04.04.13
The Outlaw
As mentioned Monday, Doug Roth — longtime mainstay of the Lehigh Valley blue collar rock n roll music scene and extraordinary guitarist — passed away recently at 50.
The above is a very nice fan tribute to Roth and his band, the Blissters, with a rare demo recording of “The Outlaw,” an original the band performed at every show.
The Blissters did not write much original material. However, this song — which was great — always deserved a wider audience that being on a record might have given it. It was Roth’s first-hand account of an arrest, one which put him out of circulation for a brief period.
A live performance of the song in Allentown from 2009 is here.
Nightclubbing was a weekend page instigated by me at the Morning Call newspaper in the early Nineties. It humorously covered live performances around the area in reviews not always entirely agreeable to the reviewed.
Here is another review of a Blissters show in Bethlehem…
Rock ‘N’ Roll Rules Rule At Blissters’ Reunion Gig
There are three things you have to always remember in a successful rock ‘n’ roll band:
1) Lose sight, lose the fight. Yup, don’t lose sight of your fans. The Blissters, as a band, always realized this and kept it in mind at a Four G’s reunion gig last weekend. They never lost sight of the fact that their supporters are essentially uncultured cabbages overly fond of repetition and group participation — the kind of people who routinely flip lit cigarette butts onto wooden floors, write in library books, wear baseball caps indoors, etc. So The Blissters performed their faves: ZZ Top’s “Waitin’ For the Bus” and “Jesus Just Left Chicago.” And they did ’em mighty fine, too, occasionally letting some sodden riffraff onstage to yell into the microphone. The Blissters were well-rehearsed for this show and they did not screw up.
2) Speed is life. Never play rock ‘n’ roll slow. The Blissters were fast and they were scientific about it — breaking Lou Reed’s “Walk On The Wild Side” into a languid part, y’know where the colored girls sing “doot-do-doot-do-doot,” and a real quick finish.
3) Always look good. Take, for instance, Blissters drummer Gary Pavlik, who always wears a nice pair of shoes and pants along with snazzy mirror shades. Pavlik twirls his sticks and looks like someone who should be playing heavy music, an important point. Guitarist Doug “Smash” Roth, however, is much too attached to baseball caps. Baseball caps are out unless you’re a big fan of Jerry Lewis back when he was pals with Dean Martin.