Maddox Brothers and Rose

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The Maddox Brothers and Rose
Origin
Four Star, Columbia, Decca
MembersRose Maddox
Fred Maddox
Cal Maddox
Henry Maddox
Don Maddox
Past membersCliff Maddox

The Maddox Brothers and Rose were an American country music group active from the 1930s to 1950s, consisting of four brothers, Fred, Cal, Cliff, and Don Maddox, along with their sister Rose; Cliff died in 1949 and was replaced by brother Henry. Originating in Alabama, but gaining success after the Maddox family relocated to California during the Great Depression, the group were among the earliest "hillbilly music" stars to emerge from the West Coast

. The group disbanded in 1956, with Rose Maddox embarking on a solo career.

Biography

The family hailed from

hitch-hiked to California in 1933 when the band members were still children, following the failed efforts of their sharecropper parents during the early part of the Depression. They were a little in advance of the flood of Okies who were to flood the state in the 1930s. They struggled to make a living as itinerant fruit and vegetable pickers, following the harvest as far north as Washington and as far east as Arizona, as well as the San Joaquin Valley. They often worked from dawn to dusk, sleeping and eating on the ground.[1]

Having settled in

Sacramento in their Model A. When they took the stage, they tore through "Sally Let Your Bangs Hang Down" with rocking rhythms and risqué lyrics. They became, officially, California's best hillbilly band.[2][3]

The brothers and Rose appeared at places such as the 97th Street Corral in Los Angeles.[4]

From 1946-1951, the group recorded for

4 Star Records (Hollywood), then for Columbia Records. Some 4 Star masters were leased and released by US.-Decca Records at the beginning of the 1950s. Rose Maddox stated: "We were called hillbilly singers — not country — then. No, none of this country music then. People just called us hillbilly... People tell me that I was one of the first women to sing what I sang — country boogie. I guess I was. There was no rock 'n' roll in those early days, before 1955. Only country boogie. My brothers also played that way. We called it country then."[5][6]

Fred Maddox played upright bass using the "slap bass" technique as early as 1937.[7][6]

Fred Maddox's bass is displayed at the Experience Music Project in Seattle. "They wanted his bass because they believe he might have hit the first note of rock 'n' roll on it."[8]

Don Maddox was the last surviving member of the band and lived in Ashland, Oregon. He experienced a career resurgence 50 years after his success with Maddox Bros and Rose, while he played at the Britt Festival in Jacksonville, Oregon, opening for Big and Rich, performing at the Muddy Roots festival in Cookeville, Tennessee, in 2011 and 2012, playing on the Marty Stuart show, and receiving a standing ovation show at the Grand Ole Opry. He also performed in Las Vegas at the first annual Rockabilly Rockout at the Gold Coast Casino on October 5, 2014.[7]

Don Maddox died on September 12, 2021, at the age of 98.[9]

Band members

  • Cliff Maddox (born May 19, 1912, Boaz, Alabama – died August 8, 1949, Modesto, California)
  • Cal Maddox (born November 3, 1915, Boaz, Alabama – died July 2, 1968, Jackson County, Oregon)
  • Fred Maddox (born July 3, 1919, Boaz, Alabama – died October 29, 1992,
    Kern, California
    )
  • Don Maddox (born December 7, 1922, Boaz, Alabama – died September 12, 2021)[9]
  • Rose Maddox (born August 15, 1925, Boaz, Alabama – died April 15, 1998, Ashland, Oregon)
  • Henry Maddox (born March 19, 1928, Boaz, Alabama – died June 11, 1974, Ashland, Oregon)
  • Bud Duncan (born March 18, 1928, Pollard, Arkansas)

Discography

References

  1. ^ "NPR : Honky Tonks, Hymns and the Blues". Npr.org. Retrieved February 14, 2020.}
  2. ISBN 0-8265-1269-0
  3. ^ "Rose Maddox - Sally Let Your Bangs Hang Down Lyrics". Archived from the original on 2011-06-10. Retrieved 2010-02-20. Lyrics
  4. ^ Billboard, January 15, 1949, p. 33
  5. ^ "Americas Most Colorful Hillbilly Band". Archived from the original on 2007-04-04. Retrieved 2007-02-27.
  6. ^ a b "Honky Tonks, Hymns, & the Blues". Honkytonks.org. Retrieved February 14, 2020.
  7. ^ a b "The Maddox Brothers & Rose". Rockabillyhall.com. Archived from the original on July 3, 2011. Retrieved February 14, 2020.
  8. ISBN 1-55652-614-8
  9. ^ a b Robert K Oermann, "The Last Maddox Brother, Don Maddox, Dies Don Maddox – Final Member of Maddox Brothers & Rose – Has Died", MusicRow, September 17, 2021

External links

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