“Louie, Louie” FBI Releases Investigation Files on Song by Kingsmen for Obscenity

In 1963, a rock group named the Kingsmen recorded the song “Louie, Louie.” The popularity of the song and difficulty in discerning the lyrics led some people to suspect the song was obscene. The FBI was asked to investigate whether or not those involved with the song violated laws against the interstate transportation of obscene material. The limited investigation lasted from February to May 1964 and discovered no evidence of obscenity. See the file:   louie louie.pdf — PDF document, 6495Kb

L-R Don Galluci, Jack Ely, Lynn Easton, Mike Mitchell, and Bob Nordby

Image: Wikipedia

The original lyrics written and recorded by Richard Berry


Louie Louie, oh no, We gotta go
Aye-yi-yi-yi, I said
Louie Louie, oh baby
We gotta go

A Fine little girl awaits for me
She's just a trip across the sea
Me sail that all alone
Me never know how I make it home

Louie Louie, oh no no no, We gotta go
Aye-yi-yi-yi, I said
Louie Louie, oh baby
We gotta go

Three nights and days I sail the sea
I think of girl, 0' constantly
On that ship, I dream she there
I smell that rose hangin' in her hair.

Louie Louie, oh no, We gotta go
Aye-yi-yi-yi, I said
Louie Louie, oh baby
We gotta go

Okay, let's give it to 'em, right now!

(guitar solo)

Me see Jamaica, the moon above
It won't be long, me see my little love
I take her in my arms again
I tell her I'll never leave again

Louie Louie, oh no, We gotta go
Aye-yi-yi-yi, I said
Louie Louie, oh baby
We gotta go

I said We gotta go now
Let's take it on outa here
Let's go!!

When recorded the band members were Jack Ely (vocalist/rhythm guitar), Lynn Easton (drummer), Mike Mitchell (lead guitar), Don Gallucci (piano) and Bob Nordby (bass guitar). Ken Chase (Kingsmen manager and Portland radio station KISN music director) produced the recording session. Robert Lindahl (Northwestern Inc. recording studio owner) was the audio engineer.

"Louie Louie" was kept from the top spot on the charts in late 1963 and early 1964 by the Singing Nun and Bobby Vinton, who monopolized the #1 slot for four weeks apiece. The Kingsmen single reached #1 on the Cashbox chart and #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Additionally in the UK it reached #26 on the Record Retailer chart. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.[1] The B-side of the single was an instrumental, "Haunted Castle".

The band attracted nationwide attention when "Louie Louie" was banned by the governor of Indiana, Matthew E. Welsh, and attracted the attention of theFBI because of alleged indecent lyrics in the Kingsmen's version of the song. The lyrics were, in fact, innocent, but Ely's baffling enunciation permitted teenage fans and concerned parents alike to imagine the most scandalous obscenities. All of this attention only made the song more popular. In April 1966 "Louie Louie" was reissued and once again hit the music charts, reaching #65 on the Cashbox chart and #97 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.