They Weren’t Aiming for Perfection--or Immortality

When the Kingsmen play the song everybody came to hear them play tonight at the Greek Theatre, try to imagine “Louie Louie’s” archetypal riff drifting from the outdoor theater toward the flats of South-Central L.A., where the young R&B; musician Richard Berry wrote the song in 1956.

In a way, it’s full circle for “Louie Louie,” whose most famous version was recorded in the Pacific Northwest and launched on the charts in New England. The Kingsmen are also marking the 35th anniversary of their epochal hour in a Portland, Ore., studio.

It was in April of 1963 that the high school band taped its attempt at “Louie Louie.” Berry’s tale of a lovesick sailor spilling his heart to a bartender named Louie was a popular item among the bands of the Northwest.

Seattle’s Wailers had a big regional hit with their rocked-up remake of Berry’s calypso-flavored original, and that arrangement was the blueprint for the Kingsmen’s version--a sloppy first take that should have been stopped as soon as singer Jack Ely started that third verse a bar early, or when drummer Lynn Easton misplaced the beat.

“Well, pretty much the whole record is a technical flaw,” concedes the Kingsmen’s guitarist, Mike Mitchell, the only remaining original member. “We’d never been in a studio. . . . We just set up and played. We never considered doing another take. It was just the way that it turned out. Almost all of our records were one take. In fact, we had a producer [whose approach was] if we all ended together, it was a take.”

The fact that the Kingsmen are still playing is just one more facet of the legend and allure of “Louie Louie.” Their single, on the local Jerden label, flopped in its initial, limited release, but instead of fading into oblivion, it became an immortal rock anthem, the song that launched a thousand garage bands, a staple for marching bands at halftime and frat boys at beer busts.

It spurred lawsuits and an FBI investigation. It was recorded by hundreds of artists, from Otis Redding to the Kinks to, of course, John Belushi in “Animal House,” a movie that triggered one of its periodic revivals (several versions have been compiled by Rhino Records on two “The Best of Louie Louie” CDs). The complexities and absurdities of its saga embody the flukishness that makes rock ‘n’ roll what it is.

“It’s the best of songs, it’s the worst of songs, and it’s the best of records, it’s the worst of records,” says critic Dave Marsh, author of the exhaustive 1993 book “Louie Louie.”

“It’s the complete triumph of passion over rationality,” Marsh continues. “If you take that record and subject it to any kind of rational analysis, there is no reason why it’s a great record. But if you leave it to your ears and your feet and your emotions, it’s unquestionably one of the greatest records ever made. And therein lies a mystery and an answer.”

The Kingsmen’s “Louie Louie” found new life several months after its release when Boston deejay Arnie Ginsberg featured the single (licensed to the larger Wand label) on his “worst record of the week” feature. The response was immediate, and the record started tearing up the charts.

Its notoriety moved into a whole new level when word spread that its lyrics--unintelligible in Ely’s slurred vocal--were obscene. The myth took on the stature of an urban legend, and the FBI spent a couple of years trying, unsuccessfully, to get to the bottom of it.

“We were more amused than anything else,” says Mitchell, 54, whose current bandmates include 35-year colleagues Dick Peterson and Barry Curtis (who joined the band after the fateful recording) and newer recruits Todd McPherson and Steve Peterson. “The kids were having a great time with it. It was just a part of the band . . . it was a lot of fun, it still is.”

Well, not all fun. Singer Ely, who left before the record’s success, tangled with his former band over the use of its name. And the issues of rights to the song ran up a lot of legal bills. Berry, who died last year, regained his publishing in 1986, and the original Kingsmen were granted rights to their original masters earlier this year after a seven-year litigation.

But when the duh-duh-duh-duh-duh hits the fan at the Greek, there will be no order in the court.

“To me, it’s like people who love ‘Louie Louie’ understand what rock ‘n’ roll is,” says author Marsh, “and if they don’t, they don’t, no matter what else they like.”

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“Legends of Rock ‘n’ Roll” with the Kingsmen, Gary U.S. Bonds, the Tokens, Eddie Floyd, the Champs, the Capris, Dell-Vikings, Frankie Ford, Barbara Lewis, the Cadets, tonight at the Greek Theatre, 2700 Vermont Canyon Road, 7:30 p.m. $18-$50. (323) 480-3232.