Tales From Andy Land!

I am quite sure you are aware of my odd obsession with the song "Louie Louie" by now. If not, let me quickly direct you to a few web links that will suitably explain everything.

My Louie Louie section of andymartello.com
My column for The Cheers (Currently running at Comedyfox.com) , "250 Versions of WHAT?"

Well today I received a most unexpected and most treasured gift from a man I've never met, but have conversed with via e-mail and letters for about 10 years now - Eric Predoehl.

If there is a world's foremost authority on the history of "Louie Louie", if not Rock n' Roll music in general, it would have to be Eric. Eric is a documentary filmmaker and video producer living in California (Check out his production company's website, Octalouie, for more info). For several years now he has been compiling footage and interviews for what will surely become the "March of the Penguins" of Rock n' Roll documentaries, "The Meaning of Louie".

As you can imagine, making any film is an arduous task. Making a documentary, especially one about a simple song with a most complicated and ever-changing history must be extremely difficult. Try to make such a film with nothing more than your own pocketbook and hard work and you could have a lifetime of working and dreaming ahead of you.

Over the years I have faithfully read Eric's, "The Louie Report", both in printed forms and later online. I check in at the Louie Louie newsgroup, started by Eric, and I try to read the relatively new Louie Louie Blog as often as possible. I've traded a few versions of the song with him, though I know I certainly have been more on the receiving end of these trades than the giving end. I try to do what I can to play with the gang and moreover, support the film and hope for its completion one day soon. Sadly, I've never been able to come up with any substantial cash to donate as I'm also a struggling man in the arts (especially these days! ZEESH!).

Today I received a holiday gift that I'll cherish for years to come. Eric sent me a DVD with several rare on long forgotten Louie Louie performances and references from across the television landscape, including a snippet of President Clinton playing the song on his sax. These are of course, all video transfers and not for sale or broadcast anywhere, but fuzzy footage aside, they are true gems to anyone with such a lunatic hobby as ours. In order to not ruffle any copywritten feathers I'll just say that there's a lot of very cool images on this disc.

Even more special is an entire concert, possibly the last live performance from Richard Berry, the man who wrote Rock's most recognized anthem. Richard was a true innovator in music and certainly deserves recognition in the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame (though he'll likely be forgotten forever). You can learn considerable amounts of information about Richard and his legacy of excellent music at all of Eric's websites.

Watching the DVD I started to remember other times I've seen Louie Louie mentioned on TV shows and wish I had them on tape to send to Eric. There was a great spontaneous Louie singing on an old episode of "Match Game" years back. Kevin Arnold's band, The Electric Shoes, took the time to learn only one song on the show, "The Wonder Years" and you can guess what that song was I'm sure. One day, Paul Shaffer's band, dressed as Paul Revere and the Raiders broke into a funk version of the song on NBC. Someday I'll be able to find these gems and return the favor.

Heck, one of these days I'll figure out how to transfer songs from cassette to mp3 and make him a CD of some versions only I have. Someday I'll have enough cash to bankroll the completion of this film of his. Someday I'll figure out what I've done to deserve his kindness. He thanks me in his holiday card for all my help in the Louie Louie project. I assure you, other than telling a few folks about this cool film, I've done nothing more than covet his collection of Louie Louie versions, and chime in with a few tidbits of info when I have them to share. Whatever the reasons, I am grateful for this gift and I am hopeful that my readers and some patrons of the arts will check out his websites and do whatever they can to promote this noble project.