Buyer, and especially Maria Muldaur fan, beware. Only a note in tiny print on the back cover of this disc informs you that it is not only a cobbled together selection of Muldaur's most romantic tunes, but they are only from three albums, which are, not surprisingly, ones she recorded for the Telarc label. In other words, if you already have those discs you can make a tape or burn your own CD that would be identical to this collection. Adding to the shoddiness of the package is a frustrating lack of liner notes (although specific musicians on each track are listed) and inferior graphics that look like a last minute afterthought.
Maria Muldaur's trilogy of old-timey blues and jazz releases for the Stony Plain imprint (she simultaneously records more contemporary music for the Telarc label) concludes with this appropriately titled set. Much is made in the liner notes of the veteran jazz/blues/pop/gospel singer being mentored in her early jugband years by no less of an icon than Victoria Spivey, so it seems Muldaur feels this tribute to the style and material of Spivey and other "classic blues queens" of the '20s and '30s is a sort of closure. It is also a history lesson, with detailed booklet information, some of it written by Muldaur, providing fascinating capsule biographies of the women whose music is covered here.
As its title implies, this is a spiritually based collaboration from three distinct – even disparate – yet surprisingly harmonious voices. Mostly, but not entirely acoustic, the trio of rootsy singers trade lead vocals on smooth jazz/blues ("Bessie's Dream"), folk-blues ("Good Stuff"), Delta blues ("Rolling Log"), gospel (an a cappella version of Sister Rosetta Tharpe's "Rock Daniel"), and combinations of those genres. On paper it sounds scattershot, but in actuality this is a thoughtfully paced combination of styles, united by three affecting voices. Eric Bibb's smoother Keb' Mo' approach meshes surprisingly well with Rory Block's more penetrating Delta croon and Maria Muldaur's sassy, sexy, throaty growl.
Meet Me Where They Play the Blues captures Maria Muldaur at her sexy, sultry, sizzlin' best. Twenty-five years after she sent her camel to bed in "Midnight at the Oasis," Muldaur delivers a soulful package of late-night blues gems bolstered by a top-notch supporting cast. Originally planning to record this material with the legendary singer/pianist Charles Brown, she ended up producing a tribute when Brown became too ill to join in. He was, however, able to sing a duet with Muldaur from his nursing home on "Gee Baby, Ain't I Good to You," a performance that turned out to be his last. On the remaining tracks, the spirit of Brown's "cool blues" permeates the proceedings. Most of the songs are taken at slow to medium tempos, and Muldaur intimately caresses each lyric to squeeze out every drop of sensuality.
Best known for that ditty about camels, Maria Muldaur has since established herself as one of the finest folk/country/jazz/blues/gospel interpreters ever to have a Top Five single. After 26 years and 24 solo albums, Muldaur – inspired by a trip to Memphis' Beale Street – digs deep into her roots and pays tribute to the classic blues women of the '20s and '30s. Aided by the similarly inclined Bonnie Raitt, Taj Mahal, and Alvin "Youngblood" Hart, Muldaur breezes through 14 tunes from icons Bessie Smith and Memphis Minnie, as well as obscurities from the Reverend Gary Davis, Mississippi John Hurt, and Blind Willie Johnson.
Maria is an energetic, gutsy, hard-driving original blues guitarist and singer/songwriter. Maria enjoys an enthusiastic following in Western New York and Canada and has performed at a variety of clubs and festivals throughout the region. She has performed with national blue’s artists Tommy Castro, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Tab Benoit, Elvin Bishop, Popa Chubby, Kelley Hunt, Jeff Healey, Debbie Davies and Jimmy Thackery to name a few. Additionally, she has opened for Foreigner, Blue Oyster Cult, Edgar Winter, Johnny Winter, Little Feat, Creedence Clearwater Revisited, Foghat, Steppenwolf and Sammy Hagar.
This is not a new idea: in 2001 the English label Indigo produced a collection of Beatles songs by British and American blues artists. That was patchy, and so is this. The Beatles' heavy-handed treatment of "Why Don't We Do It in the Road?" was intended (surely?) to be a joke, so for Jimmy Thackery and the Drivers to roll it flat like a steamroller is kind of missing the point. Pity it's the first track. In fact it's a pity the whole album wasn't reshuffled, because the best stuff only begins to appear about halfway through. Maria Muldaur's reading of "Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da" leeches out all its cuteness, Chris Duarte's guitar-playing in "I'm So Tired" belies the title, Charlie Musselwhite and Colin Linden go arm-in-arm with harmonica and guitar to take "Dear Prudence" for a long walk and Linden also makes a pretty country blues in the style of Mississippi John Hurt out of "Blackbird".
These two discs reflect, in their way, the incredibly rich, varied lineage of women in the blues. And of course, given the title, we're not talking about singers – though many of these women do sing. With liner notes by Sue Foley, who compiled the set, this collection reaches backward and forward to mirror back to the culture the wild, wooly underside of the blues via its female six-string slingers. There are relative newcomers like Laura Chavez (who plays with Lara Price), Finland's Erja Lyytinen, and Austin's Eve Monses; seasoned veterans like Alice Stuart, Foley, Debbie Davies, Jesse Mae Hemphill, Joann Kelly, Rory Block, Bonnie Raitt with Maria Muldaur, Ellen McIlwaine…
Dave Steen has written songs for Solomon Burke, James Cotton, Maria Muldaur, Junior Wells, and more. This is a 'twisted roots' collection of greasy, gritty, American originals - every one a groovalicious, soulful, blues-rockin' dance party in itself!
This is a great album from the late Andrew Gold which was only released in Japan in 1996. Most of the songs were co-written with Graham Gouldman (of 10cc fame) his partner in the duo Wax. Otherwise it's a typical Gold release, in that he plays virtually all instruments plus engineered and produced the effort. Linda Ronstadt sings harmony on one of the tracks. The title of course is a reference to the year when he was born. The booklet also includes some photo collages by Andrew Gold showing his family and friends/colleagues in the music business. Wonderful guitar playing graced her albums and his own as well. Especially his 12-string guitar sound, plus short and very effective guitar solos are worth mentioning.