The Louie Report

On Monday, we lost Dave McElhatton, a news anchorman for KPIX Channel 5, the San Francisco CBS affiliate. I never met the man, but I’d heard a lot of stories about about a decent human being he was. Dave retired from broadcasting in 2000 after nearly 50 years on the airwaves at KCBS radio and [...]

Mitch Miller, the man who popularized sing-along performances before the invention of karaoke, has passed away at the age of 99 years old. He was was an American musician, singer, conductor, record producer, A&R man and record company executive. He was considered one of the most influential figures in American popular music during the 1950s [...]

Last week, we lost Pete Quaife, the original bassist for the Kinks. Pete played on such early hits as “You Really Got Me,” “All Day and All of the Night” and “Tired of Waiting for You” before leaving the British band in 1969, passed away at the age of 66 years old. Quaife died Wednesday [...]

We just lost another musician. Willie Mitchell died on Tuesday, January 5, 2010. The All Music Guide provides a nice overview of his career, of which I’ll share the first paragraph: Best known as the man who signed Al Green to Hi Records and as the producer of Green’s most popular records, Willie Mitchell had [...]

As 2009 can now be considered history, I’d like to pause and reflect on those that we lost last year… First, there’s the artists that were a direct influence on this ongoing LOUIE documentary project… Drake Levin It was somewhat ironic that the guitar player for “America’s answer to the Beatles” died on July 4th [...]

“Rip” Sheridan Spencer of Marvin & Johnny, The Valiants, the Chavelles, the Sabers, the Gents, and the Untouchables is dead. The Los Angeles Times had a simple obituary with no real mention of his musical career. Sheridan Spencer, a 70-year-old black man, was shot and killed Wednesday, Dec. 9, in the 1600 block of West [...]

I just learned that Marcel J Chouinard has passed away on Monday, October 12th. In 1964, Marcel performed LOUIE LOUIE with The Nocturnals on a Canadian TV show known as “Let’s Go.” This was a television show that aired 5 days a week at 5:30 pm on the CBC network. Unlike the Kingsmen or Paul [...]

A few weeks ago, there was a wonderful memorial for Drake Levin, guitarist with Paul Revere & the Raiders. Family and friends came together to celebrate the man with beautiful stories, some funny jokes, and wonderful memories. I was asked to videotape the ceremony, and some of these stories were too good to not share, [...]

The past week has brought a lot of traffic to the website, with a lot of people paying respect to Drake Levin, guitarist with Paul Revere & Raiders that died on July 4th. Here’s a few things I want to share about him: 1) Drake’s widow, Sandra Levin is selling Drake’s original guitar on eBay. [...]

I just got word that Drake Levin, guitarist with Paul Revere & the Raiders, has succumbed to cancer today, passing away at the age of 62 at his home in San Francisco, with his wife Sandra at his side. I knew that Drake had cancer, and hoped to visit him, but I never had the [...]