Lumberjacks
   Louie Louie
   with the Kingsmen

 
When I saw the schedule for the Redwood Acres fair I just knew we had to get the band in.  It was our chance to play Louie Louie with the band that made the song famous back in the sixties, The Kingsmen.  It was actually a lot easier to talk the fair director into the idea than it was to get the band up for the gig.  All it took to get the passes was a  promise that we'd play outside the grandstands to try and  drum up a little enthusiasm for the show.  Getting  the six band members to the show was another story.  But after repeated phone calls, much cajoling and a promise of free beer McHaney, Becky, Hugh, Pony-Boy, John-Boy and I walked through the fairgrounds gate, nobody even asked for our passes, once again, just having instruments, uniforms and that subtle "don't mess with us we've got a gig" attitude was enough for admission. Louie1
We immediately headed for the beer wagon for a quick chorus of You've Said It All and drink or two.  We played a few songs in a semi-parade fashion and headed into the grandstands.  We managed to belt out a couple of tunes before the Kingsmen took the stage.  The last song we did of course was our version of Louie Louie the other band seemed to appreciate our little tribute, we exchanged a few pleasantries and then went over to get another beer.
Since we still had our horns we started jamming along while the Kingsmen ran through some basic blues tunes. Again the other guys seemed to appreciate what we were doing, offering us some encouragement from the stage. That was all it took for us to move back out on to the Racetrack in front of the PA and jam like crazy. The crowd was not big, maybe 100 people or so, but they were into it. After a couple more tunes and a couple more beers the Kingsmen said it was time for the big finale and we were invited onto the stage where we joined in a ripping version of Twist and Shout and the big finish Louie Louie, which the Kingsmen were kind enough to do in our key, B flat. Afterwards they said they hadn't done it in that key for 30 years.  We must have played that song for fifteen minutes, everybody was jumping around and generally going nuts. After the set ended we got the Kingsmen to sign our T-shirts, then we had some more beer and played a few songs in the carnival including a memorable rendition of Beer Barrel Polka on the merry-go-round and some really wild Bob Marley inside the fun house. Then we went home to call everybody who'd missed the gig and rub it in.
            WE PLAYED LOUIE LOUIE WITH THE KINGSMEN!!!!

           Gordon

 
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Album cover graphics pilfered from the Louie Louie pages.
 

This page last updated:  7/15/97