Search - Various Artists :: Louie Louie Collection

Not the best Louie collection, but it has some gems

Michael Oneal-petterson | Altadena, CA | 12/03/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The full title of this album should be listed as "Louie Louie: Best of the Northwest." All of the groups are from the Washington state area where this song "broke out" way back when.I bought this collection some years ago, listened to it a couple times, and then let it gather dust in my CD collection. The sound quality is not perfect, almost as though it doesn't have that "Hi-Fi" sound most CDs should. Plus, a couple of the versions are live versions (by Paul Revere and the Raiders and the Kingsmen) to avoid paying original recording royalties. There are a couple annoying versions of the song on here, but there are 2 Louie gems in particular that I hadn't paid attention to previously:The Feelies (Track 4) do a great sixties version, with a slightly different feel (ha!) to it. Some great organ work makes this very listenable.Also Ian Whitcomb (track 9) does a really awesome piano jazz-trio arrangement of the song.I just wish the sound quality was better so that I could fully appreciate these two versions. And since Amazon doesn't list all the bands, here they are as a public service:1. The Mystery Band
2. Don & the Goodtimes
3. Little Bill & the Adventures
4. The Feelies
5. Charlie and the Tunas
6. Jr. Cadillac
7. Paul Revere and the Raiders
8. Mellowdramatics
9. Ian Whitcomb
10. The Kingsmen
11. The University of Washington Marching BandSo, all in all, there are better Louie Louie collections, but this has some unique arrangements that you won't find anywhere else."