Maria D'Amato was born in New York City in 1943. During the 60s she was part of the Greenwich Village Folk Scene, being a member of both the Even Dozen Jug Band and Jim Kweskin's Jug Band. It was as a member of the latter that she met Geoff Muldaur, and the two of them married. By 1970 they had moved to Woodstock, and there they recorded two albums together as a duo. They then joined a new group put together by Paul Butterfield, but before the release of Better Days' debut album the Muldaurs had split up. Geoff stayed with Better Days, whilst Maria began a solo career.
Her debut album was released in 1973, and it followed the framework the two duo albums had set up - a quirky and eclectic mix of American roots music styles, with flavours of blues, country, New Orleans jazz and vaudeville, all with a clean production style that gave it a good dose of pop appeal. The songs were all covers, and included numbers by Dolly Parton, Jimmie Rodgers, Kate McGarrigle and Dr John. The album featured a huge number of backing musicians, among them Ry Cooder, Clarence White, David Grisman, Jim Keltner, Chris Ethridge, Jim Dickinson, Dr John, Amos Garrett, Klaus Voormann, Bill Keith, David Lindley, Spooner Oldham and Jim Gordon.
The album was a big success, thanks to one song - David Nichtern's "Midnight At The Oasis" was a surprise hit, and got to #6. It remains today by far her best-known song.
|> Waitress In A Donut Shop (1974)
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3 comments:
Midnight At the oasis is worth the price of admission if only for Amos Garrett's guitar solo, never mind Maria's sultry vocals.
For those not knowing, Amos lives in Southern Alberta these days and lost half of his belongings in the floods that hurt so many this pst June. Including many guitars and other instruments.
Thanks for this.
Lots of benefits planned for Amos and his wife.They want to stay in High River and rebuild.
When Midnight At The Oasis came out, as a guitarist myself, I was left scratching my head trying to work out how on earth he played it. It's not fast, and yet it's one of those magical moments where the frets seem to disappear. It still gives me goosebumps when I hear it.
Very sad to hear about the flood damage. He's been a real inspiration to me over the years, and here in the UK I treasure the few times he's come over in more recent years.
Andy H
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