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.
Visiteur
Richard Berry Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
D'entrer chez une femme en visiteur
Quand elle nous dit "Pardon"
Qu'elle nous laisse un instant
On veut r'garder tout vite
On sait qu'on n'a pas l'temps
Comme quand on met le doigt sur l'interrupteur
On découvre son ambiance,
Ses goûts et ses couleurs
On s'en remplit la tête à toute vapeur
Quand je suis entré dans cette chambre
Qui te connaît et qui te ressemble
J'étais un genre de visiteur
De tous tes secrets, maraudeur,
J'ai vite tout noté en douceur
J'ai tout planqué au fond d'mon cœur
Tous ces détails avant qu'on s'taille,
Sans même que j't'aie prise par la taille
(Visiteur)
La première fois d'ma vie que tu m'as fait l'honneur
De me faire entrer chez toi en visiteur
J'ai vu ton réveil noir
Et ton lit un peu bas,
Ta lampe et les tiroirs
Où tu ranges tes bas
Le grand miroir ovale où tu te déshabilles
Tes flacons de parfum, tes brosses pour les cils
J'ai respiré très fort pour emporter tout ça
En désirant très fort que ça devienne chez moi
Quand je suis entré dans cette chambre
Qui te connaît et qui te ressemble
J'étais un genre de visiteur
De tous tes secrets, maraudeur,
J'ai même vu sur un pouf
Ton chat, un bloc avec tous tes achats
Et même des visages en photo
De types que je ne connaissais pas
(Visiteur)
Quand je suis entré dans cette chambre
Qui te connaît et qui te ressemble
J'ai rêvé de rev'nir en voleur
Chez toi, pour y voler plein d'heures
Des heures à se donner en douceur
Des émotions comme des chaleurs
Dans tes secrets faire une entaille
Après la plus douce des batailles.
In Richard Berry's song Visiteur, the lyrics describe the experience of visiting a woman's bedroom for the first time. The singer feels a sense of excitement and urgency as he explores her space while she steps out, taking note of every detail before they run out of time. He compares the experience to the feeling of turning on an engine or flicking on a light switch, engaging with the woman's world and absorbing everything he can.
The second verse switches to the woman's perspective, as she invites the singer into her bedroom and he takes note of everything from her perfume to the photos on her shelf. He breathes in deeply, hoping to take the essence of her space with him even after he leaves. The final stanza imagines the singer returning to the woman's bedroom as a thief, stealing hours and sharing moments of intimacy with her. Overall, the song speaks to the electrifying energy of exploring and discovering a new space, especially when it belongs to someone you desire.
Line by Line Meaning
La première fois d'sa vie qu'un homme a le bonheur
The first time in his life that a man has the happiness
D'entrer chez une femme en visiteur
To enter a woman's place as a visitor
Quand elle nous dit "Pardon"
When she says "Sorry"
Qu'elle nous laisse un instant
When she leaves us for a moment
On veut r'garder tout vite
We want to look at everything quickly
On sait qu'on n'a pas l'temps
We know we don't have time
Comme quand on met le doigt sur l'interrupteur
Like when we put our finger on the switch
Dans l'silence qui s'installe avant le mot "moteur"
In the silence that falls before the word "motor"
On découvre son ambiance,
We discover its ambiance
Ses goûts et ses couleurs
Its tastes and colours
On s'en remplit la tête à toute vapeur
We fill our heads with it at full steam
Quand je suis entré dans cette chambre
When I entered this room
Qui te connaît et qui te ressemble
That knows and resembles you
J'étais un genre de visiteur
I was a kind of visitor
De tous tes secrets, maraudeur,
A prowler of all your secrets
J'ai vite tout noté en douceur
I quickly noted everything softly
J'ai tout planqué au fond d'mon cœur
I hid everything deep inside my heart
Tous ces détails avant qu'on s'taille,
All these details before we leave
Sans même que j't'aie prise par la taille
Without even holding you by the waist
La première fois d'ma vie que tu m'as fait l'honneur
The first time in my life that you honoured me
De me faire entrer chez toi en visiteur
By letting me enter your place as a visitor
J'ai vu ton réveil noir
I saw your black alarm clock
Et ton lit un peu bas,
And your slightly low bed
Ta lampe et les tiroirs
Your lamp and the drawers
Où tu ranges tes bas
Where you keep your stockings
Le grand miroir ovale où tu te déshabilles
The large oval mirror where you undress
Tes flacons de parfum, tes brosses pour les cils
Your perfume bottles, your eyelash brushes
J'ai respiré très fort pour emporter tout ça
I breathed heavily to take all of that in
En désirant très fort que ça devienne chez moi
While strongly desiring it to become mine
J'ai même vu sur un pouf
I even saw on a pouf
Ton chat, un bloc avec tous tes achats
Your cat, a block with all your purchases
Et même des visages en photo
And even faces in photos
De types que je ne connaissais pas
Of guys that I didn't know
J'ai rêvé de rev'nir en voleur
I dreamed of coming back as a thief
Chez toi, pour y voler plein d'heures
To your place, to steal hours
Des heures à se donner en douceur
Hours to give ourselves softly
Des émotions comme des chaleurs
Emotions like heat
Dans tes secrets faire une entaille
To make a cut in your secrets
Après la plus douce des batailles.
After the sweetest of battles.
Contributed by Luke K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.