When recorded the band members were Jack Ely (vocalist/rhythm guitar; d. April 28, 2015), Lynn Easton (drummer), Mike Mitchell (lead guitar), Don Gallucci (electric piano) and Bob Nordby (bass guitar). Ken Chase (Kingsmen manager and Portland radio station KISN music director) produced the recording session. Robert Lindahl (Northwestern Inc. recording studio owner) was the audio engineer.
"Louie Louie" was kept from the top spot on the charts in late 1963 and early 1964 by the Singing Nun and Bobby Vinton, who monopolized the #1 slot for four weeks apiece. The Kingsmen single reached #1 on the Cashbox chart and #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Additionally in the UK it reached #26 on the Record Retailer chart. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. The B-side of the single was an instrumental, "Haunted Castle".
The band attracted nationwide attention when "Louie Louie" was banned by the governor of Indiana, Matthew E. Welsh, also attracting the attention of the FBI because of alleged indecent lyrics in their version of the song. The lyrics were, in fact, innocent, but Ely's baffling enunciation permitted teenage fans and concerned parents alike to imagine the most scandalous obscenities. All of this attention only made the song more popular. In April 1966 "Louie Louie" was reissued and once again hit the music charts, reaching #65 on the Cashbox chart and #97 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
After the success of "Louie Louie", the members of the Kingsmen took varied paths. Easton, whose mother had registered the name of the group and therefore owned it, declared that from this point on he intended to be the singer, forcing Ely to play the drums. This led Jack Ely and Bob Nordby to quit the group.
Ely would later form his own group Jack Eely And The Courtmen (with the reason for the extra "e" in his surname not clear). Don Gallucci was forced out because he wasn't old enough to tour and later formed Don and the Goodtimes, which morphed into the short-lived Touch. Later, Gallucci would become a record producer with Elektra Records, with his most famous production being The Stooges' seminal second album Fun House. ("Louie Louie" was frequently performed at Stooges concerts; the song appears on their live album as well as an Iggy Pop solo record.) The two remaining original Kingsmen, Lynn Easton and Mike Mitchell, toured as the official band.
Following legal action on both sides, Easton established his right to the "Kingsmen" name. Thus Ely was forced to stop using it, and Easton was forced to stop lip syncing to Ely's vocals. This initially hurt the Easton Kingsmen's popularity, after audiences realized that this was no longer the band they had come to see. Eventually, though, the official band (with Easton on vocals) charted several more singles in the 1960s.
The Kingsmen's 1964 follow up to "Louie Louie" was a party version of "Money (That's What I Want)" which hit the Billboard Hot 100 at #16 and on Cashbox at #17. Then came "Little Latin Lupe Lu" peaking on Billboard at #46 and Cashbox at #49. After that it was "Death of An Angel" #33 on Cashbox and #42 on Billboard.
1965 saw the Kingsmen return to the Top 10 nationally with "The Jolly Green Giant" reaching #4 on Billboard and #8 on Cashbox. The follow-up song was "The Climb" #45 on Cashbox and #65 on Billboard. "Annie Fanny" was released next reaching #43 on Cashbox & #47 on Billboard. Next came "(You Got) The Gamma Goochee" #98 on Cashbox & #122 on Billboard.
In 1966 the Kingsmen continued to hit the charts, with "Killer Joe" reaching #77 on Billboard & #81 on Cashbox. In 1967 they made the chart for the last time with "Bo Diddley Bach" reaching #128 on Billboard.
On November 9, 1998, The Kingsmen were awarded ownership of all their early recordings released on Wand Records from Gusto Records, including "Louie Louie." They had not been paid royalties on the songs since the 1960s.
Original vocalist Jack Ely passed away in 2015, and original guitarist Mike Mitchell in 2021. A reformed Kingsmen performed at the "24 Hour Louie Louie Marathon" in Portland in October 2023, a testament to the enduring fascination with this song.
--Other Groups--
Prior to this group's formation, another group called The Kingsmen operated in 1958 and was made up of members of Bill Haley & His Comets who were moonlighting from their regular work with Haley. This group scored a hit record (#35) on Billboard with the instrumental entitled "Week End", written by Rudy Pompilli, Franny Beecher, and Billy Williamson, backed with "Better Believe It" as the B side. They released a follow-up single on East West Records featuring "The Catwalk" backed with "Conga Rock". Although the Comets did the actual recordings, when The Kingsmen went on tour a different set of musicians performed instead of Haley's people. The band made at least one appearance on American Bandstand in 1958.
Various other groups have used the name "The Kingsmen", including a gospel vocal group formed in 1956 (also referred to as The Kingsmen Quartet) and bands that were later re-named as Flamin' Groovies, The Gants and The Statler Brothers. An a cappella group at Columbia University is traditionally known as The Kingsmen; one incarnation of that group became Sha Na Na; also circa 1962-63, Bruza / Magnoli / Nofz / Tomczyk adopted that name in SE MI until dis-banding during the late-1970s.
Death Of An Angel
The Kingsmen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And she left me to stay
My baby's gone and left me
My baby's gone away
My baby's gone
And she left me to stay o-o-oh
I know my baby's left
I still remember the day
The day she went away
That was the day-y-y
That she left me to stay-y-y-y
I know my baby's gone
O-o-o-o-o-o-oh
O-o-o-o-o-o-oh
That was the death of an angel now
I don't know why
I want to be beside her but
I'm afraid to die
My baby's gone
My baby's gone away
My baby's gone
Here she left me to stay o-o-oh
Baby please come back home
O-o-o-o-o-o-oh
Dear, won't you please come home
Woe woe woe
My baby's gone
My baby's gone away
The Kingsmen's "Death of an Angel" is a heart-wrenching song about loss and longing. The song is about the singer's girlfriend who has left him, and while he is still alive, he feels like a part of himself has died with her leaving. The opening lines set the tone for the rest of the song with the repetition of "My baby's gone" emphasizing the magnitude of his loss. The repetition is also an effort to come to terms with reality through repetition. He then further emphasizes this loss when he states, "And she left me to stay," revealing that she had the option of staying but made the choice to leave.
While the rest of the song mentions the memories of his lost love, it is depicted as a tragic event when he says, "That was the death of an angel now, I don't know why, I want to be beside her, but I'm afraid to die." This line implies that he feels like a part of him has died, along with her leaving, and the rest of him feels incomplete. His longing to be beside her emphasizes his emotional attachment to her, and his fear of death emphasizes the degree of his sorrow.
In summation, "Death of an Angel" speaks to the pain and deep sense of loss that accompanies the end of a relationship. It is a cry for the return of his love, and the void that his lost love has filled in his life.
Line by Line Meaning
My baby's gone
The singer's significant other has left them
And she left me to stay
Their significant other has left them permanently, while the singer is still alive
My baby's gone and left me
The singer is reiterating that they have been left by their significant other
My baby's gone away
Their significant other has left the vicinity or region, and may not return
And she left me to stay o-o-oh
The artist is lamenting how their significant other has passed on, while they are still alive
I know my baby's left
The singer is aware that their significant other has left for an unknown reason
That was the day-y-y
Referring to the moment their significant other left
That she left me to stay-y-y-y
The artist is struggling with being left behind after their significant other has passed on
That was the death of an angel now
The artist is personifying their significant other as an angel, who has now passed away
I don't know why
The artist does not understand why their significant other had to pass away and leave them behind
I want to be beside her but
The singer longs to be with their significant other again, but realizes they cannot because they are still alive and their significant other is not
I'm afraid to die
The artist is fearing their own mortality, and may even consider taking their own life to be with their significant other
Baby please come back home
The singer is pleading for their significant other to return to them, even though they know it's not possible
Dear, won't you please come home
The singer is expressing their love and longing for their significant other to be with them once again
Woe woe woe
The singer laments their loss and the pain they feel, possibly even mourning with grief
Contributed by Madison V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@lynndebeal6126
Thank you. This was my first 45. It's in terrible shape, but I still have it.❤🌷
@waltp3373
Thanks for this. I've been looking all over for this song. I couldn't remember the name. Great song.
@tilefono200
by far their best track,thanks so much for posting it!!
@TimothyForbesXXI
I first heard this in 1986 in Syracuse, and found it deliciously creepy. One of THEIR BEST!!!
@djdavemick
As far as I know, only Fred Horton played it (up to June 1985). I SWEAR Bob Mitchell (1985 on) never played it. But oh those memories!
@jusdafide
This song is awesome!
@Petemonster62
To all the Good Gals who left this world much too soon!
@ParrettmantheBirdman
(cont) the The Target Ballroom in Burien, Washington. That got their attention and they started talking to us holding up the line. I asked them why they never played Death of an Angel anymore and they said when it came out on radio a few girls killed themselves so it was banned from radio and they never played it again! When it was taken off the air KJR and KOL Radio disc announcing the same thing but never expected it to have effected the band so much and they would never play it again! :(
@karenmartin5739
this version was banned from the radio about a month after it debuted. a girl killed herself and the family blamed this song.
@psykomatik
wow, that's amazing