September 12 is the birthday of Maria Grazia Rosa Domenica D'Amato (b. 1942) better known as Maria Maldaur. More importantly we're just a little past 50 years since she dropped her eponymous first album, one of the tracks of which went on to become a major hit single a few months later.
"Midnight at the Oasis", penned by David Nichtern, is the silken ear-worm in question. It would be unforgettable if you heard it once, but we heard it a LOT on the radio in the '70s, and some people love it so much it's almost cultish. It's not just the jazzy sound of the record, but the evocative lyrics that fill your head with pictures, with mentions of sultans, sheiks, nomads, camels ,harems, belly dancing, all as metaphors for a sexual come on. Most of the song evokes the Sahara and Arabian deserts, but mention of cactus take us for a second to the Southwestern U.S., and that's okay too -- this is a VERY California record. (Muldauer collaborated a lot with Linda Ronstadt, for example). But anyway, all this Casablanca style imagery clicked majorly with the time and place. For better of worse it makes me think of the revival of Panama hats in the '70s.
Almost all so-called "one hit wonders" are not that at all, and it's worth exploring Muldauer's huge body of work both before and after her big moment. She was of that nostalgic time I wrote about here, a sister of sorts to the likes of Leon Redbone or Randy Newman, rooted in the past and tradition and Americana but with a much more free spirited energy than would have been possible for the lady singers of the '20s, '30s, and '40s. She often bends her notes a little flat like Billie Holiday, but put out a contemporary vibe that reminds me of musical peers of her own day like Joan Baez or Melanie.
That first 1973 LP has songs by Jimmie Rodgers, Dolly Parton, and Kate McGarrigle et al (and she frequently sounds like the last two). There's a tune called "Three Dollar Bill" by Dr. John. And -- even better -- one called "Vaudeville Man" (!) by Muldaur's frequent collaborator Wendy Waldman whose own solo career ran in almost exact parallel to Muladaur's. That one comes complete with ragtime guitar playing, wailing clarinet, and one of those fat horn sections so characteristic of the time. The personnel on the LP includes Dr. John, Ry Cooder, Jim Keltner, and Klaus Voorman -- and that's just the musicians whose names I recognized. Maria Muldaur went to #3 on the charts, helped along by appearances on The Tonight Show, The Midnight Special, and Don Kirshner's Rock Concert.
Her next record Waitress in a Donut Shop (1974) almost cracked the top 20, and yielded a #12 single in the form of a raucous cover of Lieber and Stoller's "I'm a Woman". Her next efforts began to slide in public interest however. Muldaur's last LP for a major label was in 1979, though she's been making records ever since then. In the halcyon days of the '70s she also recorded harmonies with the likes of Jerry Garcia, Linda Ronstadt, Paul Butterfield and others.
I haven't even gotten to the cool part yet. By the time Muldaur cut that first solo album she'd been a professional in the music business, performing in NYC's Greenwich Village folk scene with the Even Dozen Jug Band, Jim Kweskin's Jug Band, and in a duo with her husband Geoff Muldaur. (John Sebastian of The Lovin' Spoonful was one of their collaborators from their jug band days) The Muldaurs best known song as a pair was "Brazil", which was used as the theme music for Terry Gilliam's 1985 movie of the same name. Geoff also recorded extensively with Paul Butterfield and Jerry Garcia, as well as people like Eric Von Schmidt (a name Dylan fans will recognize from Bob's name drop in "Baby, Let Me Follow Your Down". He also recorded an entire LP of Bix Beiderbecke covers.
You can see why, I hope, I saw fit to include them in these annals.
For more on show business history please see No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous.
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