Perhaps you've heard an old
saying that goes something like this: "The pioneering artists, who
create a genre of music, get the satisfaction of knowing they helped
create something new. The second generation of artists, who
commercialize the music, get the satisfaction of knowing they just made
a ton of money."
Video Runtime: 15
Minutes
So goes the story of Don Maddox, the fiddler and last surviving member
of The Maddox Brothers and Rose. Oh, Don's life has been a good one, and
he won't complain about too many things. But after hearing his story,
one quickly realizes that the above saying is true once again in Don's
case.
The story of The Maddox Brothers and Rose is well-documented, but here
it is in a nutshell. The Maddox family is originally from Boaz, Alabama,
but moved westward in 1933 as victims of the Great Depression. After a
few years of being on the go as a family of fruit pickers, they
eventually settled in Modesto, California. The band's first radio
performance was in 1937, and their biggest break came in 1939, when the
band won the hillbilly band competition at the California State Fair in
Sacramento. The group disbanded in 1956,
The Maddox Brothers and Rose were very influential to the early
development of both rockabilly and rock and roll, and many music
historians consider The Maddox Brothers and Rose the first rockabilly
band. The Experience Music Project in Seattle now owns the upright bass
played by Fred Maddox, because of the tie-in to Fred's slapping bass
style and its significance to the early development of rock and roll.
A resident of Ashland, Oregon since 1958, Don is enjoying a life of
retirement on his cattle ranch. This interview was filmed at his home on
April 1, 2010.
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