Mark Opsasnick’s incredibly researched book, Rock the Potomac, is chock-full of stories and biographies of the people and groups who were part of the history of rock ‘n roll and country music in the DMV. “Rock the Patuxent” provides excerpts from the book that highlight the greater Laurel area.
Charlie Daniels
Charlie Daniels was born in 1936 in Wilmington, North Carolina, and arrived in North Beach, Maryland on the Chesapeake Bay with his rock and roll band, then-called Charlie Daniels and the Rockets, in the summer of 1958. They spent the remainder of the year working there as the house band at a night club called Rose’s Musical Bar.
Daniels moved his band to Washington, D.C. in December 1958 where they spent the month playing the Famous Restaurant. In April 1959, the group began a lengthy engagement at the Dixie Pig in Cottage City, Maryland where they assumed the name Charlie Daniels and the Jaguars. A record deal with Epic Records was completed in 1959 and the group recorded and released two singles: “Jaguar” backed with “Roundabout” and “Drive-In” backed with “Exit 6.”
From 1959 to 1961, Charlie Daniels and the Jaguars played in Washington, D.C. night clubs such as Benny’s Rebel Room, the Alpine Room, Guy’s Place and the Rocket Room; and in Maryland at the Dixie Pig (Cottage City), Strick’s Restaurant (Silver Hill) and the Turf Club (Laurel). Daniels remained a constant presence on the Washington, D.C. area music scene throughout the 1960s and was a frequent visitor to the night clubs along the Bladensburg Road Strip, with the Dixie Pig, the Surf Club and the Cross Roads rating among his favorite hangouts. His band released one more single in 1966, “The Middle of a Heartache” backed with “Skip It.”
A hero of the south, this singer-guitarist-fiddler later went on to fame and fortune with his unique brand of Southern rock. During his career Daniels has released more than 30 albums, the first of which was Charlie Daniels in 1971. He has also released more than two dozen compilation and live albums on more than a dozen different record labels including Kama Sutra, Epic, Liberty, Sparrow, Blue Hat, Sony Music, Audium, Koch and Mega Force.
Daniels has released singles that have cracked the Top 40 six times from 1973 to 1982. His biggest hit to date is the single “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” in 1979, which reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart.
Deuce
A heavy metal rock and roll band that formed in the latter-half of the 1970s in Laurel, Deuce was one of the relatively few area groups that left the nation’s capital to invade the Los Angeles, California rock and roll scene and pursue the dream of musical stardom. The original lineup for Deuce consisted of singer-rhythm guitarist Tom Gattis, guitarist (and Laurel High School graduate) Marty Friedman, bassist Steve Leter, and drummer Chris Tinto.
Deuce initially set up shop in a barn on the Gattis family property on Supplee Lane in Laurel and began playing local parties and night club gigs, but experienced regular changes in personnel. When guitarist Marty Friedman left the band in 1980, he was replaced by Timmy Meadows (Friedman went on to play in the bands Vixen, Hawaii, and Megadeth before pursuing a solo career). Deuce usually consisted of four or five members and among the musicians that passed through in the late 1970s and early 1980s were lead singer Eddie Day, drummer Billy Giddings, and a number of bassists including Mike Davis, Chris Hall, Mike Francis, and Tim O’Connor.
In terms of night club work, Deuce performed in Maryland at the Big Dipper (Beltsville), the Riverside Inn (Riverdale), the Psyche Delly (Bethesda) and the Seagull Inn (Essex); and in Virginia at Louie’s Rock City (Bailey’s Crossroads).
In the middle 1980s, Deuce relocated to Los Angles with a lineup of Gattis, Meadows, O’Connor, and Giddings, and, at the insistence of its managers, changed its name to Tension. Under that moniker they recorded one album, Breaking Point, in 1987. Shortly thereafter, Tension disbanded. Guitarist Tom Gattis later played with the bands War Dog and Ballistic. The band’s story has been commemorated in the feature-length DVD, Tension—25 Years Underground: A Documentary by Rudy Childs (2012).
Vince Vigliotti
Singer-guitarist Vince Vigliotti was born in Fort Meade and mainly raised in Laurel. He taught himself guitar as a teen and listened to such artists as Rory Gallagher, Johnny Winter, Wishbone Ash, and Thin Lizzy. During his years at Laurel High School in the middle 1970s he played in a rock and roll band called Nimbus.
Through the years Vigliotti has played guitar in a number of top local rock and roll bands. In the 1970s he was in the band Shotel; in the 1980s he played in a band called Rave; and in the late 1980s and early 1990s he worked in a multi-styled wedding band called Nightwatch. He went on to work with such acts as the punk rock band Date Bait and an R&B group called the Daryl Davis Band.
In 2007 Vigliotti formed a classic R&B-rock band called the 8 Balls. The group’s original lineup consisted of lead singer Kathy Marr, singer-guitarist Vince Vigliotti, bassist Rick Norris, singer-keyboardist Mark Weaver, and drummer Douglas Workman. The band is still together today with a lineup of Vigliotti, Weaver, Workman, bassist Erik Marks, and singer Elle Christine Rubidoux. They currently perform at such establishments as the New Deal Café (Greenbelt), Sullivan’s Steak and Beverage Company (Laurel), and the American Legion Laurel Post 60 (Laurel).
Paul Jones
Paul Jones was raised in Suitland and as a youth learned to play the drums, piano, and acoustic guitar, ultimately switching to bass guitar at age 10.
During his years at Suitland High School in the middle and late 1970s, Jones played in the band High Voltage, a high-powered rock and roll quartet rounded out by lead singer Bobby Williams, guitarist David Brown, keyboardist Michael Salas, and drummer Robert Dove. The band played in Prince George’s County at private parties and competed in talent shows at venues like the John Eager Howard Community Center in Coral Hills and VFW Scott-Johnson-Pollins Post 9619 in Morningside.
From 1978 to 1979 Jones played bass in a short-lived rock and roll band out of Wheaton called Dark Night. He then spent the early 1980s in a heavy rock and roll trio called Structure with singer-guitarist Steve Long and former High Voltage drummer Robert Dove. Structure covered bands such as Iron Maiden, Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush, Judas Priest, and Rush, and played parties in Suitland and Temple Hills. He later took time off from the local music scene and concentrated on playing bass in the congregational band at Countryside Fellowship Church in Savage.
In 1995 Jones joined Random Access, a Bowie-based rock and roll band that also included lead singer Irvin Utz, lead guitarist Mike Dunn, rhythm guitarist John Haughey, and drummer Freddie Ray. Covering groups like the Doobie Brothers, the Who, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Wilson Pickett, and the Temptations, the group became a featured attraction at such Maryland establishments as Lasick’s College Inn (College Park), the Riverdale Pizza Pub (Riverdale), Delaney’s Irish Pizza Pub (Laurel), and Michael’s Café (Columbia).
In 1997 Random Access disbanded and Utz and Jones put together a rock and roll band called the Bad Weather Boyz with guitarist Robert Fiester and drummer Conte Bellucci. The group quickly became one of the top nightclub attractions in the D.C. area, a status they maintained for years. Jones remained their bass player until 2001.
In recent years Jones has remained musically active in the region. He was part of an acoustic duo with singer-guitarist Steve Long called Two of a Kind, and played bass in the rock and roll bands Mirror Mirror and Group Therapy. In 2013 he was called back into the Bad Weather Boyz for a year’s worth of gigs. That year he also filled in on bass at a concert performed by the legendary doo-wop band known as the Memories in Haymarket, Virginia. In 2015 Jones was playing in a Westminster-based heavy metal band called Crash Course.
Rock the Potomac is available at booklocker.com/books/10190.html.
Mark Opsasnick was born in Washington, D.C. and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Maryland. To date he has authored nine books and innumerable articles on popular culture, rock and roll music, and unexplained phenomena. He resides in Prince George’s County and gives talks and presentations on local music history, in addition to emceeing and hosting live music shows throughout the Delmarva region.
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