Maria Muldaur Releases 41st Album: “Don't You Feel My Leg: The Naughty Bawdy Blues Of Blue Lu Barker”

Multiple Grammy nominee Maria Muldaur will release her 41stalbum, and her first studio album in 6 years on September 28th. "DON'T YOU FEEL MY LEG-The Naughty Bawdy Blues of Blue Lu Barker" is her first for the London-based Last Music Company.

Recorded this past June, the album is a tribute to popular vocalist and songwriter Blue Lu Barker, who made her mark in the late 30s and early 40s, and whom Billie Holiday once cited as her biggest influence. Featuring a stellar band of NOLA musicians including New Orleans A-listers David Torkanowsky on piano (Neville Brothers, Irma Thomas, Solomon Burke), Roland Guerin on bass (Allen Toussaint, Steve Earle, Chris Thomas King), and Herlin Riley on drums (Dr. John, Wynton Marsalis, Cassandra Wilson), among others, DON'T YOU FEEL MY LEG brings Muldaur full circle from the 1973 album sessions that spawned Muldaur's million-selling hit, "Midnight At The Oasis," and which also featured a sassy take of Barker's "Don't You Feel My Leg," a cult favorite that remains Muldaur's most requested song to this day at her performances.

"Because of my friendship with Blue Lu and Danny, and my longtime association with that song, I was invited to New Orleans in 2016 to put on a concert paying tribute to Blue Lu in New Orleans. I started doing some in-depth research of all their past recordings, and to my surprise and delight I discovered that they had written and recorded dozens of songs equally naughty, bawdy, witty, and clever as 'Don't You Feel My Leg'. Besides the wonderfully funny, suggestive lyrics, I was really struck and quite charmed by Blue Lu's delivery of these tunes... droll, sly, full of sass and attitude, yet understated...a bit girlish and coy. Her cool nonchalance and crisp ladylike diction in contrast to the naughty, risqué lyrics made them smolder with innuendo all the more. These were songs by hipsters, for hipsters," says Muldaur.

Muldaur adds, "as we sit here in 2018, you might well ask why a vintage gal like me feels it is important to present these vintage tunes at this point in time. Well for one thing, in an era when so many aspects of sexuality are dealt with and discussed with such deadly seriousness, I find the lighthearted playful expressions of sexuality in these songs a pleasant and welcome respite from the fraught discourse prevailing today...and for another...these are all basically hip, fun happy songs, and I think we could all use a big dose of HAPPY right about now."

DON'T YOU FEEL MY LEG: THE NAUGHTY BAWDY BLUES OF BLUE LU BARKER is due out September 28th. Muldaur will tour in conjunction with the release.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE 9-MINUTE MINI-DOC
ON THE MAKING OF THE ALBUM

Tracklisting:

1. GEORGIA GRIND 4.52 / 2. LEAVE MY MAN ALONE 3.43 / 3. LOAN ME YOUR HUSBAND 4.12
4. SCAT SKUNK 3.49 / 5. NOW YOU'RE DOWN IN THE ALLEY 3.39
6. HERE'S A LITTLE GIRL FROM JACKSONVILLE 4.24 / 7. NIX ON THOSE LUSH HEADS 3.42
8. BOW LEGGED DADDY 2.55 / 9. TROMBONE MAN BLUES 3.28 / 10. A LITTLE BIRD TOLD ME 2.20
11. HANDY ANDY 4.27 / 12. DON'T YOU FEEL MY LEG 3.59

US Tour Dates at Press Time:

09.28.2018 The Temporary, Basalt, CO
09.30.2018 Daniels Hall, Denver, CO
10.05.2018 Tybee Post Theater, Tybee Island, GA
10.06.2018 Red Light Cafe, Atlanta, GA
10.07.2018 Ambrose West, Asheville, NC
10.10.2018 Blue Note Grill, Durham, NC
10.11.2018 Historic Jessups Church, Sparks, MD
10.12.2018 Courthouse Center for the Arts, West Kingston, RI
10.13.2018 Firehouse Center for the Arts, Newburyport, MA
10.14.2018 Colony, Woodstock, NY
10.16.2018 City Winery, Washington, DC
10.20.2018 Freshwater Art Gallery, Boyne City, MI
10.21.20118 Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill, Grand Rapids, MI
10.24.2018 Jazz Kitchen, Indianapolis, IN
10.27.2018 Shank Hall, Milwaukee, WI
10.28.2018 Big River Theater, Alma, WI
10.30.2018 View Carre, St. Paul, MN
11.14.2018 Tales from the Tavern, Santa Ynez, CA
11.15.2018 Grand Annex, San Pedro, CA
02.02.2019 Sun City Shadow Hills, Indio, CA
15.02.2019 George Nakano Theatre, Torrence, CA
16.02.2019 George Nakano Theatre, Torrence, CA