Joining a list of big names to perform for the President’s Scholarship Performance that includes Curtis Salgado, Lila McCann and Al Stewart, The Kingsmen will play at 7 p.m. on Saturday at the Corbet Theatre, Centralia College.
The Kingsmen were contacted to play for a President’s Scholarship Performance in the past, but scheduling conflicts made it difficult for the band.
“In the past it didn’t work,” said Dick Peterson of The Kingsmen. “This year the dates fell on good dates for us.”
Peterson went on to explain that band members usually vacation in the winter when bookings slow down, and their type of music is better received in the summer.
The Kingsmen were formed in 1959 in Portland, Ore., and first started recording in 1963. “Louie Louie” was their first recording, which was made for $36 at Northwest Records in Portland, Ore. The song soon became a national hit, and was quickly surrounded with controversy over its lyrics.
The band soon found itself with a massive tour schedule, and set 56 consecutive attendance records.
Asked about his favorite song to play in front of a crowd, Peterson answered “Louie Louie” without hesitation.
“Not because it’s so fun to play,” he said, “but it’s interesting watching what people do. People get weird.”
And apparently some people have done really interesting things at their shows.
Dick Peterson recalled a concert The Kingsmen played at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
“You would think that it was straight-laced brainiacs that wouldn’t care less,” he said. “I think they were the first punk rockers. They would lock the gym. They wouldn’t allow any of the staff in. They were having sex in front of the band. They were naked. They were drinking. They were wild beyond all imagination. They dissected all of our amplifiers because they wanted to understand the strange vacuum tubes.”
The rest of the tale, and others, can be found in Peterson’s book “Louie Louie: Me Gotta Go Now,” published in 2005.
In 1965, The Kingsmen appeared in the film “How to Stuff a Wild Bikini” featuring Mickey Rooney, Annette Funicello, and other stars of the day. Peterson described making the film as one of the “most interesting, awesome and crazy” moments with the band. “There were just so many stars on the sound stage. To have those people wondering about us was really weird. ... All these different people were really concerned over what the lyrics to ‘Louie Louie’ were. Plus it was so new for us at the age of 17.”
With the exception of taking breaks during the disco and psychedelic eras of music, The Kingsmen have been performing for about 50 years. There have been several personnel changes over the years, but Mike Mitchell has been in the band since its beginning in 1959 and Dick Peterson since 1963.
Peterson called the group “closer than brothers. You’re not in a band for over 40 years and not have it be fun. It’s really great just to get on stage with these guys. It’s almost like we should have been a comedy routine.”
Although the touring schedule isn’t as rigorous for the group as it was in the ‘60s, members are still keeping busy. Peterson is writing symphonic music and is in the middle of a film project, and Mike Mitchell plays country music and is involved in a few other bands.
Peterson said the group is looking forward to playing in Centralia.
“We are going to have a ball there,” he said. “I don’t think we’ve played anywhere near the corridor in many years.”
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Tara Leonard is The Chronicle’s newsroom assistant. (360) 807-8225
