 Despite the band 's annoyance at having so little time to prepare , the Kingsmen walked into the recording studio on April 6 at 10 : 00 am . 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 . " It was more yelling than singing , " Ely said , " ' cause I was trying to be heard over all the instruments . " In addition , he was wearing braces at the time of the performance , further compounding his infamously slurred words . 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 . In what was thought to be a warm @-@ up , the song was recorded in its first and only take . The Kingsmen were not proud of the version , but their manager liked the rawness of their cover . The B @-@ side was " Haunted Castle " , composed by Ely and Don Gallucci , the new keyboardist . However , credit was given to Lynn Easton on both the Jerden and Wand labels . The entire session cost $ 50 , and the band split the difference . 
