Encyclopedia of Country Music by The Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum; McCall Michael; Rumble John

Author:The Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum; McCall, Michael; Rumble, John
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 2012-10-13T04:00:00+00:00

Joe & Rose Lee Maphis

Otis Wilson “Joe” Maphis b. Suffolk, Virginia, May 12, 1921; d. June 27, 1986 Rose Lee (Schetrompf) Maphis b. Hagerstown, Maryland, December 29, 1922

The husband-wife team of Joe & Rose Lee Maphis enjoyed their greatest success as performers in the heyday of live country music programs on radio and television. Joe began radio work while still a teenager, moving from local stations in Virginia to the Boone County Jamboree on WLW in Cincinnati and the NATIONAL BARN DANCE on WLS in Chicago. After serving in the army in World War II, he became a charter member of the OLD DOMINION BARN DANCE over WRVA in Richmond, Virginia. Rose Lee followed a similar path, performing in St. Louis and in Blytheville, Arkansas, before moving to WRVA in 1948. It was there that she and Joe met. In 1951 Joe and Rose Lee relocated to Los Angeles to work in the then new medium of television, doing live broadcasts nearly four hours a day, six days a week. They were married in February 1952. The following year they joined the cast of TOWN HALL PARTY on KTTV.

Although his proficiency on a variety of instruments earned him the title King of the Strings, Joe had his greatest impact as a guitarist. His 1955 COLUMBIA recording of “Fire on the Strings” (a reworking of the fiddle tune “Fire on the Mountain”) proved that he was among the first to adapt fiddle tunes to the guitar. A leading Hollywood session guitarist, he played on the soundtracks of the films Thunder Road and God’s Little Acre as well as supplying background music for a number of 1950s and 1960s TV series. He also performed on pop and rock records by RICK NELSON, the Four Preps, WANDA JACKSON, and Tommy Sands, and his twangy sound influenced the surf music of the 1960s. Moreover, as a role model for CLARENCE WHITE, Joe influenced the guitar’s development as a lead instrument in BLUEGRASS.

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