The Kingsmen

The Kingsmen
1963 "Louie Louie" line-up. L-R Don Gallucci, Jack Ely, Lynn Easton, Mike Mitchell, and Bob Nordby
Background information
Origin	Portland, Oregon, United States
Genres	Beat music, surf music, garage rock
Years active	1959–present
Labels	Jerden, Wand, Sundazed
Website	www.louielouie.org
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) Yank Barry (1968-1969) Fred Dennis (1972-1984) Andy Parypa (1982-1984) Kim Nicklaus (1982-1984) Marc Willett (1984-1992)

The Kingsmen are a 1960s beat/garage rock band from Portland, Oregon, United States. They are best known for their 1963 recording of Richard Berry's "Louie Louie", which held the No. 2 spot on the Billboard charts for six weeks. The single has become an enduring classic.

In 1959, Lynn Easton invited Jack Ely to play with him at a Portland Hotel gig, with Ely singing and playing guitar 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 the 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 supermarket promotions, generally avoiding rock songs on their setlist.

In 1962, while playing a gig at the Pypo Club in Seaside, Oregon, then managed by Al Dardis, the band noticed Rockin' Robin Roberts's version of "Louie Louie" being played on the jukebox for hours on end. The entire club would get up and dance. Ely convinced the Kingsmen to learn the song, which they played at dances to a great crowd response. Unknown to him, he changed the beat because he misheard it on a jukebox. Ken Chase, host of radio station KISN, formed his own club to capitalize on these dance crazes. Dubbed the "Chase", the Kingsmen became the club's house band and Ken Chase became the band's manager. On April 5, 1963, Chase booked the band an hour-long session at the local Northwestern Inc. studio for the following day. The band had just played a 90-minute "Louie Louie" marathon.

Despite the band's annoyance at having so little time to prepare, on April 6 at 10 am the Kingsmen walked into the three-microphone recording studio. In order to sound like a live performance, Ely was forced to lean back and sing to a microphone suspended from the ceiling. "It was more yelling than singing," Ely said, "'cause I was trying to be heard over all the instruments." In addition, he was wearing braces at the time of the performance, further compounding his infamously slurred words. Ely sang the beginning of the third verse several bars too early, but realized his mistake and waited for the rest of the band to catch up. In what was thought to be a warm-up, the song was recorded in its first and only take. The Kingsmen were not proud of the version, but their manager liked the rawness of their cover. The B-side was "Haunted Castle", composed by Ely and Don Gallucci, the new keyboardist. However, Lynn Easton was credited on both the Jerden and Wand releases. The entire session cost $50, and the band split the cost.