Maria Muldaur – Trouble In Mind

I was listening to Maria Muldaur and this song popped up in the recommended songs. I usually only do studio cuts but this one was just too good.  I had to post this because what a band and what a groove these musicians have. I love the way she sounds here and she lets it go. The backing band is tremendous. You have Leon Russell, Maria Muldaur, Bonnie Raitt, and Willie Nelson. How better of a band could you ask for? You will also get a two-for-one today…I’m including a song by her called I’m A Woman.

Maria Muldaur…all I knew from her was the pop song Midnight At The Oasis…it is a brilliant pop song but the more I listened…the more I was surprised. I saw her sing with Dan Hicks and other artists and when I dug into her history the more I was impressed.

She became a part of the Greenwich Village folk music scene in the early 1960s. She was part of The Even Dozen Jug Band and later with the Jim Kweskin Jug Band. She got into so many different types of music like blues, gospel, R&B, jazz, and big band music. Her influences were the best… Bessie Smith and Memphis Minnie are two of them.

Jimmy Page and Robert Plant were huge fans and she has worked with the best. Jerry Garcia, Paul Butterfield, Linda Ronstadt, Elvin Bishop, The Doobie Brothers, Wendy Waldman, and more. She has released over 40 solo albums starting in 1973 and that is not counting her earlier band albums with The Even Dozen Jug Band, Jim Kweskin and The Jug Band, and with her then-husband Geoff Muldaur. When you add those…the number gets into the 50s.

The song I’m A Woman appeared on her 1974 album Waitress in a Donut Shop. I’ve been listening to that album and it’s one that I would recommend everyone checking out. The album did well…it peaked at #23 on the Billboard Album Charts in 1974.

I’m going to close with this. Many times an artist is defined by their major hit…that does an injustice on Muldaur. That is not a putdown on “Midnight at the Oasis”…I think it’s brilliant… but she is so much more than that. I’ve never been into awards but she has been nominated for 5 Grammy Awards.

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

35 thoughts on “Maria Muldaur – Trouble In Mind”

  1. A timely choice with the Dylan film out now. It would take a pretty complex chart to record the interweaving of folks in Greenwich Village in the early 60s. Maria Muldaur was Maria D’Amato when she started out. The Even Dozen Jug Band included John Sebastian (Lovin’ Spoonful), David Grisman, and Steve Katz (Blood, Sweat, and Tears). When Maria and Geoff split, he joined Paul Butterfield’s band. The definitive version of Butterfield’s band included Mike Bloomfield, who was on stage with Dylan at Newport in 1965 when he was booed for going electric.

    I was introduced to “Trouble in Mind” by Brownie McGee and Sonny Terry, who have a brief appearance in the Dylan film.

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    1. I have to say…it was eye opening learning this. For all I knew she just popped up and was a pop singer singing Midnight at the Oasis. I knew nothing about her extensive background. Hell she had a good career before that song and a very long one after.

      You are correct…it IS extensive…all of that scene of who drifted in and out. I had heard of this song before but I didn’t know who or when.

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  2. “Midnight at the Oasis” is the song I mostly associate with Maria Muldaur. She also sounds terrific on “I’m a Woman.”, and her performance with Leon Russell, Bonnie Raitt and Willie Nelson is dynamite as well. I guess adding “Waitress in a Donut Shop” to the pile must be the next step!

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    1. I love that title for an album by the way…that is so cool. Yes I had no idea how extensive of a career she had…she had a career before that song…a long one and a longer one afterward. Thanks Christian.

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    1. It suprised me completely. I didn’t know about the folk, blues, jazz, etc… it’s almost like…why wasn’t this or that played? Yea I was just going to do I’m A Woman…but I saw that clip…oh yea…I had to include that one.

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    1. I had no clue about this side of her…or should I say the multiple sides. It’s really good music….I’ve been playing it at work. Work is where I get most of my music listening….while working.

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      2. LOL…obbverse…I work in a locked office. I have a combination real door…only I and my assistant knows…so in that part yes I am lucky! The other directors are jealous but they are not IT… we are the misfits…but privlidged.

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      1. Look for two albums by “Paul Butterfield’s Better Days.” Ronnie Baron played keyboards, Muldaur and Amos Garrett (who played the guitar solo on “Midnight At The Oasis”) on guitars, don’t remember who played bass and drums. The second album was called “It All Comes Back,” the first (which I could never find) I think was just the band name. Amazing blues from one of the greats…

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  8. You really dipped into the vault for that live cut. Leon is growing on me more and more. Maria had a real sassy, confident way. I guess she’s doing call and response with Muddy Waters on the song you picked. Her vocal style is more appealing to me than others. I really do like the laid back easy, not pushed delivery. At one time I was more into Price’s ‘Waitress’ because it was the original (Hicks) and first one I heard. I will probably listen to more MM since our chats. The music hasnt lost anything to my ears.

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    1. When I heard the live cut…I thought…I think CB would like this one. I felt bad not getting one of her studio cuts so I included one…it is a good album…but I was hooked on that live cut…I just wish it would have been more of her.
      Now I need to listen to that version you mentioned. I haven’t come across that one yet.

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      4. I’m trying to nail down a Price song…I like her jazz stuff a lot…even the stuff that is more recent. I might hit that album and pick one.

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  11. Pingback: Maryann Price – Sweetheart (Waitress in a Donut Shop) – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

  12. Waitress in a Donut Shop is Maria Muldaur’s second solo record. Her first, with Midnight At The Oasis, is just as eclectic with so many excellent musicians and great great music. One of my favorite guitar players is Amos Garrett, who is responsible for the solos on Oasis. Amos, Geoff Muldaur and Maria Muldaur are a team of best friends (even after the divorce of Geoff and Maria) and every album I’ve heard with any of them has standout cuts. Paul Butterfield’s Better Days was a Super Group put together by some music exec; their two records on Bearsville are excellent (and have been reissued in Japan and England). Waitress in a Donut Shop is a line from a Dan Hicks song.

    It is all tied together by the excellence in the music.

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    1. This one was suggested to me by someone and I feel for it hook, line, and sinker. The only thing I knew before I did this was Midnight at the Oasis.
      Thank you on the tip…I’ll check out Paul Butterfield’s Better Days …
      Oh I like Dan Hicks…I did a post or two on him before. Thank you for commenting

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      1. Did you check out Better Days yet? It was such a great band. Butterfield, Geoff Muldaur, Amos Garrett, Ronnie Barron, Billy Rich and Chris Parker All excellent. Also, while not a member of the band, Bobby Charles wrote a number of the songs they did. There is video of a Midnight Special they did, I think.

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