That Eric Alper

Six-time Grammy nominee Maria Muldaur, who’s been dubbed “The First Lady of Roots Music” for previous albums touching on her wide-ranging influences from blues, country, folk, jazz and even jug band music, continues her exploration of the great American roots music songbook with the July 11 release of One Hour Mama: The Blues of Victoria Spivey, from Nola Blue Records. She’s joined on the new disc for duets by special guests multi-Grammy winner Taj Mahal and legendary bluesman Elvin Bishop, plus sessions with acclaimed New Orleans band Tuba Skinny.

From her long-time San Francisco Bay Area base, on One Hour Mama: The Blues of Victoria Spivey, Maria Muldaur honors her mentor, Classic Blues Queen Victoria Spivey. Known for her sassy, spunky Blues delivery, Spivey had her first big hit in 1926 with the self-penned risqué “Black Snake Blues,” the first of many naughty, bawdy Blues she wrote and recorded in her long and prolific career. As a Blues singer, she worked with many of the greats of her day: Louis Armstrong, Lonnie Johnson, Bessie Smith, Memphis Minnie, Blind Lemon Jefferson, etc., but expanded her career to include acting in movies and Broadway musicals throughout the ‘30s and ‘40s. During the folk and blues revival of the 1960s, Spivey started her own label, Spivey Records, giving recording opportunities to many old blues veterans as well as encouragement and support to budding new artists. She was the first to record Bob Dylan and offered Maria Muldaur her first opportunity to record, taking her under her wing and mentoring her in the fine points of performing and singing the blues. Now, more than 60 years later, Maria Muldaur presents an anthology of Spivey’s blues, both well-known and obscure, in loving recognition of both her personal impact and her vast contributions to the genre.

“When I was a young aspiring singer in the early 1960s, one of the great Classic Blues Queens of the 1920s and ‘30s, Victoria Spivey, took me under her wing and mentored me,” Muldaur remembers in the album’s liner notes. “Although, of course, I appreciated it at the time, over the years I’ve come to realize just how important her encouragement and support were to me and so many other musicians!

“To my surprise, a music writer recently dubbed her ‘The Madonna of the Blues,’ but thinking about it, I know exactly what he meant!  Victoria was ambitious, tenacious, sassy, spunky, boldly & unabashedly expressing her sexuality, versatile and multitalented, singing  and writing not just Blues, but pop and novelty songs of the day, dancing, playing piano and other instruments, acting in movies and stage shows, … and entrepreneurial… publishing her own Blues newsletter and starting her own record label, Spivey Records, to give recording opportunities to both old Blues veterans and young hopefuls just starting out (like myself and Bob Dylan, to name a few!). I was so pleased to find and collaborate with so many fine young musicians who are embracing and carrying forward the rich legacy of this ‘vintage music.’ This album is a loving tribute to Victoria Spivey for all she brought to the Blues and for the great influence she was on my musical journey. ENJOY!”

“This project is both professionally and personally very significant to me,” says Nola Blue Records president Sallie Bengtson.  “Similar to the ways in which Victoria’s support and encouragement of Maria were so important, I feel much the same about an industry icon like Maria placing her confidence in Nola Blue for her ‘bucket list’ project. She and I were first introduced at the conclusion of our label’s tenth anniversary celebration year, and it felt like divine affirmation of our efforts to that point and encouragement to stay the course!”

Maria Muldaur is best known world-wide for her 1973 mega-hit “Midnight at the Oasis,” which received two Grammy nominations, and enshrined her forever in the hearts of Baby Boomers everywhere; but despite her considerable pop music success, her music career could best be described as a long and adventurous odyssey through the various forms of American Roots Music. In September, 2019, The Americana Music Association awarded Maria “The Lifetime Achievement Americana Trailblazer Award” for her lifelong work of covering the depth and breadth of American Roots music and for being one of the pioneers who laid the groundwork for what we’ve come to call ‘Americana Music’. She has recorded 43 solo albums covering all kinds of American Roots Music, including Blues, Gospel, R&B, Jug Band, Jazz and Big Band, but has now settled comfortably into her favorite idiom, the Blues. In recent years, often joining forces with some of the top names in the business, Maria has recorded and produced at least a dozen Blues albums, garnering multi-Grammy nominations and various Blues awards.

One Hour Mama – The Blues of Victoria Spivey Track Listing:
1    My Handy Man    Andy Razaf
2    What Makes You Act Like That?
(duet with Elvin Bishop)    Lonnie Johnson
3    Don’t Love No Married Man    Victoria Spivey
4    Dreaming of You    Victoria Spivey
5    Organ Grinder Blues    Clarence Williams
6    No, Papa, No!    Victoria Spivey
7    One Hour Mama    Porter Grainger
8    Funny Feathers    Reuben Floyd & Victoria Spivey
9    Gotta Have What It Takes
(duet with Taj Mahal)    Victoria Spivey & Harold Grey
10    Any-Kind-A-Man    Hattie McDaniel
11    Down Hill Pull    Victoria Spivey
12    T-B Blues    Victoria Spivey