[3] Ely began playing piano while still a young child, and was performing recitals all over the Portland area before his seventh birthday.

The teacher would show Ely a section of a classical composition, and the boy would have to make up 15 similar pieces.

[2] On January 28, 1956, Ely watched Elvis Presley on television for the first time, and he decided that he wanted to play guitar.

[5] Ely played guitar and sang for the Young Oregonians, a travelling vaudeville show for entertainers under the age of 18.

[3] Easton and Ely performed at yacht club parties, and soon added Mike Mitchell on guitar and Bob Nordby on bass to round out a band.

[7] The Kingsmen began their collective career playing at fashion shows, Red Cross events, and supermarket promotions, generally avoiding rock songs on their setlist.

[10] Ely convinced the Kingsmen to learn the song, which they played at dances to a great crowd response.

In order to sound like a live performance, the group's equipment was arranged such that Ely was forced to lean back and sing into a boom microphone suspended high above the floor.

[16] Ely sang the beginning of the third verse a few bars too early, but realized his mistake and waited for the rest of the band to catch up.

On August 16 during a band practice, Easton staged a "hostile takeover",[21] telling Ely that he wanted to abandon the drums and become the frontman and singer.

With the Vietnam War on the horizon, Ely was conscripted into the army, and found his career had waned upon his return to the United States in 1968.

There are a lot of one-hit wonders out there just like me who deserve compensation when their recorded performances are played and stations get ad revenue from it.

[35] Ely died at his Oregon residence on April 28, 2015, at the age of 71, having long suffered from an unknown illness.

[38][39] At the time of his death he was survived by his wife of 16 years, Wendy Maxson Ely, three children, Sean, Sierra and Rob, and two daughters by marriage, Crystal and Sheri.