About this project
The Meaning of LOUIE is the legend of the world's most misunderstood rock and roll song.
It’s the story of Richard Berry, a relatively unknown rhythm and blues artist that somehow created one of the most-recorded musical compositions of all mankind.
It's an exploration of the Pacific Northwest music scene of the early 1950s-1960s, a place where the song LOUIE LOUIE captivated the spirit of the times, fueled by the music of the Wailers, Little Bill, the Frantics, Dave Lewis, the Sonics, and many more.
It’s the astonishing tale of the Kingsmen, a teenage band formed by two childhood friends that recorded a low budget demo of a catchy cover song, experienced a major break-up, wound up with an unlikely national hit-record, and subsequent battles with past and present members claiming credit for the success.
It's an attempt to make sense of the F.B.I. investigation of this song, exploring archival documents that sought to determine if this song was indeed a obscene recording, which was considered a serious federal offense in the mid-1960s.
It's a celebration and historic overview of one song whose impact was felt around the world in unlikely cultural, political and artistic arenas.
The Meaning of LOUIE is a true legend stranger than fiction; an American rock and roll story.
This documentary has spent many years in the making. This film includes never-before-seen footage of interviews with the principal players—many of whom have passed on—captured over a period of over 20 years by professional filmmakers Eric Predoehl and Jesse Block.
There's lot of people represented in this documentary that are no longer with us, and we're very honored to share some of their life's stories in this film.
This documentary will present the argument that "LOUIE LOUIE” is truly the most-recorded song of all time, providing specific data to dispute the claims of Guinness World Records.
Specifically, we're trying to get funding to complete a presentation edit of of the film. We are still in the process of negotiating the final licensing fees for synch, master performance, and stock footage usage, which are very expensive.
Licensing expenses are NOT part of this round of financing.
This project has been 99% self-funded up until this point.
Funding of this project will allow us to purchase the additional hardware needed to more effectively manage the film's expanding collection of media assets with additional RAID hard drive storage, as well as utilizing film/video restoration services, hiring outside services for motion graphic and audio enhancements. We'd also like to shoot some additional interviews with a handful of individuals vital to the history of this cultural phenomenon.
A few things we'd like to point out....
• We will not give your name or personal information to third parties.
• No one sees your credit card information besides Amazon, not even us.
• Project creators receive the email addresses of their backers if, and only if, the project is successfully funded.
• Kickstarter & Amazon will receive a small fraction of the final Kickstarter project funds if the funding target is reached, but they are not participating in any profit sharing beyond the initial funding.
If you are fortunate to have the means to provide some support to this project, we will be forever grateful for your generosity.
We truly appreciate all the support received. We look forward to completion of this long-awaited film and sharing the final project with the rest of the world.
thank you!
* The LOUIE LOUIE wine cooler bottles offered as special bonuses for donors shall be offered as empty bottles without alcohol. Full bottles of wine cooler cannot be legally offered to pledge donors, based on current California alcohol laws.
That being stated, there are some additional delivery options available for pledge donors that choose the "empty bottle" backer rewards option.
Please contact us directly if you have any questions about this project or the backer rewards.
FAQ
Have a question? If the info above doesn't help, you can ask the project creator directly.
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Funding Unsuccessful
This project reached the deadline without achieving its funding goal on May 3, 2011.
Pledge $25 or more Pledge $25 or more
A big THANK YOU on the LouieLouie.net blog, and a digital download of a rare, unreleased LOUIE recording.
Pledge $50 or more Pledge $50 or more
A big THANK YOU on the LouieLouie.net blog, and a special CD of rare unreleased LOUIE recordings by exceptional musicians you've probably never heard of!
Pledge $100 or more Pledge $100 or more
You get credit in the film as a "Contributor," everything included with the $50 pledge, plus a ultra-rare LOUIE LOUIE wine cooler bottle. (*only empty bottles can be offered via this Kickstarter campaign in accordance with California alcohol laws; other options available via private message)
Pledge $250 or more Pledge $250 or more
You get everything included with the $100 pledge, plus an autographed photo by Jack Ely, original vocalist of the Kingsmen.
Pledge $500 or more Pledge $500 or more
You get credit in the film as "Associate Producer," everything included with the $250 pledge, plus a bound copy of the F.B.I. investigation, autographed by the guy who petitioned for the release of these files.
Pledge $1,000 or more Pledge $1,000 or more
When you pledge over $1,000, Jack Ely - original Kingsmen vocalist will call you (or answering machine) and sing a personalized version of LOUIE LOUIE just for you*. You also get everything included with the $500 pledge. ( * phone calls subject to coordination of you and Jack; contact EP directly with any specific requests)
Pledge $5,000 or more Pledge $5,000 or more
You get credit in the film as "Associate Executive Producer," everything included with the $1000 package plus a special preview DVD of the project, and a LOUIE LOUIE wine cooler bottle* autographed by at least three principal LOUIE subjects. (*bottle shall be emptied unless special arrangements are made in advance)
Pledge $10,000 or more Pledge $10,000 or more
You get credit in the film as "Associate Angel Producer," everything included with the $1,000 package plus an extremely rare LOUIE LOUIE wine cooler bottle* autographed by the late Richard Berry and a PRIVATE SCREENING of the rough cut with the producers within the USA. (*bottle shall be emptied unless special arrangements are made in advance)
Project By
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Eric Predoehl and Jesse Block are the two guys producing / directing this very ambitious music documentary. They've been working together in the field of video production for over 20 years, producing full length programs with Hot Tuna, the Smithereens, Todd Rungren, Haley's original Comets, the Del Rubio Triplets and many other dynamic performers.
Eric Predoehl first became aware of the LOUIE story when he was involved with KFJC Radio, which produced a 63 hour "Maximum LOUIE LOUIE" marathon in 1983. It was at this college radio event where Eric met Richard Berry and Jack Ely, the author and the singer of the song, who had never met prior to this event. As Eric learned more about their histories, he became convinced that such stories were worthy of a full-fledged documentary,which led to a massive research project that transformed him into one of the leading authorities on the song itself.
Jesse Block is one of most experienced directors of music-related video programming in the San Francisco region. Since 2003, he's been the video director of the Monterey Jazz Festival and prior to that, he worked for 10 years as a director for BET Jazz Central, working with such artists as John Lee Hooker, Betty Carter, Wynton Marsalis, Dave Brubeck, Gerry Mulligan and many others. In 2006, his documentary on the Heath Brothers - "Brotherly Jazz" received a lot of critical acclaim with excellent reviews in Downbeat, Jazz TImes, and a lot of international film festivals.
Together, these two gentlemen are the guiding light behind OctaLouie Films.
