The Intriguing Investigation Behind “Louie, Louie” by The Kingsmen

You’ve probably heard the song and know the lyrics, or at least some of them. I’m talking about the song “Louie Louie”.

The Kingsmen Covers “Louie Louie”

There’s been numerous bands and groups who’ve covered the song but the best-known cover version belongs to the Kingsmen who recorded the song in 1963. It would peak at number 2 on the charts.

The Kingsmen originally had no idea how big the song would become when they covered it. It was originally recorded as an audition tape because the band wanted to get a job working on a cruise ship, however, they never got the job that they desired.

The song was originally written in 1953 by Richard Berry. The song is famous because it’s extremely hard to make out what the lyrics are. In fact, it wasn’t just the listening public who had trouble making out the lyrics but the FBI as well.

The FBI Opens An Investigation

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s own website, they claimed the FBI was asked to investigate whether or not those involved with the song violated laws against the Interstate Transportation of Obscene Material.

“Kids would hear these versions of the song and they would pass around these written notes of what they thought were the lyrics and parents were concerned” – Eric Predoehl

Eric Predoehl was in the process of making a documentary on the history of the song and told National Public Radio (or NPR) that the only reason the FBI investigated the song was that it received numerous letters from worried parents telling the interviewer, “Kids would hear these versions of the song and they would pass around these written notes of what they thought were the lyrics and parents were concerned… Maybe we should have an investigation into this sort of thing.”

The Investigation Continues For Two Years

The FBI spent two years investigating the song’s lyrics to determine whether they were vulgar or not. The FBI did get a copy of the published lyrics from the original writer of the song but they weren’t sure whether the Kingsmen had actually changed the lyrics to make the song much more vulgar.

The investigation at one point, actually looked at the published lyrics to see if they were altered. The Bureau played the song backwards, forwards and at different speeds but they couldn’t make out what the lyrics were.

This investigation went all the way to the top of the government including then-Attorney General Robert Kennedy and FBI director J Edgar Hoover who also received letters about the song. Even the governor of Indiana got involved too.

“This land of ours is headed for an extreme state of moral degradation.” – a letter addressed to Robert Kennedy

One letter addressed to Robert Kennedy read, “This land of ours is headed for an extreme state of moral degradation.” Another letter from Sarasota High School complained and was quoted as saying, “The lyrics are so filthy that I cannot enclose them in this letter… We all know there is obscene material available for those who seek it… But when they start sneaking in this material on the guise of the latest teenage rock and roll hit records, these morons have gone too far.”

Even Ben F Wabble who was the secretary of the Federal Communications Commission of the FCC would personally send a letter to the label, Wan Records asking whether inappropriate lyrics were used on the recording or whether it was a malicious attempt on the singer’s part to make the song’s lyrics difficult to understand, opening it up to interpretation.

A lot of people may ask, did the band purposely make it difficult to understand the lyrics or was this something else? Dick Peterson, the drummer for the band and who played on the recording gave an interview where he talked about how the way they recorded the song really contributed to the lyrics being difficult to understand.

“He wanted everything louder than everything else and so he was the one that was really responsible…” – Dick Peterson

“… It was actually recorded to be an audition tape to take on a cruise ship… Ken Chase who worked at KISN Radio… he actually was producing, if you want to call what he was doing, producing, the session and he thought the vocal was too loud. He wanted everything louder than everything else and so he was the one that was really responsible for putting the microphone up to high and so you really couldn’t hear Jack’s voice and it was a pretty comical session.”

FBI Missed the Obscenity

The most ironic and funniest thing of this entire investigation is that the Kingsmen version of Louie Louie did have an obscenity on it that no one else picked up on including the FBI. If you listen to the song closely at the 0:54 mark, it was the band’s drummer who drops his drumstick and yells the f-word.

Whatever happened to the original writer of the song, Richard Berry? Even though the song has been recorded over a thousand times, Berry sold his publishing for the song for only $750 to pay for his wedding in 1959.

“Everybody sold their songs in those days. I was never bitter with the record companies.” – Richard Berry

Berry told an interviewer in 1993, “Everybody sold their songs in those days. I was never bitter with the record companies. They provided a vehicle for five young black dudes to make a record.”

By the mid-’80s, Berry was living on welfare with his mother when his luck suddenly changed. California Cooler, who was a drink company, wanted to use the song Louie Louie in a commercial and they needed his signature to use the song.

Richard Berry’s Life is Changed

The company asked the Artists Rights Society to find Berry and he would soon be visited by a lawyer. The lawyer brought up that he could get the rights back to the song and the music publisher would end up settling out of court with Berry, basically making him a millionaire overnight. Berry passed away in 1997 but he died a very rich man.

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1 thought on “The Intriguing Investigation Behind “Louie, Louie” by The Kingsmen”

  1. I’m glad Berry got his due, and that he and his mother, presumably, lived out their lives in a better state than they were in.

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