The Kingsmen

Though they weren’t technically a one-hit wonder, Portland, Oregon’s The Kingsmen will be forever known as the group responsible for one of rock and roll’s foundational records, “Louie Louie”. Formed by drummer Lynn Easton, guitarist Jack Ely, guitarist Mike Mitchell, and bassist Bob Norby in 1959, they did not begin as a rock band. They eventually worked up a version of “Louie Louie” in order to get their audience to dance, and in 1963 they recorded it, in a single take. The single went to Number 2, where it stayed for multiple weeks while selling millions of copies thanks in part to certain groups convinced the song was dirty and tried to ban it. Ely and Norby left the band, though eventually Mitchell and Easton were awarded he right to use the Kingsmen name. They brought on Kerry Magness and J.C. Rieck, and it was that line-up that scored with the follow-up hits “Money” and “The Jolly Green Giant” in 1964. That same year, “Death of An Angel” and “Little Latin Lupe Lu” just missed the top 40. Though they fizzled as a recording act by 1968, the group never stopped touring as “Louie Louie” became an enduring classic that was named as one of the songs that shaped rock and roll by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In a 2007 poll, Rolling Stone placed it at Number 5 on a list of 40 songs that changed the world. Mike Mitchel passed away on April 16, 2021.