The Kingsmen
The Kingsmen was an American rock - band .
history
The group was founded in 1959 by Jack Ely (1943-2015) as a school band and played until 1963 mainly at dance events, fashion shows and exhibitions. Over the years, the Kingsmen developed a rock music that was hard and bluesy for the time.
In late 1962 they became the house band of The Chase , Portland , Oregon's most famous teenage pub . One evening the manager of the pub recorded a performance by the quintet and sold it to a record company. The company released Louie Louie as a single from it . The song developed into a hit and million seller .
Members
- Lynn Easton (vocals, saxophone)
- Gary Abott (drums)
- Don Gallucci (organ)
- Mike Mitchell (guitar)
- Norman Sundholm (guitar, bass )
Discography
Albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
 US
|
|||
| 1964 | The Kingsmen In Person |
US20 (131 weeks) US |
|
| The Kingsmen, Volume II |
US15 (37 weeks) US |
||
| 1965 | The Kingsmen, Volume 3 |
US22 (18 weeks) US |
|
| 1966 | The Kingsmen On Campus |
US68 (17 weeks) US |
|
| 15 great hits |
US87 (8 weeks) US |
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 UK
|
US
|
|||
| 1958 | Week End | - |
US84 (3 weeks) US |
|
| 1963 | Louie, Louie |
UK26 (7 weeks) UK |
US2 (18 weeks) US |
|
| 1964 | Money | - |
US16 (11 weeks) US |
|
| Little Latin Magnifier Lu | - |
US46 (9 weeks) US |
||
| Death Of An Angel | - |
US42 (9 weeks) US |
||
| 1965 | The Jolly Green Giant | - |
US4 (12 weeks) US |
|
| The Climb | - |
US65 (6 weeks) US |
||
| Annie Fanny | - |
US47 (8 weeks) US |
||
| 1966 | Killer joe | - |
US77 (4 weeks) US |
|
Web links
- The Kingsmen at Allmusic (English)
- The Kingsmen at Discogs (English)