# Maria Muldaur

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.

## Biography

Muldaur was born in Greenwich Village, New York City, where she attended Hunter College High School.
Muldaur cites as early musical influences classic country music by Kitty Wells, Hank Williams, Hank Snow, Hank Thompson, Ernest Tubb, and Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys; early rhythm and blues artists like Chuck Willis, Little Richard, Ruth Brown, Fats Domino, and Muddy Waters; Alan Freed "rock 'n' roll" shows; and doo-wop groups such as The Platters and The Five Satins.
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, contained her hit single "Midnight at the Oasis", which reached number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1974. It peaked at number 21 on the UK Singles Chart. Later that year, she released her second album, Waitress in a Donut Shop. 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. Her version of the song peaked at #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 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).
   People ask me — why do you do these sexist songs? That's bullshit. 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, EKS-7246)

### 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

Solo discography :
| Year | Album title | Label | Catalog number | US | US Blues | AUS | Notes |
| 1973 | Maria Muldaur | Reprise | MS-2148 | #3 | | #30 | |
| 1974 | Waitress in a Donut Shop | Reprise | MS-2194 | #23 | | #66 | |
| 1976 | Sweet Harmony | Reprise | MS-2235 | #53 | | | |
| 1978 | Southern Winds | Warner Bros. | BSK-3162 | #143 | | #91 | |
| 1979 | Open Your Eyes | Warner Bros. | BSK-3305 | | | #97 | |
| 1980 | Gospel Nights | Takoma | TAK-7084 | | | | Recorded at McCabe's with The Chambers Brothers |
| 1982 | There Is a Love | Myrrh | MSB-6685 | | | | |
| 1983 | Sweet and Slow | Spindrift/Making Waves | SPIN-109 | | | | With Dr. John, Kenny Barron, and other guest artists. (CD reissue: Stony Plain, SPCD-1183) |
| 1985 | Live in London | Stony Plain Records/Making Waves | SP-1099/SPIN-116 | | | | Recorded on 7 September 1984 at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club. |
| 1986 | Transblucency | Uptown | UP-27.25 | | | | Recorded 1984–85 with "jazz" septet. |
| 1990 | On the Sunny Side | Music for Little People/Warner Bros. | 42503 | | | | |
| 1992 | Louisiana Love Call | Black Top | BT-1081 | | | | Reissued by Shout! Factory with same part number. |
| 1993 | Jazzabelle | Stony Plain | SPCD-1188 | | | | |
| 1994 | Meet Me at Midnite | Black Top | BT-1107 | | | | Reissued by Shout! Factory with same part number. |
| 1996 | Fanning the Flames | Telarc | CD-83394 | | #14 | | With Johnny Adams, Huey Lewis, Bonnie Raitt, Mavis Staples, and other guest artists. |
| 1998 | Southland of the Heart | Telarc | CD-83423 | | | | |
| 1998 | Swingin' in the Rain (Classic Swing Tunes for Kids of All Ages) | Music for Little People/Rhino | R2-75311 | | | | |
| 1999 | Meet Me Where They Play the Blues | Telarc | CD-83460 | | | | With Charles Brown, Danny Caron, David K. Mathews, and other guest artists. |
| 2000 | Maria Muldaur's Music for Lovers | Telarc | CD-83512 | | | | Compilation. |
| 2001 | Richland Woman Blues | Stony Plain | SPCD-1270 | | #9 | | With Bonnie Raitt, Taj Mahal, Alvin Youngblood Hart, John Sebastian, Roy Rogers, and other guest artists. |
| 2002 | Animal Crackers in My Soup (& Other Songs Made Popular by Shirley Temple) | Music for Little People/Rhino | R2-78179 | | | | With Carrie Lyn. |
| 2003 | A Woman Alone with the Blues (...Remembering Peggy Lee) | Telarc | CD-83568 | | #9 | | |
| 2003 | Classic Live! | Burnside/DIG Music | UPC: 80440 30110 27 | | | | Live radio broadcasts from 1973 and 1975. |
| 2004 | I'm a Woman: 30 Years of Maria Muldaur | Shout! Factory | SF-30219 | | | | Compilation. |
| 2004 | Sisters & Brothers | Telarc | CD-83588 | | | | With Eric Bibb, and Rory Block. |
| 2004 | Love Wants to Dance | Telarc | CD-83609 | | | | |
| 2005 | Sweet Lovin' Ol' Soul (Old Highway 61 Revisited) | Stony Plain | SPCD-1304 | | #6 | | With Taj Mahal, Tracy Nelson, Pinetop Perkins, Del Rey, Steve James, and other guest artists). |
| 2006 | Heart of Mine: Maria Muldaur Sings Love Songs of Bob Dylan | Telarc | CD-83643 | | #1 | | |
| 2006 | Songs for the Young at Heart | Music for Little People/Earth Beat!/Rhino | R2-74541 | | | | Compilation. |
| 2007 | Naughty, Bawdy & Blue | Stony Plain | SPCD-1319 | | #4 | | With James Dapogny's Chicago Jazz Band and Bonnie Raitt. |
| 2008 | Live in Concert | Global Recording Artists | UPC: 64641 31264 27 | | | |
| 2008 | Yes We Can! | Telarc | CD-83672 | | #14 | | With Joan Baez, Bonnie Raitt, Phoebe Snow, Jane Fonda, Holly Near, Odetta, Anne Lamott, Marianne Williamson, Amma, Jean Shinoda Bolen, and the Women's Voices for Peace Choir. |
| 2009 | Maria Muldaur & Her Garden of Joy: Good Time Music for Hard Times | Stony Plain | SPCD-1332 | | #11 | | |
| 2010 | Maria Muldaur's Barnyard Dance: Jug Band Music For Kids | Music for Little People/Rhino | R2-524467 | | | | |
| 2010 | Christmas at the Oasis (Live at the Rrazz Room) | Global Recording Artists | UPC: 64641 31287 28 | | | | |
| 2011 | Steady Love | Stony Plain | SPCD-1346 | | | | |
| 2012 | ...First Came Memphis Minnie... A Loving Tribute | Stony Plain | SPCD-1358 | | | | With Rory Block, Ruthie Foster, Bonnie Raitt, Phoebe Snow, Koko Taylor, and other guest artists. |
| 2018 | Don't You Feel My Leg: The Naughty Bawdy Blues of Blue Lu Barker | The Last Music Company | | | #10 | | |
| 2021 | Let's Get Happy Together | Stony Plain | SPCD1429 | | #4 | | With Tuba Skinny |

### Jerry Garcia Band

* Cats Under the Stars (1978, Arista)
* Pure Jerry: Warner Theatre, March 18, 1978 (2005, Jerry Made)
* Pure Jerry: Bay Area 1978 (2009, Jerry Made)
* Garcia Live Volume Four (2014, ATO)

### 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

* Wendy Waldman, Love Has Got Me (1973, Warner Bros.) – Background vocals on "Lee's Traveling Song"
* Linda Ronstadt, Heart Like a Wheel (1974, Capitol) – 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) – Harmonies/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) – on two songs
* Terry Robb, Stop This World (1996, Burnside BCD-0025)
* Johnny's Blues: A Tribute to Johnny Cash (2003, Northern Blues) – Muldaur contributes "Walking the Blues". The Johnny Cash version is on the album The Legend (Sun, 1970) and on The Essential Johnny Cash 1955–1983 (Legacy, 1992)
* Bill Kirchen, Word to the Wise (2010, Proper) – Vocals on "Ain't Got Time For the Blues".