Punk
undeniable, with Iggy Pop commenting that the single served as an inspiration for him to pursue a career in music, adding that he ‘ left school emotionally at the moment [he] first heard Rumble ’ . 8 Despite this, however, it would be misguided to term the instrumental ‘punk rock’, since the record has had an equally profound impact on both hard rock and metal, with Wray being described as ‘the connecting force between the early blues guitarists and t he later guitar gods of the 1960s (Hendrix, Clapton, Page)’. 9 Indeed, in the 2008 documentary, It Might Get Loud , Jimmy Page is seen ‘joyously playing air guitar along to Rumble ’. 10 Furthermore, from his larger discography, it too has been noted that Wray was integral in bringing the power chord to prominence, a feature, of course, not solely limited to punk rock. 11 Rumble could just as accurately be termed ‘proto - metal’! The next release to have had a significant impact on punk rock is the Kingsmen’s 1953 cover of Richard Berry’s single, Louie Louie . The music itself is in many ways ‘punk’; indeed, academic Aneta Panek has described the song as ‘punk rock’s urtext’ , 12 and Paul Revere, who later covered the song, described it as ‘ three chords and the most mundane beat possible ’ , adding that ‘ any idiot could learn it, and they all did ’ . 13 The song’s performance has a ragged, unpolished quality – the lyrics are famously delivered in a slurred, ‘slack -jawed vocal style, and the guitar solo is scrappy ’ , 14 with essayist Peter Blecha adding that ‘ the drummer is just hitting the cymbals on the wrong notes ’ . 15 The single’s production is equally as primitive; the record was produced on a shoe- string budget of $50 in a studio, which ‘didn’t know how to record rock’n’roll’. 16 The Kingsmen recorded Louie Louie in a single take , with ‘Jack Ely singing into a microphone suspended high from the ceiling, which forced him to lean back and yell in order to be heard over the other instruments’. 17 The single is gloriously amateurish, with Ely even coming in early on one verse. 18 Their approach is decidedly un-commercial – then-popular Boston D.J. Arnie Ginsburg even played the song ‘during his “ Worst Record of the Week ” segment’. 19 Yet, it was Ely’s slurred vocals that captured people’s imaginations, causing many teenagers to think that ‘the lyrics were obscene’, leading some to ‘[pass] around what they thought were the ‘ real ’ words’. 20 This prompted newspapers to accuse the band of ‘corrupting the moral fiber [sic] of the youth of America’ and led to an 18 -month FBI investigation, which saw agents tirelessly listen to the song ‘at various different speeds and frequencies’ in search of any hidden messages. 21 Despite their extensive efforts, the FBI failed to notice the drummer shouting ‘ fuck ’ when he dropped one of his sticks. 22 Although much of the performance and reception of the song is in line with punk rock, it would again be misguided to term Louie Louie 8 fuse.tv, Fuse TV -, [online]. 9 loc.gov, Rumble , [online]. 10 ig.ft.com, Rumble – how Link Wray brought the sound of slashed speakers to rock guitar – FT.com , [online]. 11 faroutmagazine.co.uk, Who invented the power chord? , [online]. 12 thevinylfactory.com, Proto-punk: 10 records that paved the way for ’76 – The Vinyl Factory , [online]. 13 npr.org, The surprising history of the Kingsmen song ‘Louie Louie’ : NPR , [online]. 14 faroutmagazine.com, ‘Louie, Louie’, the most misunderstood song in history – Far Out Magazine , [online]. 15 npr.org, The surprising history of the Kingsmen song ‘Louie Louie’ : NPR , [online]. 16 Ibid., [online]. 17 ultimateclassicrock.com, How the Kingsmen Stirred Up Controversy with ‘Louie Louie’ , [online]. 18 faroutmagazine.com, ‘Louie, Louie’, the most misunderstood song in history – Far Out Magazine , [online]. 19 ultimateclassicrock.com, How the Kingsmen Stirred Up Controversy with ‘Louie Louie’ , [online]. 20 Ibid., [online]. 21 npr.org, The surprising history of the Kingsmen song ‘Louie Louie’ : NPR , [online]; faroutmagazine.com, ‘Louie, Louie’, the most misunderstood song in history – Far Out Magazine , [online]. 22 Ibid., [online].
43
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker