More history of "Louie Louie" - Little Bill + Bluenotes +2

When Richard Berry first wrote and recorded Louie Louie in 1956, he says he was influenced by a couple of songs: El Loco Cha Cha, and Havana Moon.
You can hear similarities in the rhythm tho they are different songs.
So Louie Louie is quite a mixture of not only calypso but cha-cha and rhythm+blues.
He was in the US northwest, and tho his record was not a hit it was picked up by some local bands and became popular. In 1961 in Tacoma Washington two groups recorded it at the same time, and it became a huge #1 hit there. One was The Wailers of Tall Cool One fame, using Rockin Robin Roberts as vocalist, and the other was Little Bill and the Bluenotes, with Bill Engelhart. I don't know if the second placed on the chart the way The Wailers' did. Then two years later the Kingsmen from that area made it a national hit.

Selections:
1) El Loco Cha Cha by Rene Touzet
2) Havana Moon by Chuck Berry
3) Louie Louie by Little Bill and The Bluenotes

Category:

Music

Tags:

• rock
• oldies
• 1960s
• Louie

[bellgardens53]

A problem is that according to my Chuck Berry "After Scool Session" LP, "Havana Moon" was recorded in Chicago October 1956 and Richard Berry recorded "Louie Louie" in Las Vegas April 1956, released early 1957. Richard Berry said, "Chuck Berry had a song out then called "Havana Moon"...I guess those two songs were my main inspiration when I started writing Louie Louie in '55" . Chuck had that song out aka released in 1955. Richard must have mixed up things or he is the Back to the Future cousin.

[GSilverWorld]

@bellgardens53 Thanks a lot for the contribution. That's the way it goes sometimes.

Burton Cummings has been off a couple years about Tribute to Buddy Holly.

My own recollection of 1960 was actually 1958.

[Otamon]

You have forgotten Nat King Cole's Calypso Blues. This was one of the big influence!

[Weswaggin02]

royalties shoud be for el maestro rene touzet

[bellgardens53]

@GSilverWorld First time here so I do not know who Burton is. Contribution...haha. I do not know about that. I am like a question mark. But I can not understand, if facts are right, how Richard could be inspired by a song (Chuck's) that was recorded later than his own. But none is perfect. I am much into E Cochran and in the book, "Backbeat - Earl Palmer's Story" he is credited playing behind 2 of Cochran's songs. On the best EC site coming to sessions, another drummer have cred for those songs

[bellgardens53]

One sentence went wrong: Chuck had NOT that song out aka released in 1955. So how could Richard Berry get inspiration from it. Bad memory, it is easy to mix up things is one explanation....but that doesn't explain Richard Berrys Jamaican accent/words. Hmmm? Maybe another Jamaican song inspired him, but it was his own word that apart from El Loco Cha Cha it was Havana Moon. A mystery. Maybe Dave Marsh can explain it better in his Louie Louie book. Or the facts for recordings are wrong. Aw Shuck!

[blasticpuddhas]

The opening of El Loco Cha Cha is great

[blofeld39]

I can definitely hear "Havana Moon" in Richard Berry's delivery of "Louie Louie"; good find. ;-)

[cemmi2]

if you really wish to know one of the original sources and structures of this tune. Check out a tune that appears on an Alan Lomax collection.SouthernJourney. The Georgia Sea Island song called "Live Humble".

[HengistTheGreat]

Great post. 100 Music Knowledge Prestige Points to you. 5 stars.