Personnel: Rose Maddox (vocals); Delbert Williams (guitar); Keith Little (banjo); Ed Neff (fiddle); Kevin Thompson (bass instrument). Additional personnel: Vern Williams (mandolin). Recording information: 1982. Arhoolie reissues this lovely set by one of country music's original rowdies. While Rose Maddox made her name as a firecracker hollerer with her brothers in the years before Hank Williams, A BEAUTIFUL BOUQUET casts her in a totally different light, mourning the recent death of her son and turning to a higher power. Backed by the Vern Williams Band, Maddox tenderly approaches 13 gospel standards such as "I'll Fly Away," "Church in the Wildwood," "Farther Along," and "Swing Low Sweet Chariot." A compelling portrait of a mother in mourning, A BEAUTIFUL BOUQUET is also a masterpiece of understated roots-inflected gospel.