Mitch Ryder headlines Hippiefest at Westbury

After picking the name "Mitch Ryder" from a Manhattan phone book, William Levise Jr. created some of the most cathartic rock hits of the '60s - including "Devil With a Blue Dress On" and "Sock It to Me" - then put out solid records for decades.

From his home in South Lyon, Mich., the chatty Ryder, 65, talks about his voice, his career and being picked for this year's Hippiefest lineup, which hits the NYCB Theater at Westbury tonight.

As a longtime rock and roll screamer, how do you keep your voice healthy?

I haven't kept it healthy. I continue to smoke I've been fortunate enough with God . . . I've actually increased my range. I've gone at least back to where I was when I was a teenager, when I started as a first tenor. For a while, after beating it up and many years of partying and other things that were self-destructive, I found myself with a baritone. Then, I got straight and had a relapse and got straight again. It's better than ever.

You've lamented in interviews that you remain popular in Europe, particularly Germany, but are still an oldies act over here. Why?

I created a fan base that has allowed me to go over every year since 1978 and sometimes twice a year. They don't come to concerts looking for "Devil With a Blue Dress" or "Jenny Take a Ride" or "Sock It to Me." Every once in a while, I might throw one of those in as a surprise, but that's not why they come. They come because . . . if they like an artist, they like his career, they like the whole thing.

Why Hippiefest?

I got picked for it. People don't usually associate my music with hippies, yet I'm on a show this year with Jack Bruce, whom] I shared a stage with - Cream and The Who were under me. At the time, I was in a position to choose the other acts in the shows. It was only a matter of time that they replaced me. I went on Hippiefest because that was the era I was in. As far as the music goes, it's from the same timeline.