Maria Muldaur (born Maria Grazia Rosa Domenica D'Amato; September 12, 1942) 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 has recorded albums in the folk, blues, early jazz, gospel, country, and R&B traditions.
She was the wife of musician Geoff Muldaur and is the mother of singer-songwriter Jenni Muldaur.
Contents
Career
Muldaur was born on September 12, 1942, in Greenwich Village in Manhattan, New York and attended Hunter College High School on the Upper East Side.
Muldaur cites Kitty Wells, Hank Williams, Hank Snow, Hank Thompson, Ernest Tubb, and Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys; early rhythm and blues artists including Chuck Willis, Little Richard, Ruth Brown, Fats Domino, and Muddy Waters; Alan Freed "rock 'n' roll" shows; and doo-wop groups like The Platters and The Five Satins as being her early musical influences.
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. She then joined Jim Kweskin & the Jug Band as a featured vocalist and occasional fiddle player. 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 couple produced two albums. She began her solo career when their marriage ended in 1972 but retained her married name.
Her first solo album, Maria Muldaur, released in 1973, contains her hit single "Midnight at the Oasis", which reached number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1974. It peaked at No. 21 on the UK Singles Chart. Later in 1974, she released her second album, Waitress in a Donut Shop which includes 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. Her version of the song reached No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100, and was her last Hot 100 hit in the U.S. to date. The title of this album is taken from a line in another song on the album, "Sweetheart", by Ken Burgan.
Around that 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 the 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).
People ask me—why do you do these sexist songs? That's bull_. That's a valid emotion that's a part of us all.
Around 1980, Muldaur became a Christian and released a live album, Gospel Nights, and a studio album, There Is A Love. In 1983 she returned to secular music with Sweet and Slow, a set informed by vintage jazz and blues. Muldaur continued to perform, tour, and record after her success in the mid 1970s, including a turn at the Teatro ZinZanni in 2001.
Her 2005 release Sweet Lovin' Ol' Soul was nominated for both a Blues Music Award (formerly the W. C. Handy Awards) and a Grammy Award in the Traditional Blues category at the 44th Annual Grammy Awards. In 2013, she was nominated for a Blues Music Award in the Koko Taylor Award (Traditional Blues Female) category.
In 2003, Muldaur performed at Carnegie Hall in a Peggy Lee tribute concert produced by Richard Barone. In 2018 she performed in Barone's Central Park concert Music & Revolution along with John Sebastian and others from her Greenwich Village days. In 2019, she received the Trailblazer award at the Americana Music Honors & Awards.
In 2021, Muldaur recorded and released the album Let's Get Happy Together, a 40-minute, 12-track album in collaboration with Tuba Skinny.
Discography
Even Dozen Jug Band
The Even Dozen Jug Band (1964, credited as Maria D'Amato) (Elektra Records, EKS-7246)
Jim Kweskin & the Jug Band
Jug Band Music (1965, credited as Maria D'Amato) (Vanguard Records, VDS-79163)
See Reverse Side for Title (1966, credited as Maria D'Amato) (Vanguard, VDS-79234)
Garden of Joy (1967) (Reprise Records, 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)
Jerry Garcia Band
Cats Under the Stars (1978, Arista Records)
Pure Jerry: Warner Theatre, March 18, 1978 (2005, Jerry Made)
Pure Jerry: Bay Area 1978 (2009, Jerry Made)
Garcia Live Volume Four (2014, ATO Records)
Paul Butterfield's Better Days
Better Days (1973, Bearsville Records) – on tracks 5, 7, and 8
It All Comes Back (1973, Bearsville) – credited as "vocals", but no specific tracks given
Other contributions
Festival:The Newport Folk Festival 1965 (1967, Vanguard Records VRS-9225/VSD-79225) – (as Maria D'Amato), "Tricks Ain't Walkin' No More"; backing vocals on Eric von Schmidt's, "My Love Comes Rolling Down".
Steelyard Blues movie soundtrack (1972, Warner Bros. Records; reissued on CD in 2015 by Real Gone Music) – Lead vocals on three songs ("Georgia Blues", "Do I Care" and "Lonesome Star Blues") which also feature Mike Bloomfield and Paul Butterfield.
Wendy Waldman, Love Has Got Me (1973, Warner Bros.) – Background vocals on "Lee's Traveling Song".
Mike Seeger The Second Annual Farewell Reunion (1973, Mercury Records) – Vocals and guitar on “Take Me Back to the Sweet Sunny South” (with Mike on the other vocals and the other guitar).
Linda Ronstadt, Heart Like a Wheel (1974, Capitol Records) – Harmony vocals on "Heart Like a Wheel".
Wendy Waldman, Gypsy Symphony (1974, Warner Bros.) – Background vocals on "Come On Down".
Linda Ronstadt, Prisoner In Disguise (1975, Elektra Records) – Harmony/background vocals on "You Tell Me That I'm Falling Down".
The Doobie Brothers, Stampede (1975, Warner Bros.) – Vocals on "I Cheat the Hangman".
Elvin Bishop, Hog Heaven (1978, Capricorn Records) – on two songs
Mike Seeger, Third Annual Farewell Reunion (1994, Rounder Records) – Lead vocals on "The Memory Of Your Smile" (with David Grisman on baritone vocals and guitar and Mike on low tenor vocals and re-tuned mandolin).
Terry Robb, Stop This World (1996, Burnside Records BCD-0025)