Maddox Brothers and Rose
Bands / Ensembles
The Maddox Brothers and Rose (1937–1956) were a country "hillbilly" band from Modesto, California, made up of brothers Fred, Cal, Cliff and Don Maddox and their younger sister, Rose Maddox. The family had left Alabama sharecropping for California in 1933. Their mother, Lula Maddox, managed the band and kept tight control of its business and members. In 1937 Fred and Lula persuaded radio station KTRB in Modesto to give the family a radio show, sponsored by a local furniture store, with 11-year-old Rose singing lead. In 1939 the band beat 14 others at a hillbilly band contest at the California State Fair in Sacramento, winning a regional radio show. Fred, Cal and Don served in the military during World War II, and their younger brother Henry learned mandolin at Lula's insistence. The band re-formed in 1945, signed with 4 Star Records in 1946 and later moved to Columbia. Cliff died in 1949 and Henry took his place. The band broke up in 1956 when Rose began a solo career, though it recorded one last Columbia session in 1957.
In the newsletter
- No. 12 Summer 1997