Richard Berry (born in Extension, Louisiana on 11 April 1935; died 23 Janua… Read Full Bio ↴Richard Berry (born in Extension, Louisiana on 11 April 1935; died 23 January 1997) was an American singer and songwriter, best known as the composer and original performer of the rock standard "Louie Louie" (released in 1957 by Richard Berry & The Pharaohs).
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.
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.
Rock rock rock
Richard Berry Lyrics
We have lyrics for 'Rock rock rock' by these artists:
Cash Rivers and the Sinners [Sinner, Van Der Graaf] Chains that we're draggin' Hidden t…
Four 5 Four (Ha, on gang, he's not what I claim, I whip…
Jimmy Cavello & The Houserockers ALL THE BOYS WILL BE THERE GET READY FOR THAT…
Mad Fred & The Maniacs Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh …
Mad Fred and The Maniacs Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh …
Neil Young Down the highway, all across the nation Trucks are moving ro…
Neil Young & Crazy Horse Down the highway All across the nation Trucks are moving rou…
Oo-Bop-Sh'Bam Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock, Jingle bells swi…
S. Shanmuga Sundaram & R. Ganesh 怪了 以前的之前 我还是一个在别人眼中 不可能被改变的石头 你也曾听过我的过去 很花心 很叛逆 就像哈利波特一直有稀奇 …
Sparks I am a cat who walks alone And I run to…
Thai ใจฉันเต้นดั่งทำนอง คอยมาเจอเธอ เห็นเพียงเธอ ฟังเสียงจังหวะตะ…
Thai & Drew Deezy ใจฉันเต้นดั่งทำนอง คอยมาเจอเธอ เห็นเพียงเธอ ฟังเสียงจังหวะตะ…
The 1-4-5s 今日も君は 信じること忘れずに目覚められていますか? 時が経つと 自分さえも信じれなくなる時代のようです 自分では気付か…
The Tokyo 1! 何度でも 2! 何度でも 3! 全開で突き進んで 1! 永遠の 2! 約束なら 3! 限界を超えて 叶わないなん…
Sparks I am a cat who walks alone And I run to…
We have lyrics for these tracks by Richard Berry:
At Last At last, my love has come along my lonely days are…
Have Love Will Travel Wow, Have love Whoa baby will travel Uh huh, uh huh, have…
Hey Henry You couldn't dance at all But now you're over ball The way…
Louie Louie Louie, Louie, oh, oh, me gotta go Louie, Louie, me gotta…
Louie, Louie Louie, Louie, oh, oh, me gotta go Louie, Louie, oh, oh,…
The Wallflower (Hey Baby, What do I have to do,) (To make you…
Visiteur La première fois d'sa vie qu'un homme a le bonheur D'entrer…
The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos
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@spib65
Love Rock'n'roll, love this, up the rockers!
@Stargateseven2
My wife and myself met Richard AT CSULB in 1985 at Steve Probes class The History of Rock And Roll. He just received his check for writing LOUIE, LOUIE HE WON THE COPYRIGHT...I WILL NOT TELL YOU HOW MUCH. a really cool dude. RIP RICHARD A GREAT L.A. SONG WRITER AND SINGER.
@cynthia6637
Yes indeed... this is a Rocker for sure.... Love it... Talk about a dance... just Rock....
@jaycooper2624
I only have this superb track on a Danish Richard Berry compilation LP !! Great to hear it off an original 45-Much better sound-Thanxamillion!
@gtrjay55
Don't remember this one, Richard Berry with a doo wop setting, how cool.
@CrisVangel1958
REally nice, such a unique sound.
@soulman4692
Wonderful music !!!
@512BoxerBoy
Fun. Thanks for posting.
@danielmkubacki
NICE SONG!
@ronniewhinnem9340
Love this