Louie, Louie Go Home

Written by: Paul Revere, Mark Lindsay
Recorded: May 1964
Producer: Leslie Conn

Released: 5 June 1964

Available on:
Laughing With Liza

Personnel

David Bowie: vocals
George Underwood: guitar, vocals
Roger Bluck: guitar, vocals
Francis Howard: bass guitar
Bob Allen: drums

‘Louie, Louie Go Home’ was the b-side of David Bowie’s first single ‘Liza Jane’, credited to Davie Jones with the King Bees.

Originally titled ‘Louie, Go Home’, the song was written by Paul Revere and Mark Lindsay. They intended it as a sequel of sorts to the 1955 R&B standard ‘Louie Louie’, originally recorded by songwriter Richard Berry and popularised in 1963 by the Kingsmen.

‘Louie, Go Home’ was recorded in 1963 by Paul Revere and the Raiders, and released as a single in March 1964.

Bowie recorded his version in May 1964, during a seven-hour session at Decca Studios in West Hampstead, London, in which ‘Liza Jane’ was also taped. ‘Louie, Louie Go Home’ was for a time to have been the single’s a-side.

The King Bees’ arrangement was far closer to The Who’s 1965 version, retitled ‘Lubie (Come Back Home)’, than the Raiders’ original, raising the possibility that The Who based their version on Bowie’s.

The single was released on 5 June 1964 by Decca Records’ subsidiary label Vocalion Pop, with the catalogue number V.9221. Just 3,500 copies were manufactured, but it was not a commercial success and failed to chart.

Following Bowie’s ascent to global superstardom, the single became highly sought after among record collectors.

When David and I parted company I went off to live and work in Majorca for a few years. One day I was on the phone to my mother and she said, ‘What shall I do with those records I have in the garage?’, which were a few hundred copies of ‘Liza Jane’. So I replied, ‘Throw them out,’ and she did.

The phrase “Just a little bit louder now” reappeared in Bowie’s 2003 song ‘She’ll Drive The Big Car’.

Lyrics

Well I, a-well I left my wife and child (Louie go back home)
Yeah my conscience is about to drive me wild, yeah (Louie go back home)
A little voice inside a-my head goes on and on (Louie go back home)
It says Louie, Louie, Louie, you better come back home

Well I, a-well I thought I’d make it by myself, yeah (Louie go back home)
But my baby, she’s got my heart up upon the shelf (Louie go back home)
A-well I, a-well I can still hear her moan (Louie go back home)
They’re crying Louie, Louie, Louie, you better go back home

You better go back home, yeah
You better go back home, yeah
You better go back home
Whoa, yeah, you better go back home

You better go back a-home, a-home, a-home, a-home, yeah yeah
Home, a-home, a-home, just go back home, home, home
Coming on, yeah, home (home, home, home, home)

Just a little bit louder, now (just a little bit louder)
Just a little bit louder, now (just a little bit louder)
Just a little bit louder, now (just a little bit louder)
Whoa, coming on home (just a little bit louder)
Well I’m coming home, yeah
I’m a-going back, back, back, back, back to my home, yeah
Home, my home sweet home, I’m a-gonna back home

I’m going home, yeah
I’m going home, yeah
I’m going home, yeah…