{"id":5340,"date":"2013-12-03T04:11:55","date_gmt":"2013-12-03T11:11:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.louielouie.net\/blog\/?p=5340"},"modified":"2013-12-03T20:28:22","modified_gmt":"2013-12-04T03:28:22","slug":"rip-dick-dodd-of-the-standells-louie-of-the-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.louielouie.net\/blog\/?p=5340","title":{"rendered":"RIP: Dick Dodd of The Standells, LOUIE of the Week"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Dick Dodd<\/strong>, vocalist and drummer for The Standells<\/strong> for their 1966 hit recording “Dirty Water,” has died at the age of 68 years old. He had been admitted to a hospital in Orange Country for stage 4 cancer, where he passed away.<\/p>\n

Jonny Whiteside<\/a> provided an excellent biographical overview of Dick Dodd at LA Weekly<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Born in Hermosa Beach, Dodd was one of the original Mickey Mouse Club<\/strong> mousketeers–he bought his first snare drum from Annette Funicello<\/strong>, but got a pink slip at age 11. He next signed on as one of singer Giselle Mackenzie<\/strong>‘s “Curfew Kids,” performing on her NBC variety TV show and on stages in Vegas, Tahoe and Reno.<\/p>\n

Dodd may have been a successful child actor but he was no square; by 17, he was already a veteran rock & roller, drumming with surf bands The Bel Airs<\/strong> (that’s Dodd keeping the beat on “Mr. Moto”) and Eddie & the Showmen<\/strong> until he left the OC surf scene for darkest Hollywood, where he worked as, among others things, singer Jackie DeShannon<\/strong>‘s drummer.<\/p>\n

“I was doing all the demo sessions with Glen Campbell, James Burton<\/strong>, and the Wrecking Crew,” Dodd told us in April, during the last interview he gave. “It was amazing — the first guys I ever saw with long hair were Jack Nitzsche, Sonny Bono<\/strong> and Phil Spector<\/strong>. I backed up Sonny and Cher<\/strong> when they were Caesar and Cleo<\/strong>, and doing all this studio stuff and making good money, but I wanted to be in a band.”<\/p>\n

“Jackie heard that the Standells were losing their drummer, so I auditioned for them and they just handed me five suits: ‘We wear the black ones on Monday the blue ones on Wednesday.’ That was it.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It was at the Standells where Dick Dodd found his greatest fame. He became the lead singer and drummer, providing an unforgettable voice for their 1966 hit, “Dirty Water.”<\/p>\n

Not long after recording “Dirty Water”, Dodd left the Standells, and was replaced by Dewey Martin<\/strong>, who later joined Buffalo Springfield<\/strong>. Dodd returned to the group several months later, as the song began to climb the charts. “Dirty Water” reached No. 11 on the Billboard charts on June 11, 1966, No. 8 on the Cashbox charts on July 9, 1966 and No. 1 on the Record World charts. “Dirty Water” was on the WLS playlist for 17 total weeks, tied only by “California Dreamin'” for most weeks on that playlist during the 1960s.<\/p>\n

In 1968, Dick Dodd left the band to pursue a solo career, returning to The Standells off and on for the next 40+ years.<\/p>\n

As fate would have it, I was invited to be a camera operator for what might have been the final performance of Dick Dodd with the Standells.<\/em><\/p>\n

The performance took place November 17, 2012 at the Uptown Nightclub in Oakland, California. My friend Karl Anderson<\/strong>, president of the Global Recording Artists<\/strong> record label, brought in the cameras and the team to capture what would be a very special moment. The plan was release a live DVD in conjunction with the upcoming new album released on Karl’s label. Unfortunately a few things changed the original plans. A tech snafu crashed the master multi-track audio recording that night. A few months later, Dick Dodd was no longer a member of the Standells. <\/p>\n

Things have been so hectic, we hadn’t really given that project much thought, but in light of the latest circumstances, I have a feeling that will probably change in the near future…<\/p>\n

In the meantime, here’s some LOUIE-centric notes on The Standells…..<\/p>\n

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The Standells did actually record their own version of LOUIE LOUIE for their very first album- “The Standells In Person At P.J.’s,” released by Liberty Records in 1964…<\/p>\n

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\n…. which had some cover variations, but I’m not sure which cover was the original version.<\/p>\n

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\nThe album was also re-issued in 1966 as “The Standells Live and Out of Sight” with two bonus songs.<\/p>\n

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I have a CD reissue that’s titled “The Standells – Recorded Live at P.J.’s San Francisco USA 1964.”<\/p>\n

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At the Apple iTunes and Amazon MP3 store, it’s now listed as simply “Standells – Live at P.J.’s” with rather bland cover art.<\/p>\n

There are three interesting parallels the Standells shared with the Kingsmen<\/strong>‘s LOUIE LOUIE.<\/p>\n

1) Both bands had lead singers that quit the band not long after the original recording was made – many months before they became big hits.<\/p>\n

2) Both bands had songs that politicians tried to ban from the radio… with allegations of “sexually-suggestive lyrics.”<\/p>\n

3) Both “LOUIE LOUIE” and “Dirty Water” had a thousand guitar players (give or take a few hundred) performing their song in public arenas – Tacoma and Boston.<\/p>\n

To pay tribute to Dick Dodd and the Standells, their version of LOUIE LOUIE shall be this week’s LOUIE LOUIE<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

I don’t see any YouTube or Soundcloud clips of this performance, so I will instead refer you to three commercial digital stores where you can hear a sample of the song and\/or purchase the complete digital download:<\/p>\n

ITUNES- Standells – Live at P.J.’s<\/a><\/p>\n

AMAZON- Standells – Live at P.J.’s<\/a><\/p>\n

GOOGLE PLAY- Standells – Live at P.J.’s<\/a><\/p>\n

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Before Dick died, a special support page at GoFundMe was set up to help pay for the massive medical bills that he was facing<\/a>. After his death, his family is facing some significant bills. If you could make any donation<\/a>, that would be a kind gesture for his family.<\/p>\n

– E.P.<\/p>\n

Reference Links<\/strong>:
\nThe Standells – official webpage<\/a>
\nDick Dodd support page on Go Fund Me<\/a>
\nWikipedia page on The Standells<\/a>
\nUSA Today obituary<\/a>
\nLA Weekly obituary<\/a>
\nGlobal Recording Artists<\/a><\/p>\n