Soldier's Last Letter

Vocal & guitar: Zoomer Roberts
rec. 1 May 1982

Listen! 

Someday (You'll Want Me to Want You)

From the album "Roadhouse"
Zoomer Roberts: vocals, keyboard bass
Buddy Winston: guitars

Gene Autry recorded this standard in 1946 -- five years before I was born -- so I can safely say I've heard it all my life. The melody, chord structure and lyric, with its air of resignation that stops short of despair, make it a pleasure to sing. Although I lack Autry's vocal equipment, I decided to have a go at it during the "Roadhouse" sessions. This is the result.

Listen!

When I Grow Too Old To Dream

Zoomer Roberts: vcl & gtr
Recorded 1 May 1982

Listen!

The Lonesome Road

From the album "Roadhouse"
Zoomer Roberts: vocal
Buddy Winston: guitar
Steve Smith: mandolins

I'm A Man of Constant Sorrow

From the album "Roadhouse"
Zoomer Roberts: vocal, keyboard bass
Buddy Winston: guitars
Eric Hutson: drums

Our version of this song predates the one used in the film "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" by several years. Artists whose versions predate ours include the Stanley Brothers, Judy Collins, Bob Dylan and Waylon Jennings.

Listen!

In The Mood

Recorded c. 1980 at the Lariat Lounge
Zoomer Roberts: guitar
Tony Quero: bass
Mark Kays: drums

Hello Mary Lou

Zoomer Roberts: vocal
Buddy Winston & Jack Woodberry: guitars
Doug Neal: bass
Dalton Powell: drums
Recorded 9 October 2011

Twenty Flight Rock

Zoomer Roberts: vocal
Buddy Winston & Jack Woodberry: guitars
Doug Neal: bass
David Rutledge: drums
Recorded 16 October 2010

Blue Monday

Bent Fender & the Moonglows 

Zoomer Roberts: vocal & guitar
Tony Custer: piano
Bill Owen: bass

Recorded 1973

Song of the Bandit

From the album "Roadhouse"
Zoomer Roberts: vocals, bass
Buddy Winston: guitars

This Bob Nolan composition, with its surreal imagery and expertly crafted harmonic structure, has long been one of my favorite Sons of the Pioneers songs. Jerry, Buddy & Zoomer performed it at the Border Folk Festival more than once. Here I overdubbed myself singing all the parts and it sounds more like three Zoomers than the Sons of the Pioneers or JBZ. Whatever the circumstances, I always come back to this one.

If I Had A Hammer

Performed by Jerry, Buddy & Zoomer
Jerry Boyer: lead vocal
Buddy Winston: guitar & tenor vocal
Zoomer Roberts: standup bass & baritone vocal
Recorded c. 1981

The name "Jerry, Buddy & Zoomer" wasn't patterned after "Peter, Paul & Mary." After initially billing ourselves as Jerry Boyer & the Zoom-Bud Band (Zoom-Bud was a take-off on Sho-Bud steel guitars), we decided to just use our names: two 5-letter names with double consonants and ending with the letter "y," followed by a 6-letter name with a double vowel. We could never have invented anything that good!

We worked up three Peter, Paul & Mary songs for a concert at the Chamizal Theatre. At the actual performance -- which was later shown on television -- the bridge on the standup bass I was playing worked loose and collapsed with a loud crash in the middle of "If I Had A Hammer." We continued singing, with me leaning on the bass from which the strings uselessly dangled. Fortunately, we always recorded our rehearsals, whence the version heard here.

I've Just Seen a Face

Matt Murdoch: Guitar & vocal
Tana Ladner: Electric bass & harmony vocal
Zoomer Roberts: Lead guitar
Recorded c. 1984

Here were three past or present members of Applejack rehearsing for a one-off gig: we were to open for Byron Berline & the L.A. Fiddle Band. To that end, we got together one afternoon and worked up some tunes, and I taped the proceedings on my Montgomery Ward boombox. It probably didn't go any farther than this (I'm certain we didn't play the job) but some things happened that day that hadn't happened before and wouldn't happen again. A third of a century after the fact, it's sweet to hear once again the long-ago sounds of those long-ago friends...

Friend of the Devil

Matthew Murdoch: Guitar & vocal
Tana Ladner: Harmony vocal
Zoomer Roberts: Acoustic bass

Don't That Road Look Rough and Rocky

Tana Ladner: Rhythm guitar & vocal
Matt Murdoch: Electric bass & harmony vocal
Zoomer Roberts: Dobro
Recorded c. 1984

(I Have No One to Love Me But) The Sailor on the Deep Blue Sea

Zoomer Roberts: Lead vocal & Dobro
Tana Ladner & Matt Murdoch: rhythm guitar, electric bass, harmony vocal 
Recorded c. 1984

On the Sunny Side of the Street

Zoomer Roberts: vocal & harmonica
Buddy Winston: guitar
Recorded 19 November 2016

The Convict and the Rose

Zoomer Roberts: vocal & harmonicas
Buddy Winston: guitar
Recorded 19 November 2016

Your Sweet and Shining Eyes

Buddy Winston: Lead vocal, rhythm and lead guitars
Zoomer Roberts: Harmony vocal, steel guitar, bass, drum machine

Recorded in the late 1980s for an Applejack album. Exact date[s] unknown.

I Have No One to Love Me (But the Sailor on the Deep Blue Sea)

Zoomer Roberts: vocal & guitar
Recorded 1 May 1982

I learned this song from Hal Smith, who got it from Flatt & Scruggs, who got it from the Carter Family, who got it from -- well, you get the idea.

The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise

The Shade Tree Boys at the Jade Club, 1970

Randy Jones: Lead vocal & mandolin

Henry Beebe: Tenor vocal & banjo

Zoomer Roberts: Baritone vocal & bass

Ted Wasser: Drums

Perry Harrison: Dobro (seen in photo but not present on this recording)

In 1970, Hal Smith took a leave of absence from the Shade Tree Boys. Randy Jones, recently excited about the Dillards' "Wheatstraw Suite" LP, flashed on the idea of hiring a drummer, rehearsing, and becoming a serious acoustic/electric outfit. It was short-lived ~ the band was too stuck in its ways to make such a drastic change ~ but we had some good stuff worked up. My one attempt at recording a gig produced a lot of noise and precious little signal, and I later recorded over it. However, 10 minutes survived at the end of the second side of the tape: the last chorus of "White Lightnin'," which consists almost entirely of Henry making retching noises; me singing "Hey Porter" a quarter-tone flat; and this little gem. I tried to boost the signal and remove the noise, but some print-through can be heard in the quieter passages. Because the bass and drums weren't miked, they are mostly inaudible, except for ~ inexplicably ~ the bass drum. What remains is the pickin', the singin', and my fond memories...

Listen!