The Kingsmen

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

The Kingsmen were an American rock band from Portland, Oregon, in the 1960s. The teenagers Lynn Easton and Jack Ely began playing together in 1957, with Ely singing and playing guitar and Easton on drums. Mike Mitchell on guitar and Bob Nordby on bass joined, and in 1962 the schoolboy Don Gallucci joined the group as keyboardist. At first they mainly played at fashion shows and supermarket promotions and avoided rock songs.

Music and breakthrough

In 1962, in a club in Seaside, Oregon, they saw the audience dance for hours to the version of Louie Louie by Rockin' Robin Roberts. Ely persuaded the band to learn the song. Because he had misheard the rhythm on a jukebox, he played a different beat from the original. Radio host Ken Chase became their manager. On 6 April 1963 they recorded a demo in an hour at a local studio, and from that came their version of Louie Louie, the song by the singer Richard Berry. The album The Kingsmen in Person spent more than a hundred weeks on the American charts. In total they had thirteen singles on the chart between 1963 and 1968.

Influence

The recording sounds raw, hasty and unintelligible. That is precisely why it became an example for garage bands that could make a hit without studio experience. Louie Louie remained a lasting classic.

Listening

• 
  Louie Louie · The Kingsmen, 1963
  Apple Music ↗

Discography

Studio albums

• 1963The Kingsmen in Person
• 1964Volume 2
• 1965On Campus
• 1965Volume 3
• 1966Up and Away
• 1980House Party
• 1980Ya Ya
• ?The Kingsmen

Mentioned in other articles

• Garage rock GenreThe Kingsmen already had a hit with Louie Louie in 1963, The Sonics of Tacoma played harder than anyone, and ?

See also

• Garage rock