LOUIE LOUIE

THE KINGSMEN (1963)

Years before the studied primitivism of punk or the DIY ethic of the C86 scene American garage rock was the last word in one-take ramshackle chaos and Portland's Kingsmen recorded its defining anthem.

Originally written by Richard Berry in 1955 as a Jamaican-style ballad narrated by a lovesick sailor , by the time the Kingsmen got their hands on it the world had been scandalised by the sexual threat of Elvis and the thunderous guitar assault of Link Wray's Rumble. Raw is the best word to describe the song's 1963 incarnation. Recorded in one-take by a band none too technically proficient it is a riot of mistimed and unintelligible vocals from Jack Ely, abortive instrumental attempts at the chorus and the sound of the drummer Lynn Easton uttering a muffled 'fuck' as his drum sticks click together.

Yet it wasn't that spontaneous profanity that disturbed the American listening public. The fact that Ely's vocals were beyond any kind of interpretation led to the moral majority's conviction that they must be masking obscene lyrics. Incredibly the FBI got involved but were forced to admit defeat after a 31 month investigation failed to identify any offending words.

The version, kept off the top of the US charts by Bobby Vinton and the Singing Nun, is a glorious slab of wild and free rock that soundtracked the lives of early sixties American teenagers. As 1964 progressed native bands would begin to lift the more blues-based riffs of the British Invasion bands but for now this was the sound of US rock n roll.