"Louie Louie"
One of the groups Berry played with after leaving the Flairs was Rick Rillera and the Rhythm Rockers, a Latin and R&B group. In 1955, Berry was inspired to write "Louie Louie", a calypso-style song, based on the Rhythm Rockers' version of René Touzet's "El Loco Cha Cha", as well as influenced by Chuck Berry's "Havana Moon". Berry also stated he had Frank Sinatra's "One for My Baby" in mind when writing the lyrics. One night while waiting backstage at Anaheim's Harmony Park Ballroom, Berry took the rhythm of "El Loco Cha Cha" and began to add lyrics, writing them on toilet paper.
Richard Berry and the Pharaohs recorded and released the song as the B-side to his cover of "You Are My Sunshine" on Flip Records in 1957. It became a minor regional hit, selling 130,000 copies. It was re-released as an A-side, and when the group toured the Pacific Northwest, several local R&B bands began to adopt the song and established its popularity. "Louie Louie" finally became a major hit when the Kingsmen's raucous version – with little trace of its calypso-like origins other than in its lyrics – became a national and international hit in 1963. Paul Revere & the Raiders also recorded the tune in the same studio the week after the Kingsmen, scoring a minor hit. The nearly unintelligible (and innocuous) lyrics were widely misinterpreted as obscene, and the song was banned by radio stations and even investigated by the FBI.
The song has been recorded over 1,000 times. However, Berry sold the copyright for $750 in 1959 to pay for his wedding. He said in 1993 "Everybody sold their songs in those days. I never was bitter with the record companies. They provided a vehicle for five young black dudes to make a record."
Berry continued to write and record into the early 1960s, including "Have Love, Will Travel" (which later became a local hit for the Sonics), but with little commercial success, and also continued as a performer. Other songs included "Crazy Lover", recorded by the Rollins Band and "Oh! Oh! Get Out of the Car", covered by the Treniers.
For Rhino's 1983 The Best of Louie, Louie compilation album, Berry created a note-for-note re-recording of "Louie Louie" because licensing could not be obtained for the original version. Backup vocals were provided by doo wop revival group Big Daddy. The original version was not legitimately re-released until the Ace Records Love That Louie compilation in 2002.
