Thursday 15 August 2019

Rose Maddox born 15 August 1925


Roselea Arbana "Rose" Maddox (August 15, 1925 – April 15, 1998) was an American country singer-songwriter and fiddle player, who was the lead singer with the Maddox Brothers and Rose before a successful solo career.
Her musical styles straddled hillbilly music, rockabilly and gospel. She was noted for her "reputation as a lusty firebrand", and her "colourful Western costumes"; she was one of the earliest clients of Hollywood tailor Nathan Turk.

She was born in Boaz, Alabama, and travelled west at the age of seven with her family, who had been sharecroppers. After her father eventually found work, the family ended up in Modesto, California. Rose first performed with her brothers in amateur shows at the age of 11, and while in her teens began performing with them on local radio station KTRB. 
The station offered her brothers a regular slot on condition that Rose sing with them, despite the opposition of their mother, who managed the group. After the brothers had served in World War II, Rose first recorded with them, for Four Star Records, in 1947.

The band electrified their instruments as well as their wardrobe, hiring the Hollywood tailor Nathan Turk to dress them in an outrageous version of the singing-cowboy style: spangles, embroidered satin shirts, bell-bottom pants, short Eisenhower jackets and personalized cowboy boots. They were billed as ''The Most Colourful Hillbilly Band in America.'' ''Their costumes,'' said Tennessee Ernie Ford, ''made Liberace look like a plucked chicken.''

The group began to be successful in the late 1940s, and she and her brothers moved to live in Hollywood. They toured widely, and appeared regularly on the Louisiana Hayride radio show. Rose became noted for her colourful performances, once shocking a Grand Ole Opry audience by appearing with a bare midriff. She also recorded as a duo, Rosie and Rita, with her sister-in-law. Her first marriage was to E.B. Hale during the Second World War, when she was 16. She married club owner Jim Brogdon in the late 1950s; they separated after six years.


                               

After the Maddox Brothers group broke up in 1957, Rose initially performed with her brother Cal and then started a solo career. She had 14 hits on the Billboard country singles chart between 1959 and 1964, including several duets with Buck Owens, and also
recorded with Bill Monroe. Her biggest hit, "Sing a Little Song of Heartache," reached no.3 on the country chart at the end of 1962. She then began to specialize in bluegrass recordings, recording the commercially successful and influential album Rose Maddox Sings Bluegrass for Capitol Records. After her contract with the company ended in 1965, she began to concentrate on tours, performing with her brothers Cal and Henry and son Donnie - who died in 1982 - in the UK, Europe and elsewhere. She also performed regularly with bluegrass musician Vern Williams.

She suffered stomach ulcers, several heart attacks and kidney trouble from the late 1960s onwards, but continued to perform and record, for several labels. In 1996, she was nominated for a Grammy award for her Arhoolie bluegrass album, $35 and a Dream.

In later years she lived in Ashland, Oregon, near where her brother Don Maddox had bought a ranch in 1958. Maddox spent most of the '90s relatively quietly, performing at a few festivals and recording an occasional album, including The Moon Is Rising in 1996. She performed up until the summer of 1997 and  died in Ashland of kidney failure in 1998, at the age of 72.

Maddox also acted in movies including The Hi-Lo Country (1998), and the documentaries The Women of Country (1993) and Woody Guthrie: Hard Travelin' (1984).

Emmylou Harris believes Maddox has never received the recognition she deserves, in part because of what Harris calls reluctance in American society to celebrate the value of white country and roots music. Dolly Parton also credits Maddox as an early influence. Laura Cantrell's song "California Rose" was written in memory of Maddox.


Her life story and that of the band were told in the biography, Ramblin' Rose: The Life and Career of Rose Maddox by Jonny Whiteside. The book won an award for excellence in 1998 from the Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC).

(Edited from Wikipedia & NY Times)

6 comments:

boppinbob said...

For”Rose Maddox - Little Songs of Heartache
- Singles As & Bs, 1959-1962” go here:

https://www.mediafire.com/file/ksrp2st8m7rtm01/RoseMaddox_-_LSoH.rar/file

1 GAMBLERS LOVE
2 WHAT MAKES ME HANG AROUND
3 CUSTER'S LAST STAND
4 MY LITTLE BABY
5 I'M HAPPY EVERY DAY I LIVE
6 I LOST TODAY
7 PLEASE HELP ME I'M FALLING
8 DOWN, DOWN, DOWN
9 BILLY CLINE
10 SHINING SILVER, GLEAMING GOLD
11 KISSING MY PILLOW
12 I WANT TO LIVE AGAIN
13 LOOSE TALK - BUCK OWENS AND ROSE MADDOX
14 MENTAL CRUELTY - BUCK OWENS AND ROSE MADDOX
15 CONSCIENCE I'M GUILTY
16 LONELY STREET
17 THERE AIN'T NO LOVE
18 YOUR KIND OF LOVIN' WON'T DO
19 HERE WE GO AGAIN
20 FOOL ME AGAIN
21 LET'S PRETEND WE'RE STRANGERS
22 TAKE ME BACK AGAIN
23 SING A LITTLE SONG OF HEARTACHE
24 RIBBON IN THE APPLE TREE
25 LONELY TEARDROPS
26 GEORGE CARTER


As Lefty Frizzell is deemed to be to be the father of modern country singing, the same thing can be said about Rose Maddox's abiding influence on women in country. From the age of 12, Rose and her brothers Cal, Fred and Henry were 'America's Most Colourful Hillbilly Band', with sister Rose's sometimes plaintive, sometimes sassy voice establishing a template that would be followed by many of the biggest female stars of the 1950s and beyond - among them Wanda Jackson, Skeeter Davis and Jean Shepard.

When the family act disbanded in 1957 Rose carried on as a solo in much the same vein, and exuded much the same influence over a next generation of country women. Her solo 45s also helped to usher in a new era of the Bakersfield Sound as exemplified by the records of Buck Owens (with who Rose performs in this collection) Wynn Stewart and, slightly later on, Merle Haggard.

Rose had been performing for almost a quarter of a century when she made these recordings but they were her first hits and they conclusively helped to usher in a new era for female country recordings.

This Jasmine collection features many of the most popular numbers that Rose recorded in the first three years of her solo career, including the majority of her chart hits from 1959's 'Gambler's Love' onwards. Presented in the best possible sound, and from the best possible sources, it is a collection that no fan of late 50s/early 60s female country can afford to do without. (Jasmine notes)

Crab Devil said...

Thank you! I'm a big fan of the Maddoxes and was fortunate enough to see one of Rose's performances (sometime in the 1980s).

Mickey Bitsko said...

Many thanks!

Christiane said...

Thank you

boppinbob said...

Don Dan has left a new comment on the post 'Rose Maddox born 15 August 1925':

Hello Bob, I was checking something about Rose Maddox and saw your post.
I don’t know if it is a good idea but I could post some more music on those old posts (female vocalists only). We’ll see if your viewers are interested counting the downloads…
Anyway, I try with the good old Rosie. It’s free !!!

Rose and her brother Fred talking about their music. An Arhoolie K7. Very interesting.

Maddox Rose (1925-1998) & Fred 1987 Talk About 50 Years In Country Music.zip
https://krakenfiles.com/view/zSWKtnNFId/file.html

Maddox Rose (1925-1998) 1959-62 Little Songs of Heartache Singles As & Bs.zip
https://krakenfiles.com/view/5souhwWGHM/file.html

Maddox Rose (1925-1998) 1959-64 The One Rose CD1 59-60.zip
https://krakenfiles.com/view/L9vyFrvncK/file.html

Maddox Rose (1925-1998) 1959-64 The One Rose CD2 60-61.zip
https://krakenfiles.com/view/OxQgSXy55x/file.html

Maddox Rose (1925-1998) 1959-64 The One Rose CD3 62.zip
https://krakenfiles.com/view/40uwxxECR1/file.html

Maddox Rose (1925-1998) 1959-64 The One Rose CD4 63-64.zip
https://krakenfiles.com/view/lJcwW4KQJZ/file.html

Maddox Rose (1925-1998) 1970 Rosie.zip
https://krakenfiles.com/view/b43SxbSvRC/file.html

Maddox Rose (1925-1998) 1975 Reckless Love & Bold Adventure.zip
https://krakenfiles.com/view/UUY5wY4Pgj/file.html

Maddox Rose (1925-1998) 1978 Hugo Concert-Oklahoma.zip
https://krakenfiles.com/view/noXgyDsvDP/file.html

Maddox Rose (1925-1998) 1995 Berryville Concert-Virginia Set1.zip
https://krakenfiles.com/view/FTLsjPAuYo/file.html

Maddox Rose (1925-1998) 1995 Berryville Concert-Virginia Set2.zip
https://krakenfiles.com/view/2eRMLAPXIJ/file.html

Have fun !

Don Dan
https://www.youtube.com/c/DonDanMusicChannel

boppinbob said...

Hello DD, Thanks for your enthusiasm. It's not often I get comments on my old posts, but then it's only a few who make the effort! But as you commented, you will know by the download counts.
Good luck, Regards, Bob