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.[1]
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.[1]
Her first solo album, Maria Muldaur, released in 1973, contained her hit single "Midnight at the Oasis",[5] which reached number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1974. It peaked at number 21 on the UK Singles Chart.[6] Later that year, she released her second album, Waitress in a Donut Shop.[5] 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.
Muldaur (second from left) with her band on stage at the 1983 Cambridge Folk Festival, EnglandMuldaur at the 1983 Cambridge Folk Festival (detail from above image)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).
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.[7]
Around 1980, Muldaur became a Christian and released a live album, Gospel Nights, and a studio album, There Is A Love.[5] In 1983 she returned to secular music with Sweet and Slow, a set informed by vintage jazz and blues.[8]
Muldaur continued to perform, tour, and record after her success in the mid 1970s, including a turn at the Teatro ZinZanni in 2001.[4][9]
In 2003, Muldaur performed at Carnegie Hall in a Peggy Lee tribute concert produced by Richard Barone.[11] In 2018 she performed in Barone's Central Park concert Music & Revolution along with John Sebastian and others from her Greenwich Village days.[12]
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
Festival:The Newport Folk Festival 1965 (Vanguard VRS-9225/VSD-79225) - (as Maria D'Amato) "Tricks Ain't Walkin' No More"; backing on Eric von Schmidt, "My Love Comes Rolling Down"
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