“I think that the blues artists, men and women alike, are some of the most important cultural elders, and I do not think that they should be relegated to 78’s on some dusty shelf in the Smithsonian. It is music that still resonates and is very relevant today even though the music emerged one hundred years ago. That is why I have been doing this, because at the moment it is my life’s passion,” says Maria Muldaur most often associated with her hit seventies song “Midnight At The Oasis”, but regarded in music circles as one of the most prolific blues and jazz singers of our day. 
On May 15, Muldaur’s Naughty, Bawdy & Blue, the third CD in her trilogy dedicated to revisiting the songs of great blues artists from the early twentieth century, hits the streets. The album is the sequel to Sweet Lovin’ Ol’ Soul and Richland Woman Blues, both of which were nominated for Grammy Awards. Muldaur recently took time to talk about these three records, her 2006 release of This Heart of Mine, a tribute to the love songs of Bob Dylan and her love for the music of Peggy Lee.
“With Naughty, Bawdy & Blue I pay tribute to just the classic blues queens. They were different from the rural country blues artists like Memphis Minnie. They were like our first pop stars. They were the first people to sell millions of records in the twenties, times were hard and money was scarce. It was quite an accomplishment because they were black women who came from financially and restrictive backgrounds and regions. To rise above all of that, and come out strutting in all this finery, performing all over the country, while selling millions of records is quite an accomplishment. On top of everything else, they were sexually liberated before the term women’s lib was coined. They sung about and celebrated every nuance of sexual liberation (including) the fun, heartache, joy and humor. It was a vital expression of human sexuality,” says Muldaur.
Concerning the blues artists of yesteryear Muldaur says, “I don’t want them to be overlooked. I hope to do my tiny little part to keep them as more than just a good memory. I think I have succeeded, because now other female artists are coming up to me and saying that they have recorded such and such a song of Memphis Minnie’s. Before listening to my record, they had not heard of her. Memphis Minnie was unique because she recorded more than two hundred of her own songs. My little records open the door for other people to get turned on to the same thing,” she says.
Muldaur’s interest in the blues is not a new development. “It has been my passion for forty-five years. I am just passing a torch or a lit candle along. It is a much more vibrant form of musical expression than modern, self-involved pop lyrics. I hate what I call, ‘Dear diary’ music with it’s ‘poor me,” lyrics. I just want to stab myself when I hear it. It makes you realize why shrinks get paid one hundred and fifty dollars an hour to sit and listen to this drivel,” she says.
In contrast to much popular music Muldaur says, “The blues expresses the human emotions of pain, joy and sorrow, but in such a way that the listener and singer transcend the problem by the end of the song. It is not with offering some kind of ‘goody two shoes’ platitude about thinking positively. It does it through the expressing (of the emotions) and gets you over it.”
While many singers today have sought to add longevity to their careers through the recording of old standards, and younger artists are, fitting classic tunes with new arrangements Muldaur’s passion goes beyond the music. She wants to ensure that proper homage is also paid to the artists. It was this heartfelt desire that led her to record A Woman Alone With The Blues an album filled with the songs of Peggy Lee.
