Jack Ely
| Jack Ely | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Background information | |
| Born |
September 11, 1943 Portland, Oregon, United States |
| Died | April 28, 2015 (aged 71) Terrebonne, Oregon, United States |
| Genres | Garage rock, Christian rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, horse trainer |
| Instruments | Guitar, vocals |
| Years active | 1959–2015 |
| Labels | Jerden, Wand, RCA, Bang |
| Associated acts | The Kingsmen, Jack E. Lee & the Squires, Jack Ely & the Courtmen |
Jack Brown Ely (September 11, 1943 – April 28, 2015) was an American guitarist and singer, best known for singing the Kingsmen's version of "Louie Louie". Classically trained in piano, he began playing guitar after seeing Elvis Presley on television. In 1959, he co-founded the Kingsmen and with them recorded "Louie Louie" in 1963; Ely's famously incoherent vocals were partly the result of his braces and the rudimentary recording method. Before the record became a hit Ely was forced out of the group and began playing with his new band, the Courtmen. Ely died in Terrebonne, Oregon, on April 28, 2015 at age 71.
Jack Ely was born on September 11, 1943 in Portland, Oregon, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers. Both of his parents were music majors at the University of Oregon, and his father, Ken Ely, was a singer. His father died when he was four years old and his mother subsequently remarried.
Ely began playing piano while still a young child, and was performing recitals all over the Portland area before his seventh birthday. When he was eleven, a piano teacher provided what he termed "jazz improvisation lessons." The teacher would show Ely a section of a classical composition, and the boy would have to make up 15 similar pieces. He would be required to share each in class and then make up one on the spot.
On January 28, 1956, Ely watched Elvis Presley on television for the first time, and he decided that he wanted to play guitar. At his first guitar lesson, he was required to play "Mary Had a Little Lamb", an experience that Ely found so demeaning that he quit after that lesson and began picking out his favorite guitar riffs by ear. Ely played guitar and sang for the Young Oregonians, a travelling vaudeville show for entertainers under the age of 18. "We didn't get paid in money, we got paid in experience," Ely recalled.
Ely was enrolled at Washington High School in Portland, Oregon. He did not play in the school band, but had a passion for singing. In 1959, Lynn Easton's mother invited him to play at a Portland hotel gig, with Ely singing and playing guitar with the backup band and Easton on the drum kit. The two teenagers grew up together, as their parents were close friends. Easton and Ely performed at yacht club parties, and soon added Mike Mitchell on guitar and Bob Nordby on bass to round out a band. They called themselves The Kingsmen, taking the name from a recently disbanded group. The Kingsmen began their collective career playing at fashion shows, Red Cross events, and supermaket promotions, generally avoiding rock songs on their setlist. Ely played with the Kingsmen as he attended Portland State University.
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