I BELIEVE THAT...Dickie Peterson (No relation to The Late Dickie Peterson of Blue Cheer.)Is'nt , or was'nt a bad singer....I have that weird "Bo Diddley Bach " 45 , which must have been one of their last... When the reformed Kingsmen did that "Louie Louie" video for MTV , don't take my word for it , but , I could swear Lynn Easton was singing , and Don Galucci playing keyboards...It was a one - off thing , but , since The Kingsmen were still active , I assumed Lynn was back with the band....While it's true , Jack Ely was the original singer, I think of Easton as their frontman....He obtained the rights to the name by being the only member , of age, to sign the necessary papers. That's a very , very old and cheap trick.
I saw the band on an Oldies special. I think it was just Dickie and Mike Mitchell , original Guitarist. I would'nt care , if they got the sound and songs right !
Rockin Rod Strychnine said:
I saw them play in 1989 which was my first time. I remember they did "Gloria" and they were proud to announce that they did "Twist and Shout" before the Beatles (which technically isn't true but they didn't know that;as far as they knew, Beatles' came out in '65) but then proceeded to play it like the Beatles version instead of the caveman style they did on their album. Lynn Easton quit in early '67 and has never rejoined them. Dick Peterson actually sang their last two or three singles.
John Battles said:Oh , man. They did "Love Me Two Times" when I saw them , and that was '86 or '87. They DID have a keyboard , which IS part of their sound , but , no Lynn Easton, also a part of their sound. It was mainly "Big Chill" Oldies covers. Virtually no Frat Rock covers OR originals (Or just songs associated with them.). They knew what side their bread was buttered on - People who , unlike us , bought all their Wand LPs for two bits a throw. Or ,bought "Louie , Louie" to get "Haunted Castle". To their credit , they opened with "Lotta Lovin'" (Gene Vincent) , but it kinda went downhill from there....as you say , clean and soulless.
Rockin Rod Strychnine said:I don't even think they have a keyboard player anymore which was a part of their sound. The one time I did like them had a bit of slop and they threw in Jolly Green Giant but that's the one time I ever heard it live. They also did Dirty Robber by the Wailers and Justine even though it was Righteous Brothers style and did dn't have that twangy thing that The Mummies learned from more obscure versions of the song. That was like 1996, I believe. Since then it's gotten worse. Clean and souless and a lot of covers that when they were originals, the Kingsmen were no longer a band (stuff like the Doors).
John Battles said:When I saw The Kingsmen , their playing was SO good , that was part of the problem. No raunch , no slop. NOTHING FROM THEIR OWN BACK CATALOGUE , Barring "Money" and , of course , "Louie Louie". My friends and I almost did'nt stay to hear it.