Today, April 11, is Richard Berry’s birthday.  And we all know who he is – Chuck Berry’s cousin – for real.  Marvin Berry, though, was not.  If you remember (which I’m sure you do), Marvin Berry was the guy who was playing the high school dance in Back to the Future.  Well, it really wasn’t Marvin Berry, because there really wasn’t a Marvin Berry.  It was actually a guy named Harry Waters, Jr.  But, yeah.  A lot of talent, those Berry boys, whether real or not.

Back to Richard, who was really real.  He’s the guy who wrote the iconic song “Louie Louie” in 1955, which was made famous by The Kingsmen in 1957.  And that makes today International “Louie Louie” Day!  Berry was born in Louisiana in 1935, and made his final curtain call on January 23, 1997.  He was a member of various LA doo-wop bands, and he wrote many a song, but “Louie Louie” is, by far, his most famous.  And there’s no better way to celebrate International “Louie Louie” Day than to sing along.  What makes “Louie Louie” so great is that you don’t have to know the lyrics to sing along.  I’m not certain The Kingsmen knew the lyrics when they recorded it, or anybody else, as far as that goes.  But for those of you wanting to know, here are Richard Berry’s original lyrics:

Louie Louie, me gotta go.
Louie Louie, me gotta go.

Fine little girl, she wait for me.
Me catch the ship across the sea.
I sail the ship all alone.
I never think I’ll make it home.

Louie Louie, I said me gotta go.
Louie Louie, me gotta go.

Three nights and days, me sailed the sea.
Me think of girl constantly.
On the ship, I dream she there.
I smell the rose in her hair.

Louie Louie, me gotta go.
Well, Louie Louie, me gotta go.

Me see Jamaica Moon above.
It won’t be long, me see me love.
Me take her in my arms and then,
I tell her I’ll never leave again.

Louie Louie, me gotta go.
Louie Louie, me gotta go.
I said me gotta go.
I said me gotta go.
Well, me gotta go.

They don’t write ‘em like that anymore, do they?

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