On this day, September 11, 1943, Jack Ely of The Kingsmen was born.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Hat tip, This Day in Music

Born Today In Music

September 11th

1943 - Jack Ely
American guitarist and singer, Jack Ely, best known for singing the Kingsmen's version of 'Louie Louie'. For a while, the record was banned by a handful of US radio stations because of its indecipherable lyrics, which were rumored to contain some naughty words. Even the F.B.I. investigated the song, but finally concluded that they could find nothing wrong. Ely died on 27th April 2015.

Jack Ely



Background information
Born: September 11, 1943; Portland, Oregon, United States
Died: April 28, 2015 (aged 71); Terrebonne, Oregon, United States

Jack Brown Ely (September 11, 1943 – April 28, 2015) was an American guitarist and singer, best known for singing the Kingsmen's version of "Louie Louie". Classically trained in piano, he began playing guitar after seeing Elvis Presley on television. In 1959, he co-founded the Kingsmen and with them recorded "Louie Louie" in 1963; Ely's famously incoherent vocals were partly the result of his braces and the rudimentary recording method. Before the record became a hit Ely was forced out of the group and began playing with his new band, the Courtmen. Ely died in Terrebonne, Oregon, on April 28, 2015 at age 71.

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The Kingsmen

Ely was enrolled at Washington High School in Portland, Oregon. He did not play in the school band, but had a passion for singing. In 1959, Lynn Easton's mother invited him to play at a Portland hotel gig, with Ely singing and playing guitar with the backup band and Easton on the drum kit. The two teenagers had grown up together, as their parents were close friends. Easton and Ely performed at yacht club parties, and soon added Mike Mitchell on guitar and Bob Nordby on bass to round out a band. They called themselves the Kingsmen, taking the name from a recently disbanded group. The Kingsmen began their collective career playing at fashion shows, Red Cross events, and supermarket promotions, generally avoiding rock songs on their setlist. Ely played with the Kingsmen as he attended Portland State University.


Wand 143: Second pressing with "Lead vocal by Jack Ely" text

In 1962, while playing a gig at the Pypo Club in Seaside, Oregon, the band noticed Rockin' Robin Roberts's version of "Louie Louie" being played on the jukebox for hours on end. The entire club would get up and dance. Ely convinced the Kingsmen to learn the song, which they played at dances to a great crowd response. He unintentionally changed the beat of the entire song, basing it on Roberts's intro only. Ken Chase, host of radio station KISN, formed his own club dubbed "The Chase" to capitalize on these dance crazes. The Kingsmen became the club's house band and Ken Chase became the band's manager. Ely was begging Chase to let the band record their own version of "Louie Louie", and on April 5, 1963, Chase booked the band an hour-long session at the local Northwestern Inc. studio for the following day. The band had just played a 90-minute "Louie Louie" marathon.

Despite the band's annoyance at having so little time to prepare, the Kingsmen walked into the recording studio on April 6 at 10:00 am. In order to sound like a live performance, the group's equipment was arranged such that Ely was forced to lean back and sing into a boom microphone suspended high above the floor. "It was more yelling than singing," Ely said, "'cause I was trying to be heard over all the instruments." In addition, he was wearing braces at the time of the performance, further compounding his infamously slurred words. Ely sang the beginning of the third verse a few bars too early, but realized his mistake and waited for the rest of the band to catch up. In what was thought to be a warm-up, the song was recorded in its first and only take. The Kingsmen were not proud of the version, but their manager liked the rawness of their cover. The B-side was "Haunted Castle", composed by Ely and Don Gallucci, the new keyboardist. The one hour session cost either $36, $50, or somewhere in between and the band split the cost.

On August 16 during a band practice, Easton staged a "hostile takover", telling Ely that he wanted to abandon the drums and become the frontman and singer. Ely would have to become the drummer, and since the band's name was registered to Easton only, he technically led the group. Ely was not happy with this turn of events, and he and Nordby left the band at once. At the time, the song had sold roughly 600 copies and it was thought that the Kingsmen would disband. When he found out "Louie Louie" was climbing up the Billboard charts, Ely attempted to rejoin the group, but was blocked by Easton who was intent on adding replacements.

In a 1998 interview Ely said, "My life stopped at that moment. It was my voice. I was the one who found the song. I was the one that arranged it. It was my band. And look what happened." Seeking "redemption and retribution", he formed his own "Kingsmen" group, touring as "The Original Singer of Louie Louie",[26] and also recorded "Love That Louie" in 1964 for RCA Records as Jack E. Lee and the Squires.

A legal battle ensued and a 1966 settlement resulted in Ely ceasing to call his group the Kingsmen and Wand Records being required to credit Ely as lead vocalist on all future "Louie Louie" pressings. Ely received $6000 in royalties, and Easton had to stop lip-synching the song in live performances. Ely also received royalties going forward for "Louie Louie" and "Haunted Castle", plus a gold record for "Louie Louie".

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Sun Sep 11, 2022: On this day, September 11, 1943, Jack Ely of The Kingsmen was born.

[Permanut]

1. Boy, this takes me back to the high school years ..

Grew up in Portland, listening to these guys, KISN radio with DJ Tom Murphy, Paul Revere and the Raiders, the Pypo Club in Seaside. Thanks for posting, mahatmakanejeeves!