In memory of my late friend Michael Rivinius, I decided to post a video of him with Richard Berry performing “LOUIE LOUIE.”
The time was November 17, 1989. The place was JJ’s Blues Cafe in Mountain View, California. Singer-songwriter Richard Berry was in town for a special performance Richard’s son Marcel Berry played bass, and sax player Michael Rivinius brought his band The Simplistics to back up this musical legend. This footage was shot by Eric Predoehl (that would be me) for the upcoming documentary THE MEANING OF LOUIE under less-than-ideal situations. The lighting was terrible, and the camera wasn’t very forgiving. Nonetheless, we’ve got a very rare performance of LOUIE LOUIE by the man who actually wrote this song.
What makes this particular clip so special is the audience interaction. Richard walked around the club with a microphone, inviting audience members to sing LOUIE LOUIE with him. One gentlemen did some really great yodeling!
If you are the “mystery yodeler” or know who this person is, please send me an email!
UPDATE: Chris Pimentel wrote:
Well I am not the mystery yodeler, but I was am the guy playing guitar. I met Mike about a year earlier and started working with him in Jan. of 89′. He got me through colleg back then, and got me plenty of gigs after. Thank you for posting that. I Heard about his death a day after he died, but had no idea he was sick. Due to family and work obligations I was not able to atted the memorial for him. This is a great tribute to him, as I remember this being one of the highlights of his career, he lived for these kind of gigs, lord knows He, and I , sufferered thru some rough ones.
The other guys are,
Pat O’Connell on drums
Bill Blair (a.k.a. Lance Flynn) on Tenor
and, Jim Passarell on trumpetI just wanted to make contact and say thank you! He will be missed!