Maria Muldaur
Don't let the name fool you: this rare Italian songbird was born Maria D'Amato. Muldaur is to white female pop singers what Anita O'Day is to white female jazz singers--way hipper than the herd. She recorded in the '60s with the Even Dozen and Jim Kweskin jug bands and her then-husband, Geoff Muldaur, before going out on her own with this 1973 recording. Sidemen include people like Jim Dickinson, Spooner Oldham, Jim Keltner, Mac Rebennack, Ray Brown, and Dave Holland. Among the tunes are Jimmie Rodgers's "Any Old Time," Dolly Parton's "My Tennessee Mountain Home," and the album's hit, "Midnight at the Oasis." American music rarely gets better than this.--Stanley Booth