Died On This Date (April 15, 1998) Rose Maddox / Country Legend
themusicsover Rose Maddox (Born Roselea Brogdon)
August 15, 1925 – April 15, 1998
Rose Maddox was a country singer, musician and songwriter who performed with her siblings as Maddox Brothers and Rose during the late ’30s and early ’40s. When her brothers went off to serve their country in WWII, Rose continued as a solo act and later rejoined the boys upon their return. And even though they were considered a “hillbilly” band, they were most popular in California, likely due to its growing population of Southern immigrants. They have been called the “greatest hillbilly band of all time,” while Rose has been referred to as the “grandmother of rockabilly.” After the group disbanded in the late ’50s, Rose signed to Capitol Records as a solo act. She scored several Top 20 hits including a #4 hit duet with Buck Owens. In the mid ’60s, Rose switched gears a bit and started performing bluegrass. She found a new audience among the folk revivalists of the era. She continued recording and performing occasionally well into the ’90s, even earning a Grammy nomination in 1996. She died of kidney failure in 1998 at the age of 71.
What You Should Own
Robert Brookins began singing at the tender age of four, and never looked back. After winning a Motown talent search in 1974, he joined a group called Afterbach whose debut was produced by Earth Wind & Fire’s Maurice and Verdine White. Brookin’s vocals were featured on George Duke’s self titled release of 1986. He soon signed to MCA Records for whom he recorded a handful of acclaimed R&B albums. Over his career he worked with the likes of Stephanie Mills, Deniece Williams, the Whispers, Jeffrey Osbourne, and Bobby Brown. Robert Brookins died of a heart attack at the age of 46.
Don Ho was a popular Hawaiian musician whose middle-of-the-road stylings earned him several top-selling albums and numerous television appearances. When one thought of Hawaii in the late ’60s and ’70s, they no doubt envied the lifestyle as portrayed by Do Ho. He quickly became a live hit in Las Vegas, Reno, Los Angeles and New York, but it wasn’t until the release of “Tiny Bubbles” in 1966, that Ho reached International fame, landing him on the Billboard Album Charts where he stayed for nearly a year. The television parts began rolling in . Ho, usually appearing as himself, was featured in The Brady Bunch, The Fall Guy, Batman, I Dream Of Jeannie, and Charlie’s Angels. He also had his own ABC-TV show called The Do Ho Show. It premiered in October of 1976 but lasted only five months. His later years found him starting Honey Records, the home of his recordings as well as those by fellow Islanders. He made a few more television appearances and did regular performances at his own Hawaiian club, Hoku. Do Ho passed away from heart failure on April 14, 2007 at the age of 77.
Perhaps best known as the narrator and voice of the snowman in the Holiday classic, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Burl Ives was also an accomplished folks singer whose catalog includes many American standards. He was also an author and Academy Award-winning actor for his supporting role in Our Man In Havana. When Ives was in his second year of college, he had an epiphany while sitting in his English glass. School was a waste of his time, he thought, so out the door he went, never to look back. Except perhaps, when that same school named a building after him some six decades later. Ives spent most of the ’30s traveling around the U.S. performing for change whenever he needed funds to move on. In the ’40s he went to work for CBS Radio who gave him his own program where he performed traditional folk songs for his loyal fans. From there he moved on to acting, winning roles in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, East of Eden and of course, Our Man in Havana. In the ’50s he got blacklisted for alleged Communist ties, so he falsely ratted out 