From: owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org (shindell-list-digest) To: shindell-list-digest@smoe.org Subject: shindell-list-digest V10 #134 Reply-To: shindell-list@smoe.org Sender: owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk shindell-list-digest Saturday, July 4 2009 Volume 10 : Number 134 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: [RS] Re: shindell-list-digest V10 #132 [Carol Love Subject: Re: [RS] Re: shindell-list-digest V10 #132 ............And let's not forget -- who else has ever worked the line, "Send your camel to bed..." into a hit song??????? On Sat, Jul 4, 2009 at 9:55 AM, Jeff Bernstein wrote: > On Sat, Jul 4, 2009 at 7:22 AM, wrote about Maria > Muldaur: > > > I guess the "one hit wonder" thinks she is a Folk Diva now. > > One hit wonder??? I wasn't there last night and am not trying to justify > her behavior, but that's not quite an accurate categorization of a career > that spans more than 45 years... > > Here's her bio: > > Maria Muldaur's musical roots run deep. Born and raised in New York City's > Greenwich Village, Muldaur was surrounded by bluegrass, old-timey, jazz, > blues and gospel music, but her very first musical influences were from the > records of country and western singers Hank Williams, Kitty Wells, Hank > Snow > and Ernest Tubb. At age five, she would sing Kitty Wells' "It Wasn't God > Who > Made Honky Tonk Angels" while her aunt accompanied her on the piano. As a > teenager, Maria tuned into early rhythm and blues and was an avid fan of > Fats Domino, Little Richard, Clyde McPhatter and Ruth Brown. She became > interested in the girl groups coming onto the scene and formed her own, The > Cashmeres, while in high school. > > As pop radio became less soulful, Maria turned to the wealth of American > roots music that was being rediscovered right in her own backyard. On any > given day, she could stroll through Washington Square Park in the Village > and hear blues, jug band, gospel and old-timey music. Soon she was hanging > out and joining in on nightly jams and song swaps called hootenannies. > > In the Village, Maria soon became involved with The Friends of Old Timey > Music, a group of that traveled to the rural South to find legendary > artists > like Doc Watson, Bukka White, Skip James and Mississippi John Hurt, then > bring them north to present them in concert to urban audiences. Aspiring > young musicians like John Sebastian, Bob Dylan, John Hammond, Jr. and > Muldaur were both pursuing and creating a new wave in American roots music. > > "We used to have after-hours jams on Saturday nights," says Maria. "Blues > legends like the Reverend Gary Davis would come over. I found myself > sitting > at the feet of not only him, but Mississippi John Hurt, Son House and blues > diva Victoria Spivey." Deeply inspired by the pure mountain music of Doc > Watson and the Watson Family, Maria left the intense New York scene and > traveled to North Carolina to learn fiddle. During her extended visits with > the Watson family, she soaked up Appalachian music and culture from the > nightly gatherings on Doc's back porch. > > After returning to New York from one of her Southern excursions, Maria was > approached by John Sebastian, David Grisman and several friends who had > formed a jug band and were about to record for Spivey Records. Victoria > Spivey, owner of the label, encouraged the young band members to add Maria > to their Even Dozen Jug Band. In preparation for the recording, Maria and > her bandmates pored through hundreds of old blues and jug band 78s. Among > these vintage gems were recordings by Memphis Minnie, ma Rainey and Bessie > Smith. > > When her bandmates went off to college, Maria migrated to Boston and joined > the popular Jim Kweskin Jug Band. Her first recorded song with them was > "I'm > a Woman," the anthem of feminine power and joyful sexuality. It has been > her > theme song ever since. The Kweskin Band recorded several albums together > and > during this time Maria married and had a daughter, Jennie, with fellow > bandmate Geoff Muldaur. When the group disbanded in 1968, the couple > remained with Reprise, recording two acclaimed albums, Pottery Pie and > Sweet > Potatoes. By this time, they were residing in Woodstock, New York and > became > part of a new musical community that included Bob Dylan, The Band, Paul > Butterfield, Janis Joplin's Full Tilt Boogie Band and many other notable > artists. These musicians had already made the transition from acoustic > music > to a more full-blown contemporary (and lucrative) electric sound. The > musical environment was fertile and led to creative collaboration. "During > numerous all-night jam sessions, musicians like Paul Butterfield and Rick > Danko encouraged me to express myself with the raw power and energy that > would equal the intensity of their playing." Ironically, it was Geoff who > joined Butterfield to form Better Days, thus dissolving the musical and > marital partnership with Maria. > > On a visit to New York City, Maria had a chance encounter with Mo Ostin, > the > president of Reprise Records. Upon learning that she and Geoff were no > longer together, Ostin offered Maria the opportunity to make her first solo > album. Maria Muldaur went platinum in two years and forever enshrined Maria > in the minds of baby boomers the world over. "Midnight at the Oasis" > remains > to this day a staple song on multi-format radio. Four albums on Warner > Brothers followed including her acclaimed second disc, Waitress in a Donut > Shop, which contained her next hit single, a remake of "I'm A Woman." She > invited her friends and musical heroes to join her musical adventures and > the list is a who's who of the true lasting greats in American music: Dr. > John, Ry Cooder, Paul Butterfield, Lowell George, Linda Ronstadt, Stevie > Wonder, Jr. Walker, James Booker, Benny Carter, J.J. Cale, Kenny Burrell, > Doc Watson and Hoagy Carmichael to name a few. > > In the eighties, Maria recorded two critically acclaimed jazz albums, two > gospel albums and one album of swing tunes for "kids of all ages." Sweet > and > Slow, a duet album with longtime collaborator Dr. John, featured songs by > Fats Waller, Duke Ellington and another of Maria's blues heroines, Sippie > Wallace. She also toured extensively with her band both in the States and > abroad. Her frequent gigs with Dr. John led to a growing appreciation and > fondness for the New Orleans sound. She incorporated that flavor into her > own musical repertoire and dubbed this gumbo of straight ahead blues, R&B > and Louisiana music, "bluesiana." > > In 1992, Maria signed with Black Top Records. Louisiana Love Call, recorded > in her beloved New Orleans, came at a time when American roots music began > to experience a gigantic worldwide surge in popularity. The album featured > guest appearances by Dr. John, Aaron and Charles Neville, accordionist > Zachary Richard and guitar guru Amos Garrett. Instantly embraced by critics > and fans alike, with impressive accolades coming in from everywhere, > Louisiana Love Call was hailed as the best album of her career. Rolling > Stone, People, Entertainment Weekly and Billboard, adult alternative radio > and blues radio raved. The album was awarded "Best Adult Alternative Album > of the Year" by the National Association of Independent Record > Distributors. > She also garnered a nomination for "Outstanding Blues Album" from the Bay > Area Music Awards. The follow-up, Meet Me at Midnite, also won wide > critical > acclaim and was nominated for the WC Handy Blues Award. Maria holds the > distinction of being Black Top's best-selling artist. > > Maria Muldaur continued her lifelong musical odyssey with her debut album > on > Telarc Blues, Fanning the Flames. Recorded deep in the bayou country of > Louisiana, Fanning the Flames was steeped in the fervent blues traditions > of > the South. Longtime soul sisters Mavis Staples, Bonnie Raitt and Ann > Peebles > joined Maria on several tracks as well as slide guitar wizard Sonny > Landreth > and R&B crooner Johnny Adams. Fanning the Flames garnered widespread > critical acclaim and eventually cracked the Billboard Blues Chart. > > Continuing her love affair with the "bluesiana" sound, Muldaur made > songwriter Bruce Cockburn's "Southland of the Heart" the title cut for her > second Telarc recording in 1998. As People magazine wrote, "Muldaur has got > the blues... once you zero in on the emotional nuances of her finely > weathered drawl, you'll hear an inspired change of heart - her voice > becomes > an oasis for troubled souls." > > Dedicated to the incomparable pianist/vocalist Charles Brown, her 1999 > release, Meet Me Where They Play the Blues, featured the last recorded > appearance by the inventor of the "West Coast Blues." Too ill to make it > into the studio, Brown's vocals on "Gee Baby, Ain't I Good to You" were > recorded in a nursing home. In fact, Muldaur had originally chosen many of > the songs for this project with Brown's piano playing in mind. Brown died > that same year, but the music and spirit of this great Texas blues > balladeer > live on through this amazing project. > > Muldaur's more recent Tealrc efforts include A Woman Alone with the Blues, > a > 2003 tribute to jazz icon Peggy Lee, and the equally jazzy Love Wants To > Dance, a 2004 collection of songs about love's alternately bright and > melancholy sides. Heart of Mine, a collection of love songs originally > penned by legendary balladeer Bob Dylan, followed in August 2006. > > Her newest album, Yes We Can!, is set for release on July 22, 2008. The > album showcases the work of some of the most socially conscious songwriters > of the past half-century: Bob Dylan, Marvin Gaye, Allen Toussaint, Earl > King > and Garth Brooks, to name a few. Throughout the album's thirteen tracks, a > host of well known progressive voices, collectively dubbed The Women's > Voices for Peace Choir, help Muldaur shed the light and sharpen the focus > on > the precarious state of the world and its future. Included on the > high-profile guest list are Bonnie Raitt, Joan Baez, Jane Fonda, Odetta, > Phoebe Snow, Holly Near and several others. "Most of these women have > boldly > and tirelessly been lifting their voices for peace, non-violence and social > justice their whole lives," says Muldaur, "and their commitment to these > causes has been deeply inspiring to me over the years. It is our hope that > our efforts here will inspire minds and hearts and that these songs will > become a Soundtrack to the Change we must all become a part of." ------------------------------ End of shindell-list-digest V10 #134 ************************************