Obray,

I'm very glad to hear from you. Your dad was a friend of mine in Portland, Oregon, and Portland. Maine, not to mention Madison County NC back in 1958-1963. He taught me a lot of things, got me started on the banjo and on freight trains, and was always good to me.   I learned "Simple Boy" from him, along with many other songs I still sing.   There's a song of his to which I still remember the chorus but not the verses.

"Roaming is a fever
That settles in the blood.
It makes a sailor heartsick;
It makes a father old.

Yes roaming is a fever
That settles in the blood,
And once you leave your home behind
You've lost a home for good."

So far I've not found anyone else in the world who knows it, but I'm still trying.

Yeah, Bonnie, it's the same Mel Lyman. But I didn't know him then.