Customer Reviews

Waitress In The Donut Shop

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is my favorite Maria Muldaur album (I have four). The music is superb. There is a lot of jazz (my favorite cuts are the jazzy ones) and some blues and "pop". The backup musicians are remarkable: jazz luminaries like Ray Brown on bass, Shelly Mann on drums, Harry Edison on trumpet, Shahib Shihab and Plas Johnson on saxes. These are jazz giants who really belt it out, and Ms. Muldaur's voice is equal to the incredible instrumental music. She can sing with power and authority, yet keep a sexy, feminine perspective in any arrangement. The standout of the CD, without a doubt, is "Sweetheart", a mid-tempo swinger to which it is very difficult to sit still . It has great lyrics, superb piano work, and the brass and woodwinds are equal to most big bands I have heard. It is an almost perfect song and performance. I would buy the CD again for "Sweetheart" alone. Maria has a lot of rude fun with "It ain't the Meat it's the Motion". The horn arrangments here are equal to "Sweetheart", the tune is faster paced, and even more difficult to sit still to. Hearing the members of the band sing along on this cut with Ms. Muldaur, you know they were all having a wonderful time. The sound recording is excellent, you can hear the arrangements in detail and follow individual insturments easily. Five stars for the great insturmental music, clever melodies and lyrics, and sensational singing by Ms. Muldaur, this CD is tops in every way.

I recently put my vinyl onto a CD, and had a chance to revisit this be-UUU-tiful work. I agree with another reviewer that "Sweetheart" alone is worth the price of admission. If you like a combination of jazz, blues, pop ... heck, no labels necessary. In the words of her own song (from another album: "Label it garbage/Label it art/You can't call it soul/You'll have to call it heart". So if you love serious good music, get this album.

As good as I remembered it-- and what a guest roster! The title track Sweetheart is mesmorizing and smooth. But my favorite soon became Gringo en Mexico, with a beautiful haunting melody and accompanyment and a real showcase for Muldaur's sultry voice. The whole cd has a very forties jazz feel to it, but there are some favorites that have been made hits by contemporary musicians. She does a great job with Allen Toussant's Brickyard Blues, and adds some grit to her selections with It ain't the Meat it's the Motion. Guests include Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Linda Ronstadt, Paul Butterfield, Mac Rebenack (Dr. John), and more. This CD certainly stands the test of time--and suits the mood of any season. Whether you are curling up with it on a winter afternoon, or feeling the warm summer breezes, you can listen to these tunes over and over and discover more nuances.

I originally bought this as a vinyl album when it first came out, and have since purchased the CD version, and I'm now looking to buy it again because it's gotten scratched up from too much usage. My favorite cuts are "I'm A Woman" and "Brickyard Blues" with "Cool River" and "It Ain't the Meat It's the Motion" coming in next, but the whole album is great. I usually consider a good album one that has at least two songs that I really like, but I enjoy all the songs on this album.

Not her best, but a good mix of pop, blues and jazz. See "Richland Woman Blues" album for gutsier, more... overall interesting Muldaur cuts. The treatment here of "Brickyard Blues" (w what seems to be Dr. John's identifiable piano in back) is great, though - brassy and funky at the same time. There's a fine version of "It Ain't the Meat It's the Motion," and the best "Travelin' Shoes" delivery I can recall hearing. I did deduct a star for a couple of clunkers that edge so far away from her best, earthy work they sound intended for elevators and supermarkets right out of the box. But her time with the Jim Kweskin Jug Band does season the music in a lot of places, which, as always, makes her great fun to listen to.

Maria Muldaur is sweet, sexy, fun, passionate, original and fresh in "Waitress in Donut Shop," which hands-down is my favorite album of hers. I used to play this album on my turntable every morning to get ready for work. Yep, it was that good it got me going every morning day after day for months!

This is the album--yes the album --I bought in 1974 that absolutely hooked me on the music of Maria. It was 22 years before I got to see her live--but it was worth the wait.

MARIA MULDAUR-WAITRESS IN THE DONUT SHOP: Between RNB, folk, soul, jazz, and gospel, former JUG BAND warbler MARIA GRAZIA ROSA DOMENICA D'AMATO (whew!) seemingly never met a roots rock genre she didn't dig or couldn't handle with grace and ease. Her second album WAITRESS IN THE DONUT SHOP is a treasure trove of all these styles and more, administered via her rich, expressive pipes and slinky, carefree delivery. The earthy LEIBER & STOLLER standard I'M A WOMAN and bawdy jumpin' jiver IT AIN'T THE MEAT IT'S THE MOTION sound straight from the roadhouse, while FATS WALLER's jazzy SQUEEZE ME and SKIP JAMES' IF YOU HAVEN'T ANY HAY receive playful steam-heat treatments. New Orleans songsmith ALLEN TOUSSAINT's BRICKYARD BLUES gets a sly workout and TRAVELIN' SHOES is acapella gospel at its most righteous, allowing MULDAUR to weave her sweet 'n sultry web between the cracks. A who's who of session greats including ELVIN BISHOP, DOC WATSON, LOWELL GEORGE, PAUL BUTTERFIELD, and DR. JOHN contribute tasty cameos to WAITRESS IN THE DONUT SHOP; MARIA MULDAUR's long career found her delving deeper into modern music's origins with each acclaimed album, eschewing the less challenging route of a pop star to meet the blues head on.

RATING: FOUR DONUTS

I had the album long ago,but it was so scratched up, I really love her sound and wanted this CD. She has such a mixed sound that I never get bored with her. She can do cajun music, children songs, jug band, folk, rock & pop, blues and all. She is the queen of the mixed bag of sounds.

Waitress in the Donut Shop proves once again that Maria Muldaur is the sexiest songstress ever! Man! Can she ever get down and raunch! Tunes of special note on this album include: It's Ain't the Meat It's the Motion, and the not to be missed Brickyard Blues.