Richard Berry (April 11, 1935–January 23, 1997) was an American
singer and songwriter, best known as the composer and
original performer of the rock standard "Louie Louie".
He was born in Extension, Louisiana, and moved with his family to Los Angeles as a baby. He began singing and playing in local doo-wop groups, recording with several of them including The Penguins, The Cadets and The Chimes, before joining
The Flairs (who also recorded as The Debonaires and The Flamingoes) in 1953.
The Flairs’ record "She Wants To Rock", on Modern Records, featured Berry’s bass
vocals, and was an early production by Leiber and Stoller. When, a few
months later, that pair needed a bass voice for their production of The Robins’ "Riot In
Cell Block #9" on Spark Records, they recruited Berry to provide the menacing introduction to the song – uncredited, as he was
contracted to Modern. Berry’s voice was also used at Modern, again uncredited, as the counterpoint to Etta James on her first record and big hit, "The Wallflower (Roll With Me, Henry)", and several of its less
successful follow-ups. Berry also recorded with several other groups on the Modern and Flair labels, including The Crowns, and
girl group The Dreamers (who later became The Blossoms).
By the end of 1954, he left the Flairs to form his own group, the Pharaohs, while also continuing to work with other groups as
a singer and songwriter. One of these was a Latin and R&B group, Rick Rillera and The Rhythm Rockers. In 1955, Berry was
inspired to write a new calypso-style song, "Louie Louie", based on The Rhythm Rockers
version of René Touzet's "El Loco Cha Cha", and also
influenced by Chuck Berry's "Havana Moon". Richard
Berry and the Pharaohs recorded and released the song on Flip Records in
1957, originally as a B-side. It became a minor regional hit, 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.
The nearly unintelligible (and innocuous) lyrics were widely misinterpreted as obscene, and
the song was banned by radio stations and even investigated by the Federal
Bureau of Investigation. The song has been recorded over 1,000 times, but, because Berry sold its copyright cheaply in
1959, he received little financial reward for its success for many years.
- See main article : Louie Louie
Berry continued to record in the late 1950s, but with little commercial success, and also continued as a performer. His other
songs included "Crazy Lover", recorded on their 1987 debut album by the Rollins Band.
During the 1980s, "Louie Louie" received a number of unprecedented accolades, with hundreds of cover versions being issued on
CD compilations and played on radio marathons. In 1986 and again in 1993, Berry finally received substantial financial benefits
for writing the song. In February 1996, he performed for the final time, reuniting with The Pharaohs and The Dreamers for a
benefit concert in Long Beach, California. However, his health declined, and he
died of heart failure in 1997. He was interred in the Inglewood Park Cemetery in
Inglewood, California.
External links
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