“Brother Louie” is today’s classic song of the day. It’s about a white dude who falls in love with a Black woman and the problems that ensue. It’s right there in the lyrics:
She was black as the night
Louie was whiter than white
Danger, danger when you taste brown sugar
Louie fell in love overnight
There he stood in the night
Knowing what’s wrong from what’s right
He took her home to meet his mama and papa
Man, they had a terrible fight
“Brother Louie” was written by Errol Brown and Tony Wilson of the British soul band, Hot Chocolate. Those of us here in the U.S. know the group for their hits “Emma,” “You Sexy Thing,” and “Every 1’s a Winner.” The group had other songs that were hits in the UK and elsewhere, including the very first version of “Brother Louie.” Hot Chocolate’s version of the song was released in UK in 1973 and went to #7 on the UK charts.
Hot Chocolate’s single wasn’t released in the U.S. Instead, the American group Stories released their similar-sounding (but without the spoken-word bits) cover of the song in June of 1973. The Stories version of “Brother Louie” went all the way to #1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Top 100. That’s the version most of us, at least those of us here in the States, remember.
Which of the two versions do you remember best?
