From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Thu Apr 11, 2002  1:20 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Richard Berry
 
RICHARD BERRY

Born 11 April 1935, Extension, Louisiana
Died 23 January 1997, Los Angeles, California

If for no other reason than that he was the original writer and performer
of "Louie Louie" (itself based on "El Loca Cha Cha" by Rene Touzet),
Richard Berry holds a permanent place of honour in the history of rock
'n' roll. Beyond that, though, Berry was an important figure of the early
and mid-'50s Los Angeles R&B scene. As a teenager with the Flairs
and as a solo act, Berry recorded quite a few singles that demonstrated his
versatility with ballads, novelty songs, and even Little Richard-styled
numbers ("Yama Yama Pretty Mama", "Mad About You"). His facility with
deep-voiced comic material was a clear forerunner of the Coasters, and in
fact he was the uncredited lead singer on Leiber & Stoller's "Riot in Cell
Block #9," recorded in 1954 by the Robins (later to mutate into the
Coasters). He took another uncredited vocal as Etta James' deep-voiced
sparring partner on "Roll With Me, Henry," one of the biggest R&B hits
of 1955. Berry originally recorded "Louie Louie" in 1957; the record
was a regional hit in several West Coast cities, but no more than that.
Needing money to get married, in 1957 Berry sold the copyrights of
seven of his songs, including "Louie Louie", for $ 750.
Berry's recording career petered out in the late '50s, though he
remained an active performer. In the early '60s, several Northwest bands
seized upon "Louie Louie" as cover material, scoring sizable regional hits;
finally, in 1963 the Kingsmen broke the song nationally, reaching # 2.
In the decades since then, "Louie Louie" became one of the most
oft-covered rock standards of all time; there probably exist well over
1,000 versions. The song was investigated by the FBI and inspired parades
and campaigns to adopt it as the official song of the state of Washington.
The original version ironically remains extremely difficult to find,
appearing only on obscure compilations (the Berry version on Rhino's Louie
Louie anthology is a re-recording). For Berry there was a happy ending - in
the late '80s he regained the rights to "Louie Louie", assuring him of
upwards of $ 50,000 a year on royalties.

Further reading: Dave Marsh, Louie Louie : the history and mythology
of the world's most famous rock 'n' roll song. New York : Hyperion, 1993.
Louie Louie website: http://www.louielouie.net (includes a biography of
Richard Berry).
CD recommendation: Richard Berry, Get Out Of The Car (Ace 355).
20 tracks from the Flair and RPM labels, 1953-56.