The Kingsmen
The Kingsmen are a 1960s American rock band from Portland, Oregon. They are best known for their 1963 recording of R&B singer Richard Berry's "Louie Louie", which held the No. 2 spot on the Billboard charts for six weeks and has become an enduring classic.
This article is about the 1960s Oregon rock band. For similarly-named groups, see Kingsmen (disambiguation).
The Kingsmen
Portland, Oregon, United States
1959–present
Don and the Goodtimes, Jack Ely and the Courtmen, Touch
Dick Peterson
Kim Nicklaus
Steve Peterson
Todd McPherson
Dennis Mitchell
Marc Willett
Mike Mitchell
Lynn Easton
Jack Ely
Bob Nordby
Don Gallucci
Gary Abbott
Norm Sundholm
Barry Curtis
Kerry Magness
J.C. Reick
Turley Richards
Pete Borg
Jeff Beals
Steve Friedson
Yank Barry
Fred Dennis
Andy Parypa
In total, the Kingsmen charted 13 singles from 1963 to 1968 and five consecutive albums from 1963 to 1966. Their first album, The Kingsmen in Person, remained on the Billboard Top LPs chart for 131 weeks from January 1964 to August 1966. Their early albums were released internationally in Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Mexico, South Africa, and Taiwan.
Early years[edit]
Lynn Easton and Jack Ely started performing at an early age in local newspaper-sponsored revues with the Journal Juniors and the Young Oregonians, respectively.[2] In 1957, they started performing together, with Ely singing and playing guitar and Easton on the drum kit. The two teenagers had grown up together, as their parents were close friends.[3] Easton and Ely performed at local parties and events, and soon added Mike Mitchell on guitar and Bob Nordby on bass to round out the band.[4] They called themselves the Kingsmen, taking the name from a recently disbanded group.[5] The Kingsmen began their collective career playing at fashion shows, Red Cross events, and supermarket promotions, generally avoiding rock songs on their setlist.[6] In 1962, Don Gallucci, a high school freshman at the time, was recruited from another local group, the Royal Notes, to play keyboards.[7]
Other uses of the name[edit]
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.
Many 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 renamed as Flamin' Groovies, The Gants and The Statler Brothers. An a cappella group at Columbia University is traditionally known as the Kingsmen; former members include Art Garfunkel and the original lineup of Sha Na Na.[110]