“My Maria” is a song so synonymous with Brooks & Dunn that it’s hard to believe it was already a hit for another artist. In August 1973, pop-country singer B.W. Stevenson flooded the airwaves with his twangy voice on the now-famous song. In addition to topping the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, it was a crossover hit, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart and the Top 10 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100. So, who wrote this country gem?
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Meet the Writers of “My Maria”
B.W. Stevenson isn’t just the singer of “My Maria,” he’s also the co-writer with Daniel Moore. Stevenson was born in 1949 and raised in Oak Cliff, a suburb of Dallas, Texas. Stevenson is regarded as one of the forebearers of what’s now known as progressive country wherein artists in the 1960s and ’70s leaned more into the Bakersfield sound from California and honky tonk country than they did the over-produced pop sound dominating Nashville.
In addition to “My Maria,” Stevenson was also known for the hit “Shambala.” Written solely by Moore, the song has a unique history in that Stevenson released his version in February 1973. It reached No. 31 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart in May 1973—merely weeks before Three Dog Night released its cover. Though the Texas singer saw moderate success with “Shambala,” it was Three Dog Night who made it a hit, their rendition reaching No. 3 on both the Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts.
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Stevenson also missed a potential career milestone when he taped a performance for the pilot episode of the now-iconic series Austin City Limits in 1974. However, his footage was deemed unusable and never made it to air. Instead, fellow Texan and music giant Willie Nelson appeared in his place. Stevenson suffered an untimely death in 1988 at the age of 38 after he developed a staff infection and had to get heart valve surgery.
Prior to his death, he recorded eight studio albums, with an additional seven released posthumously. His legacy continues to live on with the B.W. Stevenson Memorial Singer-Songwriter Contest hosted annually at Poor David’s Pub in his native Dallas.
Moore was no stranger to writing chart-topping songs. He’s also the writer behind songs by Joe Cocker, The Everly Brothers, Kenny Rogers, Bonnie Raitt, Waylon Jennings, and many other legends. “I probably would never have finished ‘My Maria’ without B.W.’s assistance,” Moore said in a 2014 interview, according to Oak Cliff Advocate. “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.”
In 1996, Brooks & Dunn lent their voices to it, with their cover reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. It earned them a Grammy Award in 1997 for Best Country Vocal Performance By A Duo Or Group. It’s one of their signature hits, so much so that it was the only song they sang during their final performance at the ACM Awards in 2010 before going on hiatus.
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