Not to be confused with some mid 80s Brother Louie thing, first came El loco cha cha:

Not difficult to see how Richard Berry (1957) worked that into his own song about a man wanting to return to his Caribbean darling by boat:

Fine little girl she waits for me
Me catch the ship for cross the sea
I sail the ship all alone
I never think me make it home

Three nights and days me sail the sea
Me think of girl constantly
On the ship I dream she there
I smell the rose in her hair

Me see Jamaica moon above
It won’t be long, me see my love
Me take her in my arms and then
I tell her I never leave again

He’s probably drunk, telling the barman, Louie, about his pining for this girl, maybe all Jamaican girls. If just one, this is one very romantic song, and with him being from the Louisiana area, with a doo wop background, I can feel that pining … I did myself, only I went by air.

Poor guy, bad choices, being ripped off, he missed out on $millions$ until long after The Kingsmen … it was finally rectified to a point.

Now The Kingsmen (1963), white boys from Portland, Oregon, and there was quite a story in it even being recorded. They had access to a studio for an hour, there were disputes over who’d sing, who’d drum, strings were pulled above, the drums overwhelmed the vocals, the drummer dropped a stick midway (you can hear the expletive), the singer and band miscued after the instrumental … it was a most amateurish job and yet … and yet … the untrained voice, the time in rock history when The Yardbirds were around, the way white boys were always a chance to go viral … there was every chance this cranked up version with the howled vocals would be a megahit.

And it was. My thoughts are I like all three versions in the post … quite different in many ways, all holding their own to my mind, The Kingsmen version maybe having the edge … it’s now a staple … one reactor to it scrolled down through the bands and singers who have covered it, including marching bands … it’s quite iconic:

Had to smile at this comment:

Certainly doesn’t. It’s real fratboy stuff and the singer, Jack Ely, made a meal out of the slurred verses, which you can read above. Then the FBI hit three houses looking for the obscene lyrics … absolutely fab publicity, the young people loved it all. Radio stations pulled it from airplay … the Streisand effect set in.

Yep, I love the song, especially as it’s about love pined for, nothing untoward unless you want it to be. But the number of reactors on YT who had simply not done their homework was astounding. Plus the blacks in general did not like the calypso rhythm. Interesting.

In 1972, through Toots and the Maytalls, the first really professional reggae version came out and it’s the goods all right. I especially like the underwater bubble guitar ending … this is the most genuine version for that culture to my mind but I still like the other versions too.