"My Maria" is a song co-written by B. W. Stevenson and Daniel Moore. Stevenson released "My Maria" as a single in August 1973, and the song became a Top 10 hit, peaking at number 9 on the US pop chart. It remained in the Top 40 for twelve weeks. In addition, "My Maria" spent one week at number 1 on the US adult contemporary chart. The guitar portion of the track was played by Larry Carlton. A cover by Brooks & Dunn reached number 1 on the US country music chart and won the 1997 Grammy for Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. A gypsy woman, Maria, relieves the narrator from problems with which he has been struggling. When country duo Brooks & Dunn released a cover version of "My Maria" in 1996, the song reached number 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 number one country song of the year 1996 according to Billboard, and won the duo its second Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Vocal Group or Duo. The song's b-side, "Mama Don't Get Dressed Up for Nothing," would later be released as the album's third single. In addition, this song was performed as their last performance as a duo at the 2010 ACM Awards on April 18, 2010, as well at the 50th anniversary of the ACM Awards on April 19, 2015. In February 1973, Stevenson released the song "Shambala," which was written by the composer Daniel Moore. Two weeks later, Three Dog Night released their version of the song, which became the much bigger hit, charting at US #3 while Stevenson's version stalled at #66. Stevenson and Moore then got together and re-wrote "Shambala" as "My Maria," changing the lyrics so the song became an ode to a beautiful woman. The ploy worked, and Stevenson had by far his biggest hit - his next closest chart entry was "The River Of Love" at #53, also written by Moore. "Shambala" was often credited as being written by Stevenson. Moore told us: "My co-writer on 'My Maria,' B.W. Stevenson and I got together in 1987 and I busted him for taking credit for writing 'Shambala.' He had this big grin on his face and said, 'I never said that I wrote it.' Then his grin got bigger and he said, 'But I also never said that I didn't write it.' Poor guy died the next year from a staph infection after a heart valve operation in Nashville. The operation went fine, but 3 days later he got the staph infection and it killed him. So much for the hospitals in Nashville. I probably would never have finished 'My Maria' without B.W.'s assistance. I had been working on the song for two years at the point I showed it to him. Of course he wrote the rest of the lyrics in about 15 minutes. Bless his heart." B.W. Stevenson (B.W. = "Buck Wheat") was a singer/songwriter from Dallas, Texas who died in 1988 at age 38. "My Maria," featuring Larry Carlton on guitar, was by far his best-known song. It was a #1 hit on the Adult Contemporary chart. A 1996 cover version by Brooks & Dunn was a huge Country hit, going to #1 and being named by Billboard as the Country Song of the Year. Their version also made #79 on the Hot 100. The song's writer Daniel Moore says he earned far more for the cover than for any previous versions. Says Moore: "The original sold 950,000 singles, Brooks & Dunn's version has sold over 6 million. The original version got about 1,500,000 US radio performances. The Brooks & Dunn version is over 6,500,000 US radio performances and still going." Shauna and Kevin’s Engagement Video from alumiq productionsPLUS7 years agomore Shauna and Kevin told us that they were going to have their wedding at the Star Ranch in Corona, California (ridestarranch.com), we jumped at the chance to shoot their engagement there! The venue is an event cinematographer's dream. There are so many little details that gave the ranch an old town Western feel. There was a little church, run down saloon, jail house, 52 horses, and an abandon hotel. We showed this video at their wedding reception. We hope you enjoy the video! Technical: Panasonic HMC 150 Canon 7D Steadicam Pilot DIY slider 50mm F1.8 70-200mmm F2.8 Tripods
Visibility: 341
Duration: 3m 50s
Rating: 15