Jack Ely

Ely died at his Oregon residence on April 28, 2015 at the age of 71, having long suffered from an unknown illness. Ely was a Christian Scientist, and "because of his religious beliefs we're not even sure what it [the illness] was," his son Sean Ely said. The younger Ely believed his father suffered from skin cancer.

In 2012, Ely released a Christian rock album, Love Is All Around You Now.

In a 1998 interview Ely said, "My life stopped at that moment. It was my voice. I was the one who found the song. I was the one that arranged it. It was my band. And look what happened." Seeking "redemption and retribution", he formed his own "Kingsmen" group, touring as "The Original Singer of Louie Louie", and also recorded "Love That Louie" in 1964 for RCA Records as Jack E. Lee and the Squires.

He re-recorded "Louie Louie" with studio musicians in 1976 (released on 60's Dance Party, 1982, and other compilations) and again in 1980 (released on 10 Big Hits of the Rock 'n' Roll Era, 1980, and other compilations).

A legal battle ensued and a 1966 settlement resulted in Ely ceasing to call his group the Kingsmen and Wand Records being required to credit Ely as lead vocalist on all future "Louie Louie" pressings. Ely received $6000 in royalties, and Easton had to stop lip-synching the song in live performances. Ely also received royalties going forward for "Louie Louie" and "Haunted Castle", plus a gold record for "Louie Louie".

After a brief stint with Don and the Goodtimes, Ely began touring with his renamed group, the Courtmen. In 1966, they released "Louie Louie '66" and "Ride Ride Baby" with Bert Berns at Bang Records, but neither charted. With the Vietnam War on the horizon, Ely was conscripted into the army, and found his career had waned upon his return to the United States in 1968. Ely spiraled down into drug and alcohol addiction, but then spoke out against it with the Rockers Against Drugs.

In 1962, while playing a gig at the Pypo Club in Seaside, Oregon, the band noticed Rockin' Robin Roberts's version of "Louie Louie" being played on the jukebox for hours on end. The entire club would get up and dance. Ely convinced the Kingsmen to learn the song, which they played at dances to a great crowd response. He unintentionally changed the beat of the entire song, basing it on Roberts's intro only. Ken Chase, host of radio station KISN, formed his own club dubbed "The Chase" to capitalize on these dance crazes. The Kingsmen became the club's house band and Ken Chase became the band's manager. Ely was begging Chase to let the band record their own version of "Louie Louie", and on April 5, 1963, Chase booked the band an hour-long session at the local Northwestern Inc. studio for the following day. The band had just played a 90-minute "Louie Louie" marathon.

Ely was enrolled at Washington High School in Portland, Oregon. He did not play in the school band, but had a passion for singing. In 1959, Lynn Easton's mother invited him to play at a Portland hotel gig, with Ely singing and playing guitar with the backup band and Easton on the drum kit. The two teenagers had grown up together, as their parents were close friends. Easton and Ely performed at yacht club parties, and soon added Mike Mitchell on guitar and Bob Nordby on bass to round out a band. They called themselves the Kingsmen, taking the name from a recently disbanded group. The Kingsmen began their collective career playing at fashion shows, Red Cross events, and supermarket promotions, generally avoiding rock songs on their setlist. Ely played with the Kingsmen as he attended Portland State University.

On January 28, 1956, Ely watched Elvis Presley on television for the first time, and he decided that he wanted to play guitar. At his first guitar lesson, he was required to play "Mary Had a Little Lamb", an experience that Ely found so demeaning that he quit after that lesson and began picking out his favorite guitar riffs by ear. Ely played guitar and sang for the Young Oregonians, a travelling vaudeville show for entertainers under the age of 18. "We didn't get paid in money, we got paid in experience," Ely recalled.

Jack Brown Ely (September 11, 1943 – April 28, 2015) was an American guitarist and singer, best known for singing the Kingsmen's version of "Louie Louie". Classically trained in piano, he began playing guitar after seeing Elvis Presley on television. In 1959, he co-founded the Kingsmen and with them recorded "Louie Louie" in 1963; Ely's famously incoherent vocals were partly the result of his braces and the rudimentary recording method. Before the record became a hit Ely was forced out of the group and began playing with his new band, the Courtmen. Ely died in Terrebonne, Oregon, on April 28, 2015 at age 71.

Jack Ely was born on September 11, 1943, in Portland, Oregon. Both of his parents were music majors at the University of Oregon, and his father, Ken Ely, was a singer. His father died when he was four years old and his mother subsequently remarried.