Customer Reviews

Louie Louie: The History and Mythology of the World's Most Famous Rock 'N' Roll Song; Including the Full Details of Its Torture and Persecution at T

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ever wondered what the true story was about the "dirty" lyrics in Louie louie? Wonder no more. After reading this book, you'll know the whole shocking truth (and don't say I didn't warn you).

"LOUIE LOUIE" is a perfectly fascinating look at the rise of the legend of the purportedly "dirty" song. This is a "MUST HAVE" for those obsessed by rock and roll music and those who simply enjoy a really good read! If you remember the song (and who doesn't?!), you'll LOVE this book.

I suppose I was always going to say that, having already been converted myself to Louie Louie as "the only rock and roll song you'll ever need" (collected 60+ versions to date). It's just a fascinating journey with so many unexpected twists and turns but the ever present "duh duh duh". And still amazingly relevant today. And funny!

A new preface by the author graces the pages of Louie Louie: The History & Mythology Of The World's Most Famous Rock N Roll Song. While it's hard to see how any song, however famous, could earn an entire book discussion, once you delve into Dave Marsh's Louie Louie, with its intrigue, high drama, and twists and turns, it's hard to see what took so long for the full tale to come to light - and yes, it earns its own book. This new edition provides a new preface by Marsh as it covers the complexities of a song which involved even the FBI.

I read this book one winter when I was suffering from an extended case of bronchitis. In some odd, mystical way it seemed to contribute to or reinforce my sickness. I mean, after all, who wants to read a book about a banality like "Louie, Louie," right? You must be sick - the confirmation is that you checked this out of the library to read.

(I distinctly recall the moment I got better: I was watching "It's a Wonderful Life" from my bed. It was at the part at the end where everyone contributes money to Jimmy Stewart. All of a sudden my fever passed, my sinuses drained and I became enthusiastic about things again.)

The book? Oh, it's quite good. A fascinating history of a song. Recommended. (Unless you feel unwell.)

Actually the first and best rock version of Louie Louie was on Etiquette records in 1961 by Rockin' Robin Roberts and the Wailers, 2 years before The kingsmen made it a national hit. Robin rewrote tha Richard Berry soul version and it went to no. 2 on the Northwest charts. The kingsmen redid it, exactly as Robin wrote it, but you couldn't understand what they were saying except for about ten words. The wailer's version, and another one, also produced 2 years later, by Paul Revere and the Raiders both outshined the Kingsmen. Wild and Wooly,
a fabulous Nrthwest Rock collection has the only available version of the Wailers. Plus about 40 others, all from the great PNW, like The Ventures, The Sonics, Heart, Brave New World, Marilee and the Turnabouts, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, etc, by EMP The Experience Music Project, the majestic PNW rock capital next to the space needle

Okay--truth be told, I bought this book as a joke. This book is no joke. Dave Marsh, an excellent writer, put together a real page-turner. (...)

By following the fate of one song Marsh gives us an excellent feel for how culture operates at a middle scale, somewhere between the micro-scale of individual performances and listenings and the macroscale of decades-long changes in musical styles. If you're interested in "memetics" but tired of empty bloviation about mind viruses and such, read this book and follow one musical meme on its tour of the memesphere.

Half way through this book I knew more about this rock song then I had ever wanted to know and then it kicked in to the history of Paul Revere and the Raiders. I keep on and she what other obscure trivia is to be revealed.