From Bill Dillof:
Odus Maggard was born January 31, 1915 in Perry County in the hills of east Kentucky. Having taken up both banjo and guitar at the age of six, so they say, Maggard met guitar player Woodrow Roberts while still in his teens. Performing together from the early 1930s as The Southern Melody Boys, Maggard and Roberts, with the occasional fiddler, made appearances on WCPI in Bristol, TN as well as venues throughout Virginia and Kentucky. Recording as a duet (Maggard on banjo; Roberts on guitar) for the Bluebird label on February 17, 1937, The Southern Melody Boys produced a dozen sides:
Down In Baltimore
Dividing Line
Lonesome Scenes Of Winter
Tribulation Days
If You See My Saviour
When the Autumn Leaves Fall
Carry Me Over the Tide
Wind the Little Ball Of Yarn
Lonely and Sad
Sweet Locust Blossoms
I’ll Remember You, Love, In My Prayer
Back In California
A session with Decca on June 9, 1938 produced four more sides under the name Odus & Woodrow:
When the Spring Roses Are Blooming
I Been Here a Long, Long Time
Waiting For the Boatman
I Told the Stars About You
Maggard plays banjo and sings lead on all sides, with Roberts singing harmony on about half. The banjo is played in a clear, plunky thumb-lead “two-finger” pick, against driving guitar bass runs at times reminiscent of Riley Puckett. The Southern Melody Boys’ complete recordings may be downloaded free at http://saggyrecordcabinet.blogspot.com/.
“Tribulation Days,” by the Southern Melody Boys:
Old Time Party 