“Louie Louie” by The Kingsmen
This music was blatantly prohibited for no reason. It all began with a young girl’s father writing a concerned letter to Attorney General Robert Kennedy, blaming the “extreme state of moral degradation” of the country on the “Louie Louie” song. The FBI launched an investigation. According to the F.B.I. investigation, the lyrics appeared to state, “At night at ten / I lay her again / F*** you girl, oh / All the way.” To wit, the song’s single obscenity happened around 50 seconds in, when the drummer loses a drumstick and exclaims, “F***.” Ironically, the F.B.I. did not capture it. Richard Berry composed and recorded the calypso-inspired song with his band in 1957. The Kingsmen covered it after hearing the Wailers’ cover version on local jukeboxes.
Louie Louie By The Kingsmen
