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Biography
For|the Southern Gospel vocal group|The Kingsmen Quartetno footnotes|date=June 2009Infobox musical artist | name = The Kingsmen| image = kingsmen.jpg| caption = L-R Don Galluci, Jack Ely, Lynn Easton, Mike Mitchell, and Bob Nordby| image_size = | background = group_or_band| alias =| origin = Portland, Oregon , United States | genre = Garage rock | years_active = 1959–present| label = Jerden , Wand Records|Wand , Sundazed Records|Sundazed | associated_acts =| website = http://www.louielouie.org/ www.louielouie.org| current_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|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 magazine|Billboard charts for six weeks. The single has become an enduring classic.
"Louie Louie"
When Sound recording and reproduction|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 (magazine)|Cashbox chart and #2 on the Billboard (magazine)|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 music recording sales certification|gold disc .cite book | first= Joseph | last= Murrells | year= 1978 | title= The Book of Golden Discs | edition= 2nd | publisher= Barrie and Jenkins Ltd | location= London | page= 161 | isbn= 0-214-20512-6 The A-side and B-side|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 , also attracting the attention of the Federal Bureau of Investigations|FBI because of alleged indecent song lyrics|lyrics in their 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 (60s band)|Touch . Later, Gallucci would become a record producer with Elektra Records , with his most famous production being The Stooges ' seminal second album Fun House (The Stooges 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 Law|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 sync ing 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 " Green Giant|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. http://www.louielouie.org/lawsuitinfo.htm Louielouie.org
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 music|gospel List of vocal groups|vocal group formed in 1956 (also referred to as The Kingsmen Quartet ) and bands that were later renamed 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
Wikify section|date=March 2010
Singles
Listed in chronological release order with peak chart position (Billboard Hot 100) noted.
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/ HauntedCastle 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)
Louie Louie; Me Gotta Go Now by Drummer Dick Peterson, Thalian Press 2005
References
Reflist
External links
http://www.louielouie.org/ Official Kingsmen webpage
DEFAULTSORT:Kingsmen, The Category:Musical groups established in 1959 Category:American rock music groups Category:Garage rock groups Category:Musical groups from Portland, Oregon Category:Protopunk groups
