Ramblin' Rose

Book excerpt: In this meticulously researched biography, veteran music journalist Jonny Whiteside recounts the colorful story of this pioneering woman who literally grew up in the male-dominated enclaves of country music and struggled to make a place for herself there. In Rose Maddox, Whiteside has found an exceptional protagonist for his story: a fiery, strong-willed entertainer whose music has had an influence far beyond her handful of hits on the record charts and who in many ways, Whiteside convincingly argues, prefigured the coming of rock and roll. In the process, Whiteside introduces us to a host of memorable characters - stars like Hank Williams and Johnny Cash; behind-the-scenes movers and shakers like record men Cliffie Stone and Bill McCall; and, at the heart of the story, the irrepressible Maddox family themselves, whose freewheeling music so faithfully reflected the hurly-burly world of California's displaced migrant workers.