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The Holy Grail of Garage Band Rock II

Steve Vrana | Aurora, NE | 03/15/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"[Yikes! The Amazon.com computer gremlins really botched my review. Let's try it again, okay?]In March of 1963, the Kingsmen entered a downtown Portland studio and (according to the liner notes) for $38 recorded "Louie Louie" and achieved rock 'n' roll immortality. "Louie Louie" is two minutes and 43 seconds of primal (albeit sloppy) garage band bliss. [Bizarre footnote: The song was kept out of the No. 1 spot by the Singing Nun's "Dominique"! ]The song has been the center of attention since its first release. There were early attempts to have the song banned for its alleged off-color lyrics. In 1964, an FCC investigation concluded "the record to be unintelligible at any speed we played it." In the late-Eighties Rhino Records released two volumes of its "Best of Louie Louie" series showcasing the wide diversity of treatments the song has been given over the years--including a competing version by the Kingsmen's in-state rivals Paul Revere & the Raiders. [According to the liner notes, nearly a thousand versions of "Louie Louie" have been recorded over the years. A few of these can be found on Volume 2, which is still available from Rhino.] In the Nineties, rock critic Dave Marsh devoted an entire book to the subject--"Louie Louie: The History and Mythology of the World's Most Famous Rock 'n' Roll Song." Also, two states--Oregon and Washington--unsuccessfully tried to pass legislation making "Louie Louie" the official state song.To the uninitiated (and where have YOU been hiding all your life?), this may seem like a lot of fuss over a song written and first recorded in the Fifties by a minor R&B artist, Richard Berry, as a harmless sea chantey. But the song has taken on a life all of its own. The Kingsmen demonstrated to millions of teenagers (myself included) that an abundance of talent wasn't necessarily required to achieve rock stardom. And what self-respecting garage band didn't have "Louie Louie" in its repertoire?While the Kingsmen escaped the label of one-hit wonders, they would return to the Top Ten only one more time with the silly but rollicking "Jolly Green Giant." Other hits include a rousing version of Barrett Strong's "Money," a rather pedestrian cover of Bill Medley's "Little Latin Lupe Lu," the soulful "Death of an Angel," the dance-craze-of-the-month entry "The Climb," another novelty number "Annie Fannie" (about the buxom Playboy magazine cartoon character), and their final chart entry from 1966, a cover of the Rocky Fellers' "Killer Joe."Other tracks include "Haunted Caste," the instrumental B-side to "Louie Louie"; "Give Her Lovin'," from the beach movie "How to Stuff a Wild Bikini" starring Annette Funicello; and "Trouble," released in early 1967. By the end of that year, further personnel changes and the advent of psychedelia speeded up the demise of the band, but not before leaving a permanent mark and lasting influence on rock 'n' roll. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED"

BEST OF THE KINGSMEN

Robert B | Florida | 06/12/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you were to try to make a best of of a group, and do the best job you could, this would be the product. The Kingsmen were America's Rolling Stones until the new wave of American groups in 1966 started to get all the airplay. All the big hits are here, as well as their flipsides, often which were as good as the hits. Also a few killer LP only songs. The sound quality of the recordings here is as good as you could get as well. The Kingsmen were one of the first rock groups to use the heavy hammond sound, and many of their best songs feature it. They created Americas best party song Louie Louie, and many of their other hits while not as well known today, are very hard hitting. Many of their covers also were as good, and in some cases better than the originals. Hit singles, and a few should have been hit singles include, Money [better than the original version], Little Latin Lupe Lu [with crunching organ], Killer Joe [with chopping fuzztone], the Jolly Green Giant [the groups second biggest hit], Death of An Angel [cool Ska], Trouble [a garage athem from 1966], Annie Fannie [about the magazine cartoon girl] , Little Sally Tease [ a fuzz masterpeice], and Long Green [which sounds like a keg party athem]. Their are some great organ jams as well such as on Rosalie. The best B side included was Haunted Castle the flip of Louie Louie. The only thing missing is their later psychedellic 45's, and a few excellent LP tracks, like Do You Love Me, or Shake a Tail Feather. I would give this CD an A+++ Trivia the bass player on their last studio LP, Up and Away [which from the song Trouble was included on this CD] was Kerry Magness, who also played on the Doors album waiting For The Sun."