In 1965, I was still enrolled in school. I couldn’t call myself a student. I’d already failed the 7th grade and repeated it. I was 15, about to fail the 9th grade. At that rate, in 7 years, I would be 22 years old. (If and when, I’d eventually graduate from High School)
Looking back, it could have been the male teenagers objective to the Vietnam War. Most draftees were 19 and 20 years old.
In 1969, I rode a Greyhound Bus from Sanford to Jacksonville for my Army physical. I write about it in my book. Notes of a “YOUNG” drummer 1966-1969.
In the summer of 1965, The British Invasion was dominating radio airwaves. I was 15, living in Jacksonville, Florida. In my neighborhood, there were 2 venues that sponsored live bands on weekends. 1965 was the first time I heard a (live) group.
In my Jacksonville hood, was a Community Center. It had a ball field, playground and a building. Pool tables, that kind of thing. I heard several bands play there. This was before I owned a drumset. I was still dreaming about becoming a professional musician, in 1965.
With in walking distance, was a Church. They had weekend dances, with live bands. I don’t remember going inside, maybe I couldn’t afford the price of admission. Or, I wasn’t a member. I experienced that many times. I could see and hear the band from outside the door.
The Stones tune, Satisfaction had just come out. Of coarse, there was stupid material like, Herman’s Hermits, Mrs. Brown, You’ve Got A Lovely Daughter.
The teenage groups I heard were ok, but nothing original. In 1966, I’d start hearing really good groups in Orlando, Central Florida.
The 1965, Jacksonville period in my life was unproductive. (Lots of free time for juvenile delinquency) That Halloween, I was caught throwing eggs at a house. The police saw me, physically ran me down, tackled and arrested me. I spent the night downtown, in Juvenile Jail.
Which brings me back, to The Kingsmen.
I heard the song, Louie Louie on our home radio. In 1963, this was the Geneva location. We moved from Geneva, moved back. This was repeated, many times.
I heard Louie Louie, originally broadcast from WLOF, Channel 95, out of Orlando. There’s plenty of Wiki information about the Kingsmen and Louie Louie.
Hearing that Hohner piano, play the Louie Louie intro over the radio, is embedded in my memory. When it hit the airwaves, radio stations played it, constantly.
As a 13-14 year old teenaged kid, I would go to the Sanford Civic Center on Friday nights. It was outside, on their grounds area. In 2023, it still looks the same as it did in the 60s.
This was before (Live) bands. The adults, chaperones, in charge would play records for us, kids. Popular tunes from 1962-1963. Wipe Out, Be My Baby, Surfin USA, Mashed Potato Time, The Loco-Motion.
(All very innocent, before, The Beatles and Stones, broke everything wide open)
(Back in Jacksonville) In the summer of 1965, I attended my first music concert. There were several bands. The headliner was, The Kingsmen.
The venue was a legitimate city auditorium in downtown Jacksonville.
That summer, 1965, produced a variety of new groups and songs. I Can’t Get No Satisfaction, Mr. Tambourine Man, Wooly Bully, For Your Love, I Like It Like That, Help Me Rhonda and more tunes by the Fab Four.
I was excited to go to a real music concert. See and hear a real national act.
The Kingsmen was a disappointment. The 1965 band, didn’t sound like the 1963, 45 hit record band.
Jack Ely (1943-2015) was not the singer in the group.
This Kingsmen version seemed old, more like a 50’s band, with a saxophone. They weren’t anything, like The Beatles or Stones.
I don’t even remember their performance of, Louie Louie.
They’re seemed very (squaresville) dig?
Listening to the original Louie Louie recording, 50+ years later, I hear it in a completely, new way. How raw, energetic and improvised the drum track was. There are fills throughout the tune. I didn’t notice that in, 1963.
“Wiki” has info, that expands on that highlight. After the guitar solo, vocalist, Jack Ely, enters two measures early. Drummer (Lynn Easton) plays over the bars, with drum fills. It’s actually very hip.
The rock history of that 1963 recording and record is interesting. I’ll just mention, The Kingsmen version. It was recorded April 1963, in Portland, Oregon.
When Louie Louie was released on the Wand label, it was not very popular. By the end of 1963, December, it entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It peaked at Number Two through February 1964. By April 1964, Louie Louie sold one million copies. (Total sales for the 45 single, ten million copies)
Louie Louie, was banned on many radio stations. (The record was rumored, to include profanity, depicting sex between the sailor and his lady)
(Youtube has a couple video versions without original vocalist Jack Ely. He was out of the band before the record broke) The television shows vocalist is, The Kingsmen original drummer, Lynn Easton, fronting the band and lip-syncing Jack Ely’s vocals.
I just noticed, this is not the original recording. Because of contractual problems, this appears to be a new version, they have also fixed the vocal entrance after the guitar solo. You can read about the legalese on Wiki.