From the youtube.com web link a bio on Wynonie:

Wynonie Mr. Blues Harris (August 24, 1915-June 14, 1969) was an American blues shouter and rhythm and blues singer.He was born in Omaha, Nebraska. Harris traveled as a singer and dancer with the Lucky Millinder Big Band in his youth. His first big solo hit was in 1944 with his record Who Threw The Whiskey in the Well.

He was a dynamic live performer who brought a lot of attention to the emerging styles of rhythm and blues.Harris made a major contribution to the birth of rock and roll when he covered Good Rocking Tonight, written and originally recorded by Roy Brown. Browns version was a jump blues with a jazz rhythm section. Harris' cover version was much more frantic and played with a much stronger back beat.

In effect, Harris, a black artist, had done what many white artists were to do later. He had turned blues into rock and roll and made one of the first rock and roll records. The song was later covered by Elvis Presley.

Harris recorded for many labels and in 1947, had a hit on Aladdin Records with Wynonies Blues, featuring Illinois Jacquet on tenor sax. His greatest success came at King Records where he was the leading male solo artist. All She Wants to Do is Rock went to Number One on the R&B charts.

Many of his songs were novelty numbers, like (Dont Roll Those) Bloodshot Eyes (at Me), Good Morning, Judge, and I Love my Babys Pudding, and his last hit, Loving Machine.

Harris severe alcoholism resulted in his career going into a tailspin in the mid-1950s. While other blues shouters of his generation such as Big Joe Turner were able to maintain their popularity despite changing styles, and Presleys cover versions brought his songs to a whole new audience, Harris fell into obscurity. He recorded little after 1956 and nothing after 1960.

Harris last public appearance was as a guest performer at a Motortown Revue concert at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, California in 1966, which was universally considered to be a disaster (according to author Nick Tosches article on Harris in Creem magazine, collected in Tosches Unsung Heroes of Rock and Roll).

Harris died of throat cancer on June 14, 1969.

When country singers perform in white face:

Watson was one of the rare R&B guys to make some money combining disco and R&B during the disco days without sacrificing his original sound:

Web link is to the song but the real thriller is the video link below this write up about Berry's finale at the Louie Louie Festival in SF, 1988.  You know every festival needs a New Orleanian to close it out and get the crowd into hyper-fun. 

On May 2, 1988, songwriter Richard Berry participated in a special LOUIE LOUIE Parade in San Francisco, California. While there had been other LOUIE LOUIE parades in America, this was the first one that featured the man who wrote the song.

This event was assembled as a fun(d)raiser for the Leukemia Society of America. Hundreds of people walked the streets of San Francisco, performing LOUIE LOUIE with guitars, trombones, trumpets, tubas, drums, boom boxes, and a whole lot of kazoos.

For the big finale, Richard Berry performed at the Justin Herman Plaza, backed by a local surf band known as the Shockwaves. This is a rather unique rendition of LOUIE LOUIE, as the tempo is very different from the arrangement on the original 1957 recording of Richard Berry & the Pharaohs. It doesn't sound like any other Richard Berry recordings, and it certainly doesn't sound like the version made popular by the Kingsmen in 1963.

Those that know the history of Richard Berry know that he had physical disabilities due to some childhood injuries. He took up music partially because of his disabilities. In this video, you can see him DANCING, and that's a wonderful thing!

The Shockwaves were a popular surf band in the SF Bay Area, led by drummer Jeff "Stretch" Riedle, who was also directly responsible for the legendary KFJC radio "Maximum LOUIE LOUIE" marathon of 1983, which played over 800 unique versions of the song, lasting for 63 hours nonstop.

Exactly why the Guinness World Records organization continues to deny this existence of this historic event is truly a mystery, but perhaps someday this event will be properly acknowledged...

Besides Stretch, other members of the Shockwaves included Randy Hyden on bass, as well as Frank Novicki and Roger Rush on guitars.The master of ceremonies for this particular event was KFOG radio disc jockey M. Dung, who used to have a Sunday night program called the Idiot Show. Mr. Dung retired from the broadcast industry, but he now has a website - http://www.Idiotshow.net where he shares his new podcasts.

This LOUIE LOUIE parade was quite a success, which led to a second one in San Francisco the next year on April Fool's Day. There are still a wide variety of LOUIE LOUIE events that continue to take place, including International LOUIE LOUIE Day, which is celebrated all over the world on April 11.

This video was produced by Eric Predoehl and Jesse Block for the upcoming documentary THE MEANING OF LOUIE, which has an official website at http://www.louielouie.net.If you participated in this or any other LOUIE LOUIE events, please feel free to leave comments! We'd love to hear from you!me gotta go now,E.P.