Biography
Joe and Rose Lee Maphis, billed as “Mr. and Mrs. Country Music,” emerged during the 1950s and 1960s as one of entertainment’s most prominent married performing pairs, their success driven chiefly by Joe’s singular and widely imitated guitar technique. Born Otis Wilson Maphis on May 12, 1921, in Suffolk, Virginia, he first played guitar with his family’s group, the Railsplitters, at neighborhood square dances before turning professional in 1938 and soon joining Sunshine Sue (Workman)’s Cincinnati-based backing band, the Rangers. There he refined an approach built on rapid, finger-picked melodic lines rather than simple chordal support. Rose Lee Schetrompf, born December 29, 1922, in Baltimore, Maryland, launched her own career at fifteen by singing on Hagerstown radio with the girl group the Saddle Sweethearts and later appeared in larger markets including Baltimore and St. Louis.
Following World War II service, Joe returned to Virginia and briefly appeared on Sunshine Sue’s radio program The Old Dominion Barn Dance, where young vocalist Rose Lee Schetrompf was also featured. He soon left for Chicago, but in 1947 he acquired an electric guitar, rejoined the Virginia broadcast, and began sharing the stage and airwaves with Rose Lee. In 1951 Merle Travis persuaded Joe to relocate to California for television work; Rose followed a year later, after which the couple married. Their first recordings appeared in 1953, among them the original “Dim Lights, Thick Smoke (And Loud, Loud Music),” which later became a honky-tonk standard.
Throughout the decade the pair remained fixtures on the West Coast circuit. Even while Rose devoted time to raising a family, Joe maintained an active schedule both as a solo instrumentalist and as a sought-after session player. In 1954 he became one of the earliest musicians to adopt a double-necked instrument by taking up the Mos-Rite Special, a model he helped develop. His performances on the 1957 album Fire on the Strings, his contributions to sessions for artists including Ricky Nelson and the Four Preps, and additional duets with protégé Larry Collins of the Collins Kids earned him the nickname “the King of Strings.” In 1959 he issued the tenor-banjo collection Hi-Fi Holiday for Banjo, and two years later Rose Lee released her self-titled album of country standards.
The couple recorded the bluegrass duet album Rose Lee & Joe Maphis with the Blue Ridge Mountain Boys in 1962; Joe followed later that year with another solo set, King of the Strings. A guitar-duet project with Merle Travis appeared next, succeeded by the joint effort Mr. and Mrs. Country Music and Joe’s solo outing Hootenanny Star. Alongside lucrative work scoring television themes, he released Golden Gospel in 1966 and New Sound of Joe Maphis in 1967. The family relocated to Nashville in 1968 and largely withdrew from music until Joe and eldest son Jody issued Guitaration Gap in 1971. Joe returned with the solo Grass ’n’ Jazz in 1977; Rose joined him the following year for Dim Lights, Thick Smoke. Two further albums, Boogie Woogie Flattop Guitar Pickin’ Man (1979) and Honky Tonk Cowboy (1980), completed their later output. Joe Maphis died of lung cancer in 1986, prompting Rose Lee to retire from performing and take a position as a costumer at Opryland. She died in Nashville on October 26, 2021, at the age of 98.
Following World War II service, Joe returned to Virginia and briefly appeared on Sunshine Sue’s radio program The Old Dominion Barn Dance, where young vocalist Rose Lee Schetrompf was also featured. He soon left for Chicago, but in 1947 he acquired an electric guitar, rejoined the Virginia broadcast, and began sharing the stage and airwaves with Rose Lee. In 1951 Merle Travis persuaded Joe to relocate to California for television work; Rose followed a year later, after which the couple married. Their first recordings appeared in 1953, among them the original “Dim Lights, Thick Smoke (And Loud, Loud Music),” which later became a honky-tonk standard.
Throughout the decade the pair remained fixtures on the West Coast circuit. Even while Rose devoted time to raising a family, Joe maintained an active schedule both as a solo instrumentalist and as a sought-after session player. In 1954 he became one of the earliest musicians to adopt a double-necked instrument by taking up the Mos-Rite Special, a model he helped develop. His performances on the 1957 album Fire on the Strings, his contributions to sessions for artists including Ricky Nelson and the Four Preps, and additional duets with protégé Larry Collins of the Collins Kids earned him the nickname “the King of Strings.” In 1959 he issued the tenor-banjo collection Hi-Fi Holiday for Banjo, and two years later Rose Lee released her self-titled album of country standards.
The couple recorded the bluegrass duet album Rose Lee & Joe Maphis with the Blue Ridge Mountain Boys in 1962; Joe followed later that year with another solo set, King of the Strings. A guitar-duet project with Merle Travis appeared next, succeeded by the joint effort Mr. and Mrs. Country Music and Joe’s solo outing Hootenanny Star. Alongside lucrative work scoring television themes, he released Golden Gospel in 1966 and New Sound of Joe Maphis in 1967. The family relocated to Nashville in 1968 and largely withdrew from music until Joe and eldest son Jody issued Guitaration Gap in 1971. Joe returned with the solo Grass ’n’ Jazz in 1977; Rose joined him the following year for Dim Lights, Thick Smoke. Two further albums, Boogie Woogie Flattop Guitar Pickin’ Man (1979) and Honky Tonk Cowboy (1980), completed their later output. Joe Maphis died of lung cancer in 1986, prompting Rose Lee to retire from performing and take a position as a costumer at Opryland. She died in Nashville on October 26, 2021, at the age of 98.
Albums
