#dave marsh

Bruce Springsteen’s Darkness on the Edge of Town was released on this day in 1978.

Elvis eating breakfast with his family (1959)

[Far Out Magazine]

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“Elvis Presley was an explorer of vast new landscapes of dream and illusion. He was a man who refused to be told that the best of his dreams would not come true, who refused to be defined by anyone else’s conceptions. This is the goal of democracy, the journey on which every prospective American hero sets out. That Elvis made so much of the journey on his own is reason enough to remember him with the honor and love we reserve for the bravest among us. Such men made the only maps we can trust.” - Dave Marsh, from his book, "Elvis"

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“50 years on, the wild story of ‘Creem: America’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll Magazine’ gets told” by Peter Larsen

Today’s the last day! Here’s your last chance to join us and watch CREEM: AMERICA’S ONLY ROCK ‘N’ ROLL MAGAZINE! Click here and stream now.

MC5: Back On Shakin' Street by Dave Marsh

International Times - 1971 issue 114

Dave Marsh: Louie Louie: The History and Mythology of the World's Most Famous Rock 'n' Roll Song (1993)

What do The Kingsmen, The Sonics, Otis Redding, Iggy & The Stooges, Motörhead, Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention, Toots and The Maytals, Heavy Cruiser, Barry White, Black Flag, The Fat Boys, and even comic legend John Belushi, have in common?

They all recorded their own versions of Richard Berry's "Louie Louie": the most famous, or, maybe more fittingly, the most INFAMOUS, rock 'n' roll song of all time.

That's the thesis constructed by Dave Marsh: a founding editor of Creem magazine known for "harshing the buzz" for Lester Bangs and other Gonzo rock critics, before joining the 'Cult of Springsteen' and spending the past several decades suckling at Jon Landau's teat.

Now, I've got nothing against The Boss, but my primary beef with Marsh arose when I learned that he apparently didn't "get" the Ramones but felt that a similarly simple, dare I say lovably "moronic," song deserved its own book!

But that doesn't mean I wasn't impressed by Marsh's chutzpah and intrigued by his mission to propose that a single, misunderstood song could serve as a lens for him to examine the complex intersection of American culture, law, government, and music history.

And Marsh is nothing if not rigorous in his efforts, devoting almost too much time to the 31-month FBI investigation that cost taxpayers thousands of dollars in an attempt to decipher and censor the song's allegedly obscene, slurred lyrics, which were of course harmless.

Harmless but hardly irrelevant, since the same mystery and confusion fueled the mythology that turned The Kingsmen's raucous, 1963 cover of "Louie Louie" into a viral phenomenon that spread like Chlamydia across college campuses and suburban garages.

Marsh also sheds light on the song's nebulous origins as a modest, calypso-influenced R&B tune composed by the equally unheralded Richard Berry in 1956, as well as his lengthy battle to reclaim ownership to a number that experienced an almost incomparable, certainly unimaginable afterlife.

Here, again, we see Marsh's meticulous nature, as he documents every known version of "Louie Louie" released through to the book's 1993 publication to support his theory that it transcended those humble origins to become a bona fide folk artifact, inextricably intertwined in the public consciousness.

And while I'm not sure this status has carried over to Gen Z and Alpha, I know the song's legacy extended and grew at least as far as my generation, because I too worship every perfectly imperfect second of The Kingsmen's ramshackle "Louie Louie."

Finally, whatever my personal issues with Marsh, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and support much of its thesis, which is obviously illustrated by the eclectic assortment of records I was able to pluck from my own collection to illustrate "Louie Louie's" wide-ranging influence.

Featured Records:

The Kingsmen: "Louie Louie" / "Haunted Castle" (1963)

Motörhead: "Louie Louie" / "Tear You Down" (1978)

The Mothers of Invention: Uncle Meat (1969)

Various Artists: Animal House Soundtrack (1978)

Heavy Cruiser: Heavy Cruiser (1972)