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August 1999
(#9.1)
by Eric Predoehl
Last updated August 15, 1999 (all
rights reserved)
(spot the typos, win a prize!!)
Welcome to the latest update from
LOUIELOUIE.NET, the information
source also known as THE LOUIE REPORT!
Today is Sunday the 15th, and there's much to report!
EMI ACQUIRES WINDSWEPT
CATALOG
The biggest news in the LOUIE LOUIE universe
is the recent acquisition of the Windswept Pacific
catalog by EMI Music
Publishing. On July 28th, it was announced that EMI
Music Publishing would purchase 40,000 songs from Windswept
Pacific for a cool $200 million. Among these songs is "Louie
Louie" as written by Richard Berry,
and performed by the Kingsmen, the Wailers, and thousands
of other musicians. Other songs included in this package deal
are such nuggets as "La Bamba,"
"Why Do Fools Fall in Love,"
"Tequila," "Tonight's the Night," "Free
Bird," "On the
Road Again," and lots of other mega-popular
songs, including the entire Spice Girls repertoire,
as well most of the early songs by Willie Nelson, Lynyrd
Skynryd, Barry Manilow, and KC & the Sunshine
Band. A big congratulations go out to the folks at EMI
Music for acquiring this massive collection!
 SEASIDE CELEBRATION
WITH JACK ELY AND MORE....
On August 20th and August 21st, next weekend,
there will be a major celebration in the town of Seaside,
Oregon commemorating its 100 years of existence. Seaside is
a significant site in LOUIE LOUIE history, as it was at the
Pypo Club in Seaside where the Kingsmen discovered
this song, as a rather hypnotizing jukebox single by Rockin
Robin Roberts and the Wailers. It was on the beaches
of Seaside where the legendary "Seaside Riots of 1962"
occurred, whereby the National Guard was called in to subdue
the rebellious teenagers, tamed only by live rock and roll
performances of the local "LOUIE LOUIE" bands. To
commemorate the anniversary of such anarchy, there will a
special "LOUIE LOUIE" proclamation, a reunion of
six different Seaside High School classes, and two
nights of rock and roll, reuniting some Northwest bands that
haven't played in over 30 years. Headlining the Saturday show
will be Jack Ely, original vocalist for the Kingsmen,
with the band he created after his controversial split with
the Kingsmen, "Jack Ely & the Kingsmen,"
which was renamed "Jack Ely & the Courtmen"
after some ugly court battles with the other Kingsmen. Considering
how few shows Jack does these days, this will be a very rare
performance indeed, as most of his time is spent raising horses,
as opposed to dealing with the chaotic world of the music
business. This could very well be Jack's last performance
of the 20th Century!
Some of the other bands scheduled to perform
that weekend include James Henry & the Olympics
(featuring Jim Manolides of the Frantics), Syncopated
Sound, George Barner & the Corvettes, Teddy
& the Rough Riders, the Washington Merry GoRound,
Patriot, and probably some last-minute surprise guests.
Those seriously interested in attending these standing-room
only shows should call John Thoennes at (503) 738-8595
for ticket information, and then contact the Seaside Visitors
Bureau at (888) 306-2326 to see if there any hotel rooms
still available.
 ANOTHER NORTHWEST
JERDEN COMPILATION!
Those that treasure the original rock and roll
music of the Northwest will love the new compilation from
Jerden Records
titled "The History of Northwest
Rock Volume 2: The Garage Years." Of all the
CD compilations that Jerden's ever released, this one is absolutely
the best I've seen. To begin with, the music is a superb cross-selection
of the diverse Jerden music library, covering the years 1963-1967,
including coincidentally, the song that put Jerden on the
map, the very famous recording by the Kingsmen of Richard
Berry's iconic song. The liner notes by Peter Blecha,
curator of the Experience
Music Project, are among the best I've seen written
by Peter, whose words have graced many a NW record sleeve.
The package design from Art Chantry provides many great
visuals, sharing some of the same images as Don Rogers'
"Dance Halls, Teen Fairs, and
Armories," an out-of-print book that was the
first of its kind to recognize the rich musical heritage of
the Pacific Northwest. Those having trouble finding this CD
at their favorite record/CD outlet should order it directly
from the Jerden website.
 THE WAILERS- NEW
REISSUES!
Among the great rock and rollers in the Pacific
Northwest, exists a band in a class all by itself. One of
the first rock groups to own their own label, the
Wailers created Etiquette Records as means
to showcase their own material, as well as other music that
deserved more attention. The first release, a 45 on Etiquette,
highlighting solo artist Rockin Robin Roberts, backed
by the Wailers, was considered the first "rock and roll"
recording of "Louie Louie," originally a calypso-based
rhythm and blues song by Los Angles based Richard
Berry. In the early 60's, long before the British
invasion ever hit the US, the Wailers ruled the Pacific Northwest,
establishing themselves as consummate musical performers,
influencing countless other future performers.
It was at the Spanish Castle, a dance hall between
Seattle and Tacoma, where the Wailers held court amongst fellow
NW musicians, inspiring a young Jimi Hendrix to later
pen the song "Spanish Castle Magic" as a tribute of sorts to
this legendary location. The first long playing album by the
Wailers on the Etiquette label was a live recording created
at this site, titled quite simply, "At
the Castle." In the years to follow, this
album went out of print, and commanded top dollar in the collector
market, ranging anywhere from $30 to $150 for the original
vinyl.
In 1998, Etiquette cut a special deal with NY
based Norton Records, allowing
them to reissue this tasty nugget on vinyl, as well as other
records from the Etiquette catalog, including the first albums
by the Sonics. A year later, Etiquette was so impressed with
the way Norton treated them, that they decided to allow Norton
to release these records on CD as well. If you've never had
the opportunity to explore the Norton catalog, you should
definitely do so. Originally, the folks at Norton, Miriam
Linna and Billy Miller, started off by publishing
a great little roots rock and roll magazine called "KICKS"
which somehow evolved into a wonderful little record label
that has reissued some great music from such artists as The
Flamin' Groovies, Bobby Fuller Four, Esquerita,
Haskil Adkins, and a whole bunch of other amazing musicians.
If you can't find any Norton Records at your local platter
source, you might consider ordering them directly from Norton,
as their mail-order prices are pretty darned reasonable.
 Another record label hip to the music of
The Wailers, and that "LOUIE LOUIE riff" is Ace
Records, out of the jolly old United Kingdom. Before
the Wailers created their own record label, and recorded that
catchy little ditty from Richard Berry, they were on a label
known as Golden Crest. Finding original vinyl copies
of the Wailers output on Golden Crest has always been a bit
of a challenge, and for awhile, the only way to get copies
of this material has been to find overpriced, unauthorized
bootleg CDs, or premium prices for the original vinyl. Luckily,
Ace Records has made an effort to work with the Golden Crest
estate to reissue these recordings on CD as well. Last year,
Ace released on CD, the first Wailers album, titled simply
"The Fabulous Wailers" adding four previously
unreleased tracks. This year, Ace Records released a compilation
of Golden Crest instrumental tracks, with cover artwork reminiscent
of the "Wailers Wail"
album, which was actually a reissue of the original "The
Fabulous Wailers" album. On this compilation, titled
"Golden Crest Instrumentals," are some great tracks
from such artists as Mando & the Chili Peppers,
The Mad Plaids, Gino with John Greek, The
Bandidos, Lord Dent & the Invaders, (a pre-Swamp
Dogg) Jerry Williams, and a previously unreleased
"Hey Cumba"
version of the Wailers song "Tall
Cool One." As it turns out, Ace is currently
the only label that has released an full length Richard
Berry CD compilation, a collection of Modern Recordings
titled "Get Out of the Car," which came out in the
United States on the Pointblank/Virgin label. There
also some other Ace
CDs currently available that feature Richard Berry as a backup
musician for such artists as Arthur Lee Maye, Young
Jessie, among others, but that's another topic I'll get
to in yet another LOUIE REPORT in the near future.
 LAS VEGAS: A HAPPENING
TOWN!
For those that embrace the purity of authentic
garage rock, and don't mind traveling across the country to
experience it, Halloween in Las Vegas will be the place for
what looks like one of the crazier events of 1999. A cavalcade
of noisy trash bands will assemble at a three day festival
known as "Las Vegas Grind."
The Fabulous Wailers will headline part of the show,
as will the legendary Trashmen, Davie Allan &
the Phantom Surfers, Thee Mighty Caesars, the
Neanderthals, Los Straitjackets, and a ton of other
amazing bands. It'll be an amazing assembledge of burlesque
shows, low-brow art, cheesy drive-in movies, gambling, cheap
liquor, and all the usual things connected to Halloween and
Las Vegas. Noted sixties film mogul Ray Dennis Steckler
will be in attendance, showcasing his incredibly strange films,
and there has been talk of a very special guest artist to
replace the recently departed Screaming Lord Sutch,
who was originally pegged to perform on Halloween. If you'd
like to find more about this very special show, you should
check out the official website at www.lasvegasgrind.net.
For those that seek something different at Las
Vegas, there's also the artist known as "Louie Louie"
who performs regularly at the Las Vegas Hilton. Louie
Louie is the performer that has latched onto the LOUIELOUIE.COM
website, and has released such CDs as "The
State I'm In" and "Let's
Get Started," available at most record stores.
Incidentally, the term "LOUIE LOUIE"
is a registered trademark of RMB, Inc, a company owned
by The Kingsmen, the band recognized
for turning the song into the monster icon heard all over
the world. If you'd like to see what the Kingsmen are up to
these days, or would like to discuss some LOUIE LOUIE merchandising
ideas, you really should check out their
website.
My thanks to all friends, known and unknown,
that have done so much to contribute to the WONDERFUL
WORLD OF LOUIE!
me gotta go now.....
ERIC PREDOEHL
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