"Louie Louie" - Kingsmen

Wand Records released the 45 in 1963. The 45 was mono. The song was not mixed to stereo at the time.

LP version (printed 3:00)

The vinyl LP version on Wand's The Kingsmen In Person LP included fake live crowd sounds before and after the songs. "Louie Louie" is same version as the 45, but with the addition of the crowd sounds. I think this album is the only place to find the version with the crowd sounds. It's hard to pin down where the song ends due to the crowd sounds bleeding into the next track.

45 version (printed 2:24, actual 2:41)

No one really wants to hear the crowd sounds anyway. The 45 was the hit, starting with just the organ and ending on "let's go".

The earliest CDs to feature the song were probably Heartland Music/Warner Special Products' Fun Rock (1986) and Warner Special Products' Highs Of The Sixties (1986). Back in 1986, the record companies figured that the buying public wouldn't want to buy their shiny new discs if the music was in mono, so the first batch of oldies CDs were stereo-at-all-costs, featuring fake stereo when a true stereo mix wasn't available. Both Fun Rock and Highs Of The Sixties feature atrocious EQ-based fake stereo. Avoid.

Silver Eagle's mail-order 2-CD Rockin' Down The Block (1987) features a rerecording of the song. Ouch. Avoid.

DCC's original pressing of Toga Rock (1987) features the song in mono, but it sounds terrible. It may be from vinyl (maybe with noise reduction)? The tail of the fade is really short, with no hiss. And it runs about 1.6% or 1.7% faster than the actual 45. Avoid. Amazingly, there are a few CDs that use the same analog transfer as the original pressing of Toga Rock:

• Time-Life's 2-CD Rock Party (1990)
• Sessions' 2-CD Sixties Frat Rock (1990)
• Time-Life's Spirit Of The '60s Garage Kings (2001)

There is a better analog transfer on Time-Life's first pressing of Rock 'N' Roll Era Vol. 10 1964 (1987), which seems to be from a tape source and runs at the right speed. It's in mono, but the left/right balance is a little off and the left channel is about 2 dB louder than the right channel. But it's still an improvement over the first pressing of Toga Rock. The same analog transfer is used on:

• JCI's Only Rock 'N Roll 1960-1964 (1994)

Finally, there's a great-sounding analog transfer on Rhino's Frat Rock (1987). It's true mono here, not just a mono source tape played on a stereo tape head. The same analog transfer is used on:

• Time-Life's RE-2 reissue of Rock 'N' Roll Era Vol. 10 1964 (copyright 1987, actual release date unknown) - volume-adjusted digital clone
• Time-Life's Classic Rock Vol. 9 1964 The Beat Goes On (1988)
• DCC's reissue of Toga Rock (copyright 1988, look for mastered by Steve Hoffman credit)
• Ace UK's Golden Age Of American Rock 'N' Roll Vol. 1 (1991)
• Rhino's KFOG Presents M. Dung's Idiot Show (1991) - volume-adjusted digital clone
• Ace UK's Radio Gold Vol. 2 (1993)
• Time-Life's Animal Rock (1994)

There's a new analog transfer on Rhino's Billboard Top R&R Hits 1963 (1988). Sound quality is quite similar to Frat Rock; I'm not sure why Rhino didn't just use a digital clone of that disc. The same analog transfer is used on:

• Rhino's Billboard Top R&R Hits 1963 (1993 RE-1 reissue, with different track lineup) - digital clone
• Rhino Special Products' Entertainment Weekly Presents Pure Party (1993)
• Simitar's The Number Ones: Party On (1998) - volume-adjusted digital clone

Rhino produced yet another analog transfer on Best Of The Kingsmen (1991). This mastering seems to be a tiny bit clearer than the earlier Rhino masterings. Better source tape? Could just be a different EQ? Not sure. I prefer it over the earlier masterings. The same analog transfer is used on:

• Ace UK's Chartbusters USA Vol. 2 (2002) - mastered too loud and clips severely; avoid

There's a new analog transfer on Capricorn's The Scepter Records Story (1992), which sounds like a mono tape played on a stereo head. The soundstage sounds a little weird in headphones. Avoid.

Finally, there's one last analog transfer on Varese's Very Best Of The Kingsmen (1998). I believe that it's an improvement over Rhino's Best Of, because it seems to stay in synch better with my vinyl dub of the 45. The Rhino has a little tape drag issue where the first half of the song lags behind the 45 (after speed correction), and the last minute or so catches up. You won't be able to hear it (it's "Louie Louie", not a Steely Dan record!), but you'll be able to see it in a side-by-side comparison in a multi-track editor. The same analog transfer as the Varese disc is used on:

• Rhino's Nuggets Box Set (1998)
• Rhino's Instant Party Disc Extra Strength (1999)
• Time-Life's 2-CD Glory Days Of Rock 'N' Roll Vol. 15 Dance Party (2001) - volume-adjusted digital clone

My recommendation

Go with Varese's Very Best Of The Kingsmen (1998).

Edited by crapfromthepast - 8 hours 20 minutes ago at 7:05am