Maria Muldaur

Maria Muldaur (born September 12, 1943) is an American folk and blues singer who was part of the American folk music revival in the early 1960s. She recorded the 1973 hit song "Midnight at the Oasis" and continues to record albums in the folk traditions.[1]

For the album, see Maria Muldaur (album).
Maria Muldaur
Muldaur in 1969
Background information
Birth nameMaria Grazia Rosa Domenica D'Amato
Also known asMaria D'Amato
Born (1943-09-12) September 12, 1943
New York City, U.S.
GenresFolk, blues, country
Occupation(s)Singer
InstrumentsVocals
Years active1963–present
LabelsReprise
Associated actsEven Dozen Jug Band, Jerry Garcia Band
Websitemariamuldaur.com

She was the wife of musician Geoff Muldaur and is the mother of singer-songwriter Jenni Muldaur.

Biography

Muldaur was born Maria Grazia Rosa Domenica D'Amato in Greenwich Village, New York City, where she attended Hunter College High School.[2]

Muldaur began her career in the early 1960s as Maria D'Amato, performing with John Sebastian, David Grisman, and Stefan Grossman as a member of the Even Dozen Jug Band.[3] She then joined Jim Kweskin & the Jug Band as a featured vocalist and occasional violinist.[3] During this time, she was part of the Greenwich Village scene that included Bob Dylan, and some of her recollections of the period, particularly with respect to Dylan, appear in Martin Scorsese's 2005 documentary film No Direction Home.

She married fellow Jug Band member Geoff Muldaur, and after the Kweskin group broke up, the two of them produced two albums. She began her solo career when their marriage ended in 1972, but retained her married name.[4]

Her first solo album, Maria Muldaur, released in 1973, contained her hit single "Midnight at the Oasis",[3] which reached number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1974. It also peaked at number 21 in the UK Singles Chart.[5] Later that year, she released her second album, Waitress in a Donut Shop.[3] This included a re-recording of "I'm a Woman", the Leiber and Stoller number first associated with Peggy Lee and a standout feature from her Jug Band days. The title of this album is taken from a line in another song on the album, "Sweetheart", by Ken Burgan.

Muldaur (left) with her band on stage at the 1983 Cambridge Folk Festival, England
Muldaur at the Riverwalk Blues Festival in Fort Lauderdale, 1996

Around this time, Muldaur established a relationship with the Grateful Dead. Opening for some Grateful Dead shows in the summer of 1974, with John Kahn, bassist of the Jerry Garcia Band, eventually earned her a seat in that group as a backing vocalist in the late 1970s. Around the same time Muldaur met and eventually collaborated with bluegrass icon Peter Rowan. The two became close, and she was chosen to be the godmother of his daughter Amanda Rowan. She appeared on Super Jam (1989), the live recording of the German TV series Villa Fantastica, with Brian Auger on piano, Pete York on drums, Dick Morrissey on tenor saxophone, Roy Williams on trombone, Harvey Weston on bass and Zoot Money, also on vocals.

Around 1980, Muldaur became a Christian and released a live album Gospel Nights.[3] In 1983 she returned to secular music with Sweet and Slow, a set informed by vintage jazz and blues.[6]

Muldaur continued to perform, tour, and record after her success in the mid-1970s, including a turn at the Teatro ZinZanni in 2001.[7][8]

Her 2005 release, Sweet Lovin' Ol' Soul, was nominated for both a Blues Music Award (formerly the W.C. Handy Award) and a Grammy Award in the Traditional Blues category. In 2013, she was nominated for a Blues Music Award in the Koko Taylor Award (Traditional Blues Female) category.[9]

In 2003, Muldaur performed at Carnegie Hall in the Tribute to Peggy Lee produced by Richard Barone.[10] In 2018 she performed in Barone's Central Park concert Music & Revolution along with John Sebastian and others from her Greenwich Village days.[11]

In 2019, she received the Trailblazer award at the Americana Music Honors & Awards.

Discography

Even Dozen Jug Band

Jim Kweskin & the Jug Band
  • Jug Band Music (1965, credited as Maria D'Amato) (Vanguard, VDS-79163)
  • See Reverse Side for Title (1966, credited as Maria D'Amato) (Vanguard, VDS-79234)
  • Garden of Joy (1967) (Reprise, RS-6266)
  • The Best of Jim Kweskin & the Jug Band (1968, compilation, credited as Maria D'Amato) (Vanguard, VDS-79270)

Geoff & Maria Muldaur
  • Pottery Pie (1969) (Reprise, RS-6350)
  • Sweet Potatoes (1972) (Reprise, MS-2073)

Solo
  • Maria Muldaur (1973) (Reprise, MS-2148) - AUS #30[12]
  • Waitress in a Donut Shop (1974) (Reprise, MS-2194) - AUS #66[12]
  • Sweet Harmony (1976) (Reprise, MS-2235)
  • Southern Winds (1978) (Warner Bros. BSK-3162) - AUS #91[12]
  • Open Your Eyes (1979) (Warner Bros. BSK-3305) - AUS #97[12]
  • Gospel Nights (Recorded at McCabe's) (1980) (Takoma, TAK-7084) (with the Chambers Brothers)
  • There Is a Love (1982) (Myrrh, MSB-6685)
  • Sweet and Slow (1983) (Spindrift/Making Waves, SPIN-109) (CD reissue: Stony Plain, SPCD-1183) (with Dr. John, Kenny Barron, and other guest artists)
  • Transblucency (1986) (Uptown, UP-27.25) (recorded 1984–85 with "jazz" septet)
  • Live in London (1986) (Making Waves, SPIN-116)
  • Louisiana Love Call (1992) (Black Top, BT-1081) (reissued by Shout! Factory with same part number)
  • Maria Muldaur and Friends: On the Sunny Side (1992) (Music for Little People/Warner Bros. 42503)
  • Meet Me at Midnite (1994) (Black Top, BT-1107) (reissued by Shout! Factory with same part number)
  • Jazzabelle (1995) (Stony Plain, SPCD-1188)
  • Fanning the Flames (1996) (Telarc, CD-83394) (with Johnny Adams, Huey Lewis, Bonnie Raitt, Mavis Staples, and other guest artists)
  • Southland of the Heart (1998) (Telarc, CD-83423)
  • Swingin' in the Rain (Classic Swing Tunes for Kids of All Ages) (1998) (Music for Little People/Rhino, R2-75311)
  • Meet Me Where They Play the Blues (1999) (Telarc, CD-83460) (with Charles Brown, Danny Caron, David Mathews, and other guest artists)
  • Maria Muldaur's Music for Lovers (2000, compilation) (Telarc, CD-83512)
  • Richland Woman Blues (2001) (Stony Plain, SPCD-1270) (with Bonnie Raitt, Taj Mahal, Alvin Youngblood Hart, and other guest artists)
  • Animal Crackers in My Soup (& Other Songs Made Popular by Shirley Temple) (2002) (Music for Little People/Rhino, R2-78179) (with Carrie Lyn)
  • A Woman Alone with the Blues (...Remembering Peggy Lee) (2003) (Telarc, CD-83568)
  • Classic Live! (2003) (Burnside/DIG Music, UPC: 80440 30110 27) (live radio broadcasts from 1973 and 1975)
  • I'm a Woman: 30 Years of Maria Muldaur (2004, compilation) (Shout! Factory, SF-30219)
  • Sisters & Brothers (with Eric Bibb, and Rory Block) (2004) (Telarc, CD-83588)
  • Love Wants to Dance (2004) (Telarc, CD-83609)
  • Sweet Lovin' Ol' Soul (Old Highway 61 Revisited) (2005) (Stony Plain, SPCD-1304) (with Taj Mahal, Tracy Nelson, Pinetop Perkins, Del Rey, Steve James, and other guest artists)
  • Heart of Mine: Maria Muldaur Sings Love Songs of Bob Dylan (2006) (Telarc, CD-83643)
  • Songs for the Young at Heart (2006, compilation) (Music for Little People/Earth Beat!/Rhino, R2-74541)
  • Naughty, Bawdy & Blue (2007) (Stony Plain, SPCD-1319) (with James Dapogny's Chicago Jazz Band and Bonnie Raitt)
  • Live in Concert (2008) (Global Recording Artists, UPC: 64641 31264 27)
  • Yes We Can! (2008) (Telarc, CD-83672) (with the Women's Voices for Peace Choir)
  • Maria Muldaur & Her Garden of Joy: Good Time Music for Hard Times (2009) (Stony Plain, SPCD-1332)
  • Maria Muldaur's Barnyard Dance: Jug Band Music For Kids (2010) (Music for Little People/Rhino, R2-524467)
  • Christmas at the Oasis (Live at the Rrazz Room) (2010) (Global Recording Artists, UPC: 64641 31287 28)
  • Steady Love (2011) (Stony Plain, SPCD-1346)
  • ...First Came Memphis Minnie...A Loving Tribute (2012) (Stony Plain, SPCD-1358) (with Rory Block, Ruthie Foster, Bonnie Raitt, Phoebe Snow, Koko Taylor, and other guest artists; Muldaur's 40th album)
  • Don't You Feel My Leg: The Naughty Bawdy Blues of Blue Lu Barker (2018) (The Last Music Company) (Muldaur's 41st album)[13]

Jerry Garcia Band

Paul Butterfield's Better Days
  • Better Days (1973, Bearsville) – on tracks 5, 7, and 8
  • It All Comes Back (1973, Bearsville) – credited as "vocals", but no specific tracks given

Other contributions

References
  1. Tobler, John (1992). NME Rock 'N' Roll Years (1st ed.). London: Reed International Books Ltd. p. 276. ISBN 0-600-57602-7. CN 5585.
  2. Johnston, Laurie. "Competition Intense Among Intellectually Gifted 6th Graders for Openings at Hunter College High School; Prominent Alumni Program for Seniors", The New York Times, March 21, 1977. Accessed May 11, 2010.
  3. Colin Larkin, ed. (1997). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music (Concise ed.). Virgin Books. p. 884. ISBN 1-85227-745-9.
  4. "Maria Muldaur biography". Pandora Internet Radio. Retrieved January 10, 2008.
  5. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 382. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  6. Steve Huey. "Maria Muldaur: Artist Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 2019-05-28.
  7. Digital Interviews (October 2000). "Maria Muldaur interview". Archived from the original on 2011-09-28.
  8. Matthew Stafford (March 14, 2001). "Cirque du Supper". SF Weekly. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007.
  9. "Blues Music Awards Nominees - 2013 - 34th Blues Music Awards". Blues.org. Retrieved 2013-03-21.
  10. "PeggyLee.com - There'll Be Another Spring: A Tribute to Miss Peggy Lee". Peggylee.com. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
  11. "Richard Barone to Host SummerStage Tribute: 'Music + Revolution: Greenwich Village in the 1960s'". Billboard.com\accessdate=September 7, 2019.
  12. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 211. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  13. "Maria Muldaur's official web site". Mariamuldaur.com. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  14. Muldaur contributes "Walking the Blues." The Cash version is on the album The Legend (Sun, 1970) and on The Essential Johnny Cash 1955–1983 (Legacy, 1992).
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