Berry 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 (see Richard Berry & 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 & 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.
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. However, his health declined, and he died of heart failure in 1997. He was interred in the Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California.
At Last
Richard Berry Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
my lonely days are over, and life is like a song
At last,the skies above are blue
My heart was wrapped in clover
Every since the night I looked at you
And I found a dream that I could speak to
A dream to call my own
A thrill I'd never known
When you smiled, and then the spell was cast
And here we are in Heaven, I found my love at last
I found a dream that I could speak to,
A dream to call my own
I found a thrill to press my cheek to
A thrill like I had never known
You smiled, when you smiled at me that was how the spell was cast
And here we are in Heaven
I found my love at last
The lyrics to "At Last" by Richard Berry and The Dreamers describe a sense of relief and joy that comes from finding true love. The singer acknowledges that their life was once lonely and sad, but now that their love has arrived, everything feels like a beautiful, joyous song. The language in the first few lines is quite poetic, as the singer talks about how the skies are blue and how their heart was once wrapped in clover, a symbol of good luck and happiness. When the singer looks at their love interest, they feel like they have found a dream they can call their own.
Later in the lyrics, the singer talks about finding a thrill with their love interest that they have never known before. The happiness and excitement they feel is palpable in the language, as they describe pressing their cheek to this person and feeling like they are in heaven. When the person smiles at them, the "spell" is cast and they realize that they have found true love at last.
Overall, the song is a beautifully written and heartfelt tribute to the power of love. It captures the emotion of finally finding the person you have been waiting for and the overwhelming joy of being with someone who makes you feel complete.
Line by Line Meaning
At last, my love has come along
Finally, the one I love and have been waiting for has arrived in my life
my lonely days are over, and life is like a song
I'm no longer alone and sad, life now feels joyful and full of music
At last,the skies above are blue
The world looks brighter and happier now that my love is here
My heart was wrapped in clover
I was lucky and happy even before I met my love
Every since the night I looked at you
Ever since I first saw you, I knew you were special and meant to be with me
I found a dream that I could speak to
I finally found a person who understands me and with whom I can share my dreams
A dream to call my own
A dream that is unique to me and my love, something we can cherish together
I found a thrill to press my cheek to
I discovered a feeling of excitement and pleasure when I'm close to my love
A thrill I'd never known
This new feeling is something completely new and wonderful to me
When you smiled, and then the spell was cast
Your smile had a magical effect on me, and made me fall in love with you instantly
And here we are in Heaven, I found my love at last
Now that we are together, I feel like we are in paradise and I finally found my one true love
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Peermusic Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Harry Warren, Mack Gordon
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Finkanslig
Orig. on 45-rpm Flair 1052, ‘54. The flip side is Bye, Bye. The Dreamers were a 6tet for these two songs, becoming a 4tet soon after this record. The 2 Dreamers in front were the Williams twins, w/ Gloria Jones & Fanita Barrett. Googie Rene at piano? The Dreamers & Berry made other records together. The Dreamers made records under their own name (on Flip); the same group as The Rollettes (on Class) and later as The Blossoms (Capitol) w/ Darlene Wright = Darlene Love. Yes THAT Darlene! :I:
MeanOlHepCat
Ace records in England is famous for using unreleased takes of otherwise well-known records on their albums.
Caught me by surprise when I bought original records on Vee-Jay by the Orioles I first heard on an Ace re-release album first (Dancing and Romancing?) - 'Sugar Girl' is another example of being different from the original wax or shellac..
Zev Feldman
ORIGINAL VERSION