Rose Maddox - Sing A Little Song Of Heartache: The Solo Singles 1953-62 (2023)

Rose Maddox was a country singer, songwriter and fiddle player from Alabama, whose family migrated to California in the 1930s, where she started singing on radio and formed a band with her brothers, who performed and recorded for a decade after WWII as the Maddox Brothers & Rose. When the group broke up in 1957, she started a solo career and enjoyed a string of chart entries over the next few years as she built a reputation as an extrovert, dynamic performer, blending hillbilly, rockabilly and gospel in a highly distinctive musical mix. This 58-track 2-CD collection comprises most of the A&B sides of her singles on Columbia and Capitol during these years, plus bonus tracks from her Capitol album “One Rose”. It features her No. 3 country hit “Sing A Little Song Of Heartache” and her other solo country hits from this era “Gambler’s Love”, “Kissing My Pillow”, “I Want To Live Again” and “Conscience I’m Guilty”, plus her Top 10 duet hits with Buck Owens “Mental Cruelty” and “Loose Talk”. She was an artist who had an impact far beyond the degree of her success, with Emmylou Harris saying she has not has the attention she deserves and Dolly Parton citing her as an early influence. This collection offers a substantial overview of a key era of her solo career and is an entertaining showcase for her particular style of country.