You might say “Unplugged” is another word for nothing left to lose for Rocky and the Rollers.
Gerry “Rocky” Seader and his band of Rollers have long been known as the oldies band in The Villages. They have played a steady diet of ‘50s and early ‘60s music at the Squares, local venues and around the country.
But these guys are far more than just a bunch of greasers. And they proved it Thursday night at the Savannah Center in a versatile and compelling “Unplugged” performance.
Watch video of their performance here;
These are turbulent times and the group harked back to another troubled era — the late 1960s.
Al Morse paid homage to Marvin Gaye and his song “What’s Going On,” seemed just as relevant today as it was when first written.
Morse sang the lyrics with power and emotion and they hit home like a newspaper headline with such lines as:
“Mother, mother/There’s too many of you crying
/Brother, brother, brother/There’s far too many of you dying/You know we’ve got to find a way/To bring some lovin’ here today….”
Rocky Seader also made some musical social commentary. He stepped out from behind the drums and sat on a small stool at center stage.
The Rock was all business as he sang the Buffalo Springfield classic, “For What It’s Worth.” It included these lyrics: “Paranoia strikes deep/Into your life it will creep/It starts when you’re always afraid/Step out of line, the men come and take you away/We better stop
Hey, what’s that sound?/Everybody look – what’s going down.”
The mood wasn’t all heavy.
Hey, this is Rocky and the Rollers and these guys know how to have fun.
So it was when Rocky hauled out his favorite garbage can and bass man Jimmy Miller rolled his washtub bass contraption on stage.
The duo played a mean-streets, thumping, rockabilly version of Elvis’ “That’s Alright Mama,” that had all the cool cats in the house jumping.
Miller then played some real bass guitar and led a sing-a-long on the Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine.”
Keyboardist Al Layton took a turn on acoustic guitar and offered a rocking take on “Signs,” originally done by the Five Man Electrical Band.
“Al’s still a hippie,” Rocky said after the number.
“I never grew up,” Layton shot back.
This was a free-wheeling, spirited night of music.
“This is a very special night for us,” Rocky said. “We used to do these unplugged shows at the old Church on the Square. We stopped doing for awhile, but we decided to do them again.
“This is the kind of music we love. We turned off our amps and wanted to play acoustic. It’s the kind of music we play when we all get together at each others’ houses.”
Bruce Wallace displayed versatility on guitar. The man is best known for his rock and roll licks, but Wallace showed a soft, almost classical side on the opening number.
At the start, it sounded like Wallace was sampling Simon and Garfunkel’s “El Condor Pasa.” But then, after a long intro, Wallace was joined by the band as they ripped into the Eagles’ classic, “Hotel California.”
Morse followed that with a lively cover of Stephen Stills’ “Love the One Your With.” Morse also brought a shimmering pop sound to “What Kind of Love Is This?”
Even the Rocky and Roller horn section had a chance to showcase talent.
Bruce Nardi, saxophone, Steve Falkner, trumpet and Rick Abbott, trombone, wailed their way through a raucous Herb Alpert medley. It included “Spanish Flea,” “Tijuana Taxi,” “The Lonely Bull,” and Rise.”
Then, to top it off, the guys put down their horns and each took a turn singing Alpert’s vocal hit, “This Guy’s In Love With You.”
It was that kind of night, when every Roller had his chance to shine.
Rocky summed it up this way: “Tonight we were a little different and a little laid back, but this is what we love to do – make music.”
