Louis Charles "B. W." Stevenson (October 5, 1949 – April 28, 1988) (originally known as Buckwheat Stevenson) was an American

country pop Country pop (also known as urban cowboy or even urban country) is a fusion genre of country music and pop music that was developed by members of the country genre out of a desire to reach a larger, mainstream audience. Country pop music blends g ...

singer and musician, working in a genre now called

progressive country Progressive country is a term used variously to describe a movement, radio format or subgenre of country music which developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as a reaction against the slick, pop-oriented Nashville sound.''Cosmic Cowboys and ...

. "B. W." stood for "Buckwheat". Stevenson was born in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, United States, and attended W.H. Adamson High School with other musicians

Michael Martin Murphey Michael Martin Murphey (born March 14, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter. He was one of the founding artists of progressive country. A multiple Grammy nominee, Murphey has six gold albums, including ''Cowboy Songs (Michael Martin Murphey alb ...

Ray Wylie Hubbard Ray Wylie Hubbard (born November 13, 1946) is an American singer and songwriter. Early life Hubbard was born on November 13, 1946, in Soper, Oklahoma. His family moved to Oak Cliff in southwest Dallas, Texas, in 1954. He attended W. ...

, and

Larry Groce Larry Groce (born April 22, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and radio host. From 1983 until 2021, Groce served as the host and artistic director of '' Mountain Stage'', a two-hour live music radio program produced by West Virginia Publi ...

. Stevenson performed and was taped for the intended pilot of ''

Austin City Limits ''Austin City Limits'' is an American Concert, live music Television show, television program recorded and produced by KLRU, Austin PBS. The show helped Austin become widely known in the United States as the "Live Music Capital of the World", an ...

'' on October 13, 1974. However, the recording quality was deemed too poor to broadcast.

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restr ...

's performance taped the following night was aired as the first episode of the program.

"My Maria"

Stevenson's biggest hit was "

My Maria "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 couldn't get him to finish the song, so Blaskey took wh ...

", co-written with Daniel Moore. Lindy Blaskey, Moore's music publisher at ABC/Dunhill Records heard Daniel's one verse and chorus of "My Maria" but Moore thought it was too bubble-gum sounding. Lindy Blaskey gave the verse and chorus to B.W. Stevenson and asked him to write an additional verse. When finished, David Kershenbaum, Stevenson's producer at RCA Records, agreed with Lindy Blaskey that the song sounded like a hit. "My Maria" reached No. 9 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for the week ending September 29, 1973, No. 3 in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, and was covered later by

Brooks & Dunn Brooks & Dunn are an American country music duo consisting of Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn, both of whom are vocalists and songwriters. The duo was founded in 1988 through the suggestion of songwriter and record producer, Tim DuBois. Before thei ...

, for whom it was a three-week No. 1 country hit in mid-1996. Among Stevenson's other singles are "The River of Love" (No. 53 / No. 49 CAN), another Moore song; "Down to the Station" (No. 82 /No. 82 CAN); and the original version of Daniel Moore's "

Shambala Shambhala (, ),Śambhala m. (also written Sambhala): Name of a town (situated between the Rathaprā and Ganges, and identified by some with Sambhal in Moradabad; the town or district of Śambhala is fabled to be the place where Kalki, the last ...

" (No. 66). A cover version of "Shambala" by

Three Dog Night Three Dog Night is an American rock band formed in 1967, founded by vocalists Chuck Negron, Cory Wells, and Danny Hutton. This lineup was soon augmented by Jimmy Greenspoon (keyboards), Joe Schermie (bass), Michael Allsup (guitar), and Floyd Sn ...

, reached No. 3 and No. 4 in

. Stevenson recorded one

contemporary Christian Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from about 1945 to the present. In the social sciences, contemporary history is also continuous with, and related t ...

album titled ''Lifeline'', produced by

Chris Christian Chris Christian (born Lon Christian Smith on February 7, 1951) is an American songwriter, record producer, and a record label executive. His songs have been recorded by Elvis Presley, Olivia Newton-John, Hall and Oates, Natalie Cole, Sheena Ea ...

, his neighbor in Beverly Hills, and it had success on

Christian radio Christian radio refers to Christian media radio formats that focus on Christian religious broadcasting or various forms of Christian music. Many such formats and programs include contemporary Christian music, gospel music, sermons, radio dramas, ...

with the hit "Headin' Home". His album ''Rainbow Down the Road'' was completed posthumously and included a duet with

on "Heart of the Country". Author Jan Reid devotes a chapter to Stevenson in his book ''The Improbable Rise of Redneck Rock'', dubbing him "The Voice".

Death

In April 1988, Stevenson entered the hospital to undergo

heart valve A heart valve is a biological one-way valve that allows blood to flow in one direction through the chambers of the heart. A mammalian heart usually has four valves. Together, the valves determine the direction of blood flow through the heart. Hea ...

surgery. He developed a

staph infection A staphylococcal infection or staph infection is an infection caused by members of the ''Staphylococcus'' genus of bacteria. These bacteria commonly inhabit the skin and nose where they are innocuous, but may enter the body through cuts or abrasi ...

and died on April 28, at the age of 38. Since his death, Poor David's Pub in Dallas has held an annual songwriting competition in his memory.

Discography

Albums

*1972 ''B.W. Stevenson'' (RCA) US 206 *1972 ''Lead Free'' (RCA) *1973 ''My Maria'' (RCA) US 45 *1974 ''Calabasas'' (RCA) US 206 *1975 ''We Be Sailin (Warner Bros) US 201 *1977 ''The Best of B.W. Stevenson'' (RCA) *1977 ''Lost Feeling'' (Warner Bros) *1980 ''Lifeline'' (Home Sweet Home Records) *1990 ''Rainbow Down the Road'' (Amazing Records) *2000 ''Very Best of B.W. Stevenson'' (Collectables) *2003 ''Lead Free/B.W. Stevenson'' (Collectables) *2003 ''My Maria/Calabasas'' (Collectables) *2005 ''We Be Sailin'/Lost Feeling'' (Collectables) *2013 ''Southern Nights'' (Ameritz Music Ltd) *2018 ''Encore'' (Pedernales Records)

Singles

*1972 ''Say What I Feel'' US 114 US AC 38 *1973 ''Don't Go To Mexico'' US CB 118 *1973 ''Shambala'' US 66 US AC 31 *1973 ''My Maria'' US 9 US AC 1 *1973 ''River of Love'' US 53 US AC 32 *1974 ''Look for the Light'' US CB 111 *1974 ''Little Bit of Understanding'' US CB 108 US AC 40 *1977 ''Down to the Station'' US 82

References

External links

Oldies.com bio
*
Bio of B.W.Stevenson including cause of death
*
L'Epopea del Country Rock
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stevenson, B.W. 1949 births 1988 deaths 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singer-songwriters American country singer-songwriters American male singer-songwriters Country musicians from Texas People from Oak Cliff, Texas Place of birth missing Place of death missing RCA Records artists Singer-songwriters from Texas Singers from Dallas W. H. Adamson High School alumni