy,
as there are many that I still seek for my collection.
Naturally, I'll try to make it worth your while.
LOUIE LETTER OF
THE MONTH
Here's an nice little letter I got from
Kiki of Germany involving LOUIE LOUIE and a murder
attempt:
"I just discovered
your wonderful louie page, congratulations! If I had
the money I would love to fund your documentary, but
I haven't. I would like to ask you one question: did
you ever hear of the story that louie louie was playing
on the radio while a crazy woman shot through a stack
of marilyn monroe canvases in andy warhol's
factory? I read this somewhere and I would be glad
to have it verified. Or do you know any other stories
connecting the song with "fatal events"?
and a little story for you to show you how important
your project is: a few months ago, in the Suddeutsche
Zeitung (something like the "NY Times"
of southern Germany) Louie Louie was listed as 'this
famous song by Iggy Pop'. Horrible, isn't it?
...and speaking of Iggy: you know this quote? 'If
all else fails, do "Louie Louie", right?
Just play "Louie Louie", and it will always
get you outta anything' (sayeth Iggy after telling
the story of the last ever Stooges gig where he was
beaten up onstage by a big fat biker who didn't like
his ballerina costume) That's the story behind the
Louie on the Metallic KO-tapes. But I guess you know
this already."
Actually, I didn't know about either story,
and I thank Kiki for providing me with this new nuggets
of information. I know there was a murder attempt years
ago on Andy Warhol's life by the woman who wrote
the SCUM MANIFESTO book, Ms. Valerie Solanis,
and that particular incident became the basis for a
movie that I haven't seen yet. Does anyone out there
in the internet-land have any additional light they'd
care to share on either incident?
HAND-MADE WILD
MAN
I'm hesitant to let everyone know about
what I'm about to write about, as I don't want this
thing to get too popular, but as a reader of THE
LOUIE REPORT, I'm assuming you have very good taste
in music, and would want to know about a great new development
for collectors of fine music.
 The world of record collecting would be
a different universe indeed if not for the amazing influence
of Larry "WildMan" Fischer. You see,
if Larry never existed, there probably wouldn't be a
RHINO Records
as we know today, and we'd probably be stuck with an
abundance of painfully generic record reissues, if any
at all. The art of reissuing music from the past would
probably be neglected by the major record labels, and
we'd be stuck with ugly little CDs with very boring
packages.
In 1975, Rhino Records was just
a modest little record store near UCLA when owners Richard
Foos & Harold Bronstein decided to press
a little 45 featuring the music of Larry "Wildman"
Fischer. A few years earlier, Frank Zappa
had produced an album entitled "AN EVENING WITH
WILD MAN FISCHER," an eclectic little recording
that had miserable sales, but elevated Larry's notoriety
to a cult status among certain record collectors. When
Larry happened to walk into the Rhino Records store
one day, the owners had a brainstorm, and talked Larry
into recording a quick little ditty on a cheap little
cassette recorder in the back room of the record store.
"Go To Rhino Records" was the first
record ever released by Rhino Records, and was initially
just a give-away for the loyal customers of the store.
Based on the success they had with this little experiment,
Rhino Records decided to launch their own record label,
which grew into the most successful American reissue
label, and was later acquired by the Time-Warner
Empire.
This year, Rhino decided to step back
into their old roots by creating a off-shoot label titled
RHINO HANDMADE.
The idea would be that certain releases will probably
never sell more than a few thousand, but should still
be made available to the public. These RHINO HANDMADE
releases, individually numbered, would not be sold in
regular stores, and could only be purchased through
their special website. And what was the first ---release
from this company? A comprehensive 2-CD collection of
recordings by Larry "Wildman" Fischer
titled "The Fischer King." Other releases
since this initial offering include some rare recordings
by Devo, Tim Buckley, Sonny Bono,
Sweetwater, the first band to ever play Woodstock
(also the subject of the first VH-1 television movie),
and a comprehensive 7 CD box
set (??) dedicated to the quasi-classic punk
album FUN HOUSE
by Iggy Pop's old band The Stooges, originally
produced by Don Gallucci, the original keyboard
player for the Kingsmen.
What does this
have to do LOUIE LOUIE? Hardly
anything, other than the fact that I
love the idea of reissuing music that deserves to be
heard, and WILD MAN FISCHER's music in
particular. I just ordered this collection, and it's
great! Rhino, of course, assembled the "20 Centuries
of Hits" collection, featuring the
most important songs for the past 2,000 Years.
There were only two songs to represent
the 20th Century, and one of them ended with the catch
phrase "let's go!" Check
it out if you dare! It's also a fine addition
to your library.
My thanks to
everyone that's ever written to me with LOUIE LOUIE
information. I wish I could acknowledge everyone
that's ever provided me with some wonderful tidbits,
but unfortunately, if I were to do so, this webpage
would be a full-time job. I do appreciate all sincere
comments, and words of support. I was hoping that I'd
be able to finish this documentary by the end of 1999,
but considering certain roadblocks that I'm still dealing
with, it seems rather unlikely. In the meantime, I've
been rather busy with a new assignment, as a writer
for a new television show called BLUES
EXPRESS, which has taken up quite a bit of my
time these days. Sometime in the year 2000, you should
be able to see this show!
Keep those emails coming!
me gotta go now.....
ERIC PREDOEHL
All images & words copyright
1999-2004 Eric Predoehl / OCTALOUIE, LLC, except as
noted. All rights reserved. The term "LOUIE LOUIE"
is a registered trademark of RMB, Inc, a company owned
by The Kingsmen, the band recognized for turning
the song into the monster icon heard all over the world.
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