Ramblin' Rose: The Life and Career of Rose Maddox
Undeservedly obscure today, Rose Maddox was one of country music's biggest stars in the years after World War II; her gospel-based singing and gutsy personal style set the standard for subsequent female country artists. Music journalist Jonny Whiteside's affectionate biography spins a classic tale of hardscrabble beginnings in rural Alabama and early fame with her brothers as "the most colorful hillbilly band in America." Frank accounts of Maddox's relationships with her domineering mother and two husbands are set against a valuable delineation of the forgotten West Coast country music scene.