Artist:B.W. Stevenson
Song:My Maria
Album:Singers & Songwriters: Mid '70s
My Maria was a top ten pop hit in 1973. It was the only big hit for singer songwriter B.W. Stevenson. Though he is perceived as a one hit wonder, some of his other songs charted so he is not a one hit wonder. In fact, one of his other songs was a big hit for another artist. He was born Louis Charles Stevenson Oct. 5, 1949 in Dallas. His childhood nickname was Buckwheat which he shortened to B.W. Stevenson played local clubs as a teen. He attended college and after a stint in the U.S. Air Force, Stevenson moved to Austin and he signed with RCA Records producer David Kershenbaum. This was at the beginning of Kershenbaum's career. He went on to produce Duran Duran and Tracy Chapman among others. RCA's attempt to sell Stevenson as a country artist was unsuccessful until My Maria reached #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1973. It did not make the country charts. The 1996 Brooks & Dunn recording of My Maria topped the country charts. I guess that threw RCA a bit of a curve ball. Stevenson recorded the album with Los Angeles session musicians like guitarist Larry Carlton and Larry Muhoberac who played keyboards and wrote the arrangements. Stevenson wrote My Maria with Daniel Moore who also wrote Shambala which was the B side of My Maria. Shambala was a big hit for Three Dog Night. Stevenson was supposed to appear on the debut episode of Austin City Limits. But the footage was so poor in quality it was discarded and Willie Nelson appeared instead. Stevenson recorded four albums for RCA and then two for Warner Bros. After a 1980 CCM album for MCA Songbird, he wrote songs for some of BJ Thomas' CCM albums. You can get My Maria on this 2CD Time Life various artists budget comp. B.W. Stevenson died after heart surgery on Apr. 28, 1988 at age 38. Poor David's Pub in Dallas holds an annual songwriting contest in his memory. Here's a video of My Maria by B.W. Stevenson.
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