Billie Maxwell

Not that much is known about this historic country singer from late '20s known as "the Cow Girl singer," but a few faded and fuzzy photographs have revealed that she is certainly among the first performers to exploit the image of a cowgirl to sell records, making her the mothership behind all subsequent female country singer invasions. Rodeohand types have indicated that the way she holds her horse in one of these photographs, reprinted in the text The Country Music Story, reveals that she came by this cowgirl image honestly, probably getting chucked off a few horses in the process. She was either the niece or the daughter of fiddler E.G. Maxwell, who recorded throughout the '20s under ensemble names such as the Maxwell Orchestra and the White Mountain Orchestra. The guitarist on these records is apparently a young Billie Maxwell, a favor her father returned by fiddling on some of his daughter's sides, such as the spooky cowboy ballad "The Haunted Hunter." Researchers feel the Maxwell family hailed from down New Mexico way, where some old-timers have recalled hearing Billie Maxwell performing on various regional radio outlets. It is also strongly suspected that Maxwell herself penned the feminist ballad "The Cowboy's Wife," one of her most famous songs. ~ Eugene Chadbourne