Raiders + Kingsmen = ‘Louie Louie’

A little bit of history occurred last weekend at the 9th annual Oregon Music Hall of Fame induction ceremonies – for the first time in decades three former members of Paul Revere & The Raiders performed on the same stage together and joined The Kingsmen for a rendition of one very famous song.

Photo: Trish Margaret

(l-r) former Paul Revere & The Raiders members Jim Valley, Keith Allison and Phil Volk, Aladdin Theater in Portland, Ore.

The reunion took place near the end of The Kingsmen’s set at the Aladdin Theater in Portland, Ore. The band had just paid tribute to Jack Ely, who had sang the band’s hit version of “Louie Louie,” and had passed away earlier in the year.

Then The Kingsmen invited Phil “Fang” Volk, Jim “Harpo” Valley and Keith Allison along with longtime Raiders manager Roger Hart to join them on stage. Word is that former Raiders frontman Mark Lindsay had a prior engagement and could not attend.

Time was spent remembering the late, great Paul Revere who died in 2014. The surviving Raiders played their hits “Just Like Me” and “Kicks.”

But the best was yet to come. After The Kingsmen rejoined the former Raiders on stage, both groups launched into “Louie Louie.” While each band recorded the track in Portland, Ore., in 1963 it was The Kingsmen who snagged the hit while Paul Revere & The Raiders went on to become a Columbia Records recording group.