Maddox's interest in the ragtime era was fueled by his great-aunt Zula Cothron. She played with an all-girls' orchestra at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis and later played in vaudeville. Maddox studied classical music for nineteen years with Margaret Neal and Prudence Simpson Dresser, who studied in Europe for a short time with Franz Liszt. One of his teachers of popular music, Lela Donoho, accompanied silent movies in his hometown of Gallatin, Tennessee. He played his first public concert when he was five and began his professional career in 1939 playing with a local dance band, the Rhythmasters, led by J. O. "Temp" Templeton.
Around 1946, Maddox started working for his friend Randy Wood at Randy's Record Shop in Gallatin, where Wood founded Dot Records. Maddox's first single, "St. Louis Tickle" with "Crazy Bone Rag" on the flip side (recorded May 19, 1950), sold over 22,000 copies in only a few weeks. He became the first successful artist on Dot, and his instant success helped build Dot into one of the most popular labels of the 1950s. He signed with MCA and began touring nightclubs across the country. In Dallas, Texas, he appeared with Sophie Tucker; in Las Vegas with Billy Eckstine and Elvis Presley; in Miami, Florida, with Eddy Arnold and the Duke of Paducah; and in Detroit, Michigan, with Pat Flowers, Dorothy Donegan, and Lawrence Welk. His first record to sell over a million copies was probably "San Antonio Rose by Bob Wills. Another one of his most popular early records was "In the Mood," and he performed the song on The Pee Wee King Show in February 1953.
After hearing him play in 1952, the "Father of the Blues," W. C. Handy, called Maddox "the white boy with the colored fingers."
In 1954, Maddox was declared the Number One Jukebox Artist in America by the MOA (Music Operators of America). In January 1955, he recorded "The Crazy Otto Medley," which was composed of Lou Busch's "Ivory Rag," several German folk songs, and Irving Berlin's "Play a Simple Melody." The medley was originally recorded on the Polydor label by German pianist Fritz Schulz-Reichel under the pseudonym "Otto der Schrage." Disc jockey Bill Randle of WERE in Cleveland, Ohio, suggested to Randy Wood that Maddox record a version of the song and use "The Crazy Otto Medley" as the title. Maddox's record was number one on Billboard magazine chart for fourteen weeks and became the first million-selling all-piano record, eventually selling more than two million copies. Schulz-Reichel then came to the United States and recorded for Decca under the name "Crazy Otto." The reference to "Crazy Otto" in the Grateful Dead song "Ramble on Rose" is a reference to Maddox's hit record. Maddox performed The Jack Paar Show in March 1955 and played "The Crazy Otto Medley" on Milton Berle's Texaco Star Theatre on May 31, 1955. He appeared with two other pianists, Hazel Scott and Joe Loco, on Patti Page's program The Big Record in November 1956. One of his later appearances was on The Soupy Sales Show.
Maddox continued to record for Dot Records through 1967, by which time he had earned nine gold singles, and his total sales were over eleven million.[2] One of the highlights of his was performing twice at New York's Stork Club, where he appeared on live television with Teresa Brewer. At the annual Hillbilly Homecoming in Maryville, Tennessee, in 1957, he worked with an up-and-coming young singer named Patsy Cline. Maddox toured fairgrounds across the country in the late 1950s and early '60s with Swenson's Thrillcade, playing on a piano placed on the back of a pickup truck that was lifted by a hydraulic lift as high as fifteen feet! His longest professional engagement was at the Red Slipper Room in Denver, Colorado's Cherry Creek Inn, where he played for seventeen years. Maddox befriended many more musicians and performers from the ragtime and vaudeville days in his travels, including Glover Compton, Butterbeans and Susie, Candy Candido, Ted Lewis, Gus Van, Glenn Rowell, and Joe Jordan.
Maddox began collecting antique sheet music, 78s, cylinders, piano rolls, photographs, and more at a very young age. He sold much of his first collection to Brigham Young University when he moved to Bad Ischl, Austria, in the 1970s. Tired of life on the road, he attempted to retire from show business forever. Soon, however, he was back performing in the United States and began a long residency at Il Porto Ristorante in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.
He retired in 1992 but was then coaxed to perform at the Historic Strater Hotel's Diamond Belle Saloon in Durango, Colorado, where he played from 1996–2012. He owned one of the largest collections of popular sheet music in the world,[citation needed] likely totaling over 200,000 pieces.
He is the only ragtime pianist to earn a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which was included when construction on the Walk of Fame began.
A caricature of Maddox was placed in the main dining room of the Hollywood Brown Derby Restaurant next to Paul Whiteman, Rudy Vallee, Hank Williams, and Bill Haley.
San Antonio Rose
Johnny Maddox Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A song of old San Antone
Where in dreams I live with a memory
Beneath the stars all alone
It was there I found beside the Alamo
Enchantment strange as the blue up above
A moonlit pass that only she would know
Still hears my broken song of love
Call back my rose, rose of San Antone
Lips so sweet and tender like petals falling apart
Speak once again of my love, my own.
Broken song, empty words I know
Still live in my heart all alone
For that moonlit pass by the Alamo
And Rose, my Rose of San Antone
Deep within my heart lies a melody,
A song of old San Antone
Where in dreams I live with a memory
Beneath the stars all alone
It was there I found beside the Alamo
Enchantment strange as the blue up above
A moonlit pass that only she would know
Still hears my broken song of love
Moon in all your splendor know only my heart
Call back my rose, rose of San Antone
Lips so sweet and tender like petals falling apart
Speak once again of my love, my own.
Broken song, empty words I know
Still live in my heart all alone
For that moonlit pass by the Alamo
And Rose, my Rose of San Antone
The lyrics of Johnny Maddox's song "San Antonio Rose" depict a heartbroken man who longs for his lost love, Rose. The song begins with the singer acknowledging the melody that rests deep within his heart, a song of old San Antone. In his dreams, he lives with his memories of Rose, but in reality, he is alone beneath the stars. He found enchantment alongside the Alamo, where he discovered a moonlit pass that only she knew of, but now, all he has left is his broken song of love.
The singer addresses the moon, requesting that it call back his Rose, the rose of San Antone. He remembers her sweet and tender lips, now falling apart like petals, and begs her to speak once again of his love, his own. The song concludes with the broken man admitting that, though his song may consist of empty words, they still live on in his heart, for that moonlit pass by the Alamo and Rose, his Rose of San Antone.
In essence, the song portrays a timeless tale of heartbreak and the struggle to move on from a lost love. The imagery and nostalgia evoked by the lyrics make it easy for listeners to relate to the singer's emotions.
Line by Line Meaning
Deep within my heart lies a melody
There is a melody in my heart.
A song of old San Antone
That melody is an old song about San Antonio.
Where in dreams I live with a memory
When I dream, I remember being in San Antonio.
Beneath the stars all alone
I was alone under the stars.
It was there I found beside the Alamo
I found love next to the Alamo.
Enchantment strange as the blue up above
My love was enchanting, like the blue sky.
A moonlit pass that only she would know
There was a secret path lit by the moon that only she knew of.
Still hears my broken song of love
She still remembers my love, even though it's broken.
Moon in all your splendor know only my heart
The moon only knows my heart's desire.
Call back my rose, rose of San Antone
Please bring back my love, the Rose of San Antonio.
Lips so sweet and tender like petals falling apart
Her lips were soft and gentle, like falling flower petals.
Speak once again of my love, my own.
Tell me you love me again, my love.
Broken song, empty words I know
I know my love song is broken and my words are empty.
Still live in my heart all alone
But they still live on in my heart, even though I am alone.
For that moonlit pass by the Alamo
I will always remember that moonlit path by the Alamo.
And Rose, my Rose of San Antone
And my love, the Rose of San Antonio.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: James Robert Wills
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind