Little Bill & the Bluenotes "LOUIE LOUIE" (2008)

Between Richard Berry, the man who wrote LOUIE LOUIE in 1955, and The Kingsmen, the band that transformed this song into the iconic garage rock anthem of 1963, there existed a great wealth of musical groups in the Pacific Northwest playing this song all over the region. Some of the earliest bands in the Pacific Northwest that embraced this song never got around to recording it, but they certainly inspired a lot of other bands in the area to perform it.

There were two singers in Tacoma, Washington that released their own recordings of the song in 1961. One of these singers was Rockin Robin Roberts, who recorded his version of the song with the Fabulous Wailers, which became the very first release on the Wailers own Etiquette Records label. The other singer that recorded a version of LOUIE LOUIE was Little Bill Engelhart, who cut his version with the Adventurers and the Shalimars. A few years before that, Little Bill had a hit in 1959 with I Love An Angel, recorded by Little Bill & the Bluenotes.

Now, there is a certain degree of controversy over whose version came out first, but that is a topic of a longer conversation that I dont want to get into right now, so Ill just leave it at that. What you need to know is that Rockin Robin Robert and Little Bill were THE VERY FIRST MUSICIANS to release musical recordings of LOUIE LOUIE after Richard Berry released his original record in 1957. According to my research, LOUIE LOUIE is the most recorded song of all time, and I have access to the 2,000+ versions to prove my case.

Anyways, Bill Engelhart is still performing up in the Pacific Northwest, and today Im sharing a little video clip I recently shot in Tacoma during the early part of November 2008. According to Bills MySpace page, he still does around 100 shows a year. Since 1988, the Blue Notes have released 8 CDs and Bill has won every possible award from the Washington Blues Society except for female vocalist category.

You can learn more about Bill by going to
http://www.myspace.com/littlebillandthebluenotes

This video was recorded for the upcoming documentary THE MEANING OF LOUIE, directed by Eric Predoehl. You can learn more about this project by going to
http://www.louielouie.net/blog

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Category:

Music

Tags:

• Pacific
• Northwest
• rock
• roll
• Rockin
• Roberts
• Wailers
• Richard
• Berry

[24JohnE]

E.P.

I enjoyed the video. By any chance, do you have the flip side of this song "Boy Next Door"? If you do, can you please share it? Thanks.

John

[eplouie]

Next time I'm in Tacoma, I'll see if I can pester Bill into doing the flip side...

[eplouie]

Happy Birthday to Little Bill, one of the nicest musicians you'll ever meet!

[thericecrackerprojec]

@eplouie I agree. I met him for the first time today. I bought a bass off him for my son. I've been a fan since I was my son's age and it was a treat to finally meet him. I just wished my son was able to meet him today, but he did invite us to a gig he's performing so I know he'll get a chance. He graciously autographed the bass.

[24JohnE]

E.P.

Maybe, you can also et Bill to do "Why Was I Ever Born" also. It looks like he really enjoys what he's doing. Thanks agina.

John

[GeoSilverMore]

Did their original 1961 record chart at all?