Jim Roottree Interview

A review and interview from 1979, titled "A Reluctant Hitmaker" Jim goes into his first band: Until a few years ago, Diamond and I were in "C&J+J&D" with my cousin and his ex. Clark never knew his father so our Grandpop insisted he spend time with my dad and me. As a result, Clark and I grew up like brothers. Diamond and Jane, on the other hand, are actually sisters. So the four of us had sort of a cutesy family band thing going on. Not our finest hour. Regardless, when Diamond walked in on Clark in bed with her youngest sister, everything exploded. No more family band. The only thing Clark and I had in common was music. But even then we never agreed on what it should be. He was always more interested in "catchy tunes." Something you hum a week later. I've been told "Rollin'" is like that, but that wasn't my goal. When he called me up and said he liked it, I took it as a sign I was going in the wrong direction musically. That made him laugh. But I'm trying to make art! I don't mind saying any of this because he'd agree. For most of the decade he was a mess. But he's a lot happier now. He started Raffertunes, and he's a much better jingle writer than songwriter. One of the benefits of our famous family is a massive company willing to be a client. That's also how my father was connected to Roottree. All of his old ad campaigns were hung on the walls over the record player, but I was never interested. I just went straight for the music. I guess Clark was paying more attention.