BSBdGs go out today to Maria Grazia Rosa Domenica D'Amato Muldaur, 60. Most people remember her with varying degrees of affection for her one and only hit record "Midnight at the Oasis", but the rest of that record (her self-titled 1973 solo debut) made me a huge fan, and I loved her subsequent Warners releases, Waitress in the Donut Shop and especially 1976's wonderful Sweet Harmony. Unfortunately her next two WB albums tried to be a bit more contemporary in their sound and focus but failed to be interesting...so I wrote Maria off as another casualty of that unholy trio Punk, New Wave and Disco and moved on. Thing is, Maria did too, and far from fading away has had a very successful (aesthetically, if not always financially) career, releasing a score of blues, jazz, gospel, and children's song records on a couple of indie labels, most of which I haven't heard. But I think that's gonna change one of these days.
