May 3, 2024      —–     Chart #244

Hello Music Friends,

Hey folks, welcome to another edition of Chart of the Week. Todays song is one we have all sung along to at one time or another, whether you will admit it or not. It’s so catchy in the chorus, you can’t help yourself. “My Maria” is a song co-written by B. W. Stevenson and Daniel Moore. Lindy Blaskey, a music publisher at ABC/Dunhill Records, thought Moore had a possible hit with his verse and chorus, but couldn’t get him to finish the song, so Blaskey took what Moore had so far and asked Stevenson to finish writing it with an additional verse. David Kershenbaum, Stevenson’s producer at RCA, agreed with Blaskey that it sounded like a hit and produced and released “My Maria” as a single in August 1973. The song became a Top 10 hit, peaking at No. 9 on the US pop chart. It remained in the Top 40 for twelve weeks. In addition, “My Maria” spent one week at No. 1 on the US adult contemporary chart. The guitar portion of the track was played by Larry Carlton. (who knew?) A cover version by Brooks & Dunn reached No. 1 on the US country music chart and won the 1997 Grammy for Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.

When country music duo Brooks & Dunn released a cover version of “My Maria” in 1996, the song reached No. 1 on the US country chart. Their version of the song appears on their album Borderline, released in 1996 on Arista Records. In addition, their version was the No. 1 country song of 1996 according to Billboard, and won the duo its second Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Vocal Group or Duo.

Louis Charles “B.W.” Stevenson (October 5, 1949 – April 28, 1988) (originally known as Buckwheat Stevenson) was an American country pop singer and musician, working in a genre now called progressive country. “B.W.” stood for “Buckwheat”. Stevenson was born in Dallas, Texas and attended W.H. Adamson High School with other musicians Michael Martin Murphey, Ray Wylie Hubbard, and Larry Groce. Yep, BW is a Dallas boy!

Stevenson died following heart valve surgery after developing a staph infection at the age of 38. Since his death, Poor David’s Pub in Dallas has held an annual songwriting competition in his memory. Sure wish we could have had BW around longer, no telling what more he could have done.

Here’s Brooks & Dunn performing the song live:  https://youtu.be/nWVaq6dpj2s?si=uGSLvhoE1BxPYbo6

Play this one and sing at the top of your lungs . . . . My Marii..ii..ii..ii..ii..ii..ii..a !!!

Keep Rockin’,

Stan Bradshaw