Rose Maddox; Enduring Country Music Star

Rose Maddox, a flamboyant country music pioneer who earned a Grammy nomination late in life for her autobiographical “$35 and a Dream,” has died at the age of 71.

Maddox, who died of kidney failure Wednesday, hit it big after World War II, when she toured with her four brothers as the Maddox Brothers and Rose. They were billed as “the most colorful hillbilly band in America.”

Maddox had a reputation as a lusty firebrand, with up-tempo songs such as “Hangover Blues” and “Pay Me Alimony.” Her musical styles ranged from hillbilly to rockabilly to gospel.

Known for her colorful Western costumes, Maddox once shocked a Grand Ole Opry audience by appearing on stage with a bare midriff, a stark contrast to her sometimes staid female contemporaries.

“In the 1950s, the few females in male-dominated country music conformed to the dainty Kitty Wells approach. Maddox, however, dared to be one of the boys. She was as spunky in her way as Jerry Lee Lewis was in his,” Times pop music critic Robert Hilburn wrote in 1983 after a salute to Maddox at Los Angeles’ Club Lingerie.

“Exhibiting a vigorous singing style and eclectic tastes, she mixed Hank Williams and Woody Guthrie tunes with a bit of boogie and swing,” he added. “In recent years, Maddox has become one of the few role models for a new crop of country-influenced female singers.”

With her brothers and as a soloist, Maddox performed for 60 years. “I’ve been doing this all my life. I wouldn’t know what else to do,” she told The Times in 1985 before performing at J.R.’s Cowboy Palace in Chatsworth.

At their height, the Maddox Brothers and Rose played the Las Vegas Strip and the Grand Ole Opry and toured with Elvis Presley, Hank Williams and Marty Robbins. Among their biggest hits were the Woody Guthrie song “Philadelphia Lawyer, “Tramp on the Street” and “Whoa, Sailor.”

The band broke up in 1956 amid a changing music scene, but Maddox kept singing. Among her solo hits in the late 1950s and early ‘60s were “Sing a Little Song of Heartache,” “Gambler’s Love,” “Kissing My Pillow” and “Bluebird, Let Me Tag Along.”

In the early 1980s, she recorded an album of gospel music, “A Beautiful Bouquet,” in memory of her son, Donnie, who died in 1982.

In 1996 she got her first Grammy nomination for her CD “$35 and a Dream.” The title refers to the Maddox family, who were Alabama sharecroppers, selling their goods for $35 and moving to California during the Depression. Four years later, in 1937, the Maddoxes’ musical career began when Fred Maddox lined up jobs on Modesto radio station KTRB for himself and his three brothers. Told by the sponsor, a furniture dealer, that they had to have a girl singer, Fred Maddox said: “We’ve got the best girl singer that’s ever been.” Young Rose, then only 11, was enlisted.

In addition to singing and writing songs, Maddox played bass fiddle and drums.

She is survived by a grandson, Donnie Maddox.