She’s the same Maria Muldaur of “Midnight At The Oasis” fame but most people don’t know much about her before she sent her camel to bed. Muldaur’s maiden name was Maria D’Amato and she got her start performing as a member of the Even Dozen Jug Band alongside future Lovin’ Spoonful member John Sebastian, David Grisman and Stefan Grossman. The Jug Band was part of the same Greenwich Village folk scene that spawned Fred Neil, Phil Ochs and Bob Dylan. D’Amato then went on to join the Jim Kweskin Jug Band where she met her future husband Geoff Muldaur. After Kweskin’s outfit split up, Geoff and Maria went on to release two marvelous down-home old-timey albums for Reprise records. This song comes from the first one called “Pottery Pie” released in 1968, a second called “Sweet Potatoes” followed in 1971. Maria Muldaur went solo after their marriage split up in 1972 releasing numerous albums and hitting it big with the aforementioned top-ten hit “Midnight At The Oasis” in 1973. In the late 70s, Maria sang backing vocals with The Jerry Garcia Band. She’s released over 30 albums over the years and continues to release folk and gospel albums to this day.
