My Maria
1973 single by B. W. Stevenson
"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 could not 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 July 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. 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.
01Chart history
| Chart (1973) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (KMR) | 55 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 9 |
| U.S. Cashbox Top 100 | 7 |
| U.S. Billboard Easy Listening | 1 |
| Canada RPM Top Singles | 3 |
| Canada RPM Adult Contemporary | 1 |
02Brooks & Dunn version
| "My Maria" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Brooks & Dunn | ||||
| from the album Borderline | ||||
| B-side | "Mama Don't Get Dressed Up for Nothing" | |||
| Released | March 24, 1996 | |||
| Recorded | 1995 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:30 | |||
| Label | Arista | |||
| Songwriters |
| |||
| Producers | ||||
| Brooks & Dunn singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "My Maria" on YouTube | ||||
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 and accompanied by a music video directed by South African filmmaker Michael Oblowitz. 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. Dunn subsequently claimed in an interview with Billboard later that year that he was initially reluctant to record "My Maria" because the duo had not previously recorded any cover songs.
In addition, this song was performed as their last performance before their initial split at the 2010 ACM Awards on April 18, 2010, as well at the 50th anniversary of the ACM Awards on April 19, 2015.
In 2019, Brooks & Dunn re-recorded "My Maria" with American country music artist Thomas Rhett for their album Reboot.
Chart history
"My Maria" debuted at number 30 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for the week of April 6, 1996.
| Chart (1996) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canada Country Tracks (RPM) | 1 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 79 |
| US Hot Country Songs (Billboard) | 1 |
Year-end charts
| Chart (1996) | Position |
|---|---|
| Canada Country Tracks (RPM) | 12 |
| US Country Songs (Billboard) | 1 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Canada (Music Canada) | 3× Platinum | 240,000‡ |
| United States (RIAA) | 3× Platinum | 3,000,000‡ |
|
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “My Maria”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- B-w-stevenson-my-maria-1973.jpg by RCA Records, Public domain
- BW Stevenson "My Maria" ad.jpg by RCA Records, Public domain
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