Mike Mitchell, a founding member of the influential 1960s rock band Kingsmen, and guitarist of his single “Louie Louie,” has died. The band’s drummer, Dick Peterson, confirmed the news Rolling rock, claiming that Mitchell died on Friday (April 16), his 77th birthday. No cause of death was revealed, but Peterson explained RS that Mitchell “died peacefully.”
The Kingsmen began in Portland, Oregon, in 1959. In 1960, Mitchell and bassist Bob Nordby joined then-drummer Lynn Easton and vocalist Jack Ely (who died in 2015). In 1963, the group recorded their famous version of Richard Berry’s 1957 song “Louie Louie”. The song rose to the Billboard singles chart, spending six non-consecutive weeks at number two on the Hot 100.
Kingsmen’s version of “Louie Louie” advocated garage rock styles gaining strength at the time; it was much more distorted and emaciated than Berry’s melodic original. Mitchell’s iconic guitar solo and Ely’s inarticulate singing intrigued listeners, and even the FBI, which launched a famous investigation to determine whether or not Ely’s lyrics were full of obscenities. Eventually, they decided the song was “unintelligible at any speed.” The controversy didn’t hurt, Ely said once Rolling rock that sales of the single increased when, in 1964, it was banned in the state of Indiana.
Although Ely and Nordby left the group in 1963, Mitchell was the last founding member to remain with the Kingsmen. He played guitar with a rotating lineup for 62 years, cutting six albums between 1963 and 1966 and playing countless live concerts. In addition to “Louie Louie,” Mitchell played Kingsmen recordings of “Money (That’s What I Want),” “Little Latin Lupe Lu,” and more.
In his statement to Rolling Stone, Dick Peterson said he was “deeply saddened” by Mike’s death, adding, “He was the kindest and most generous man on the planet.”