B.W. Stevenson
b. Louis C. Stevenson, 5 October 1949, Dallas, Texas, USA, d. 28 April 1988. B.W. Stevenson (the initials stood for Buckwheat) was best remembered for his 1973 US Top 10 single My Maria. Stevenson performed with local Texas rock bands as a teenager, before attending college and then joining the Air Force. Upon his discharge, Stevenson returned to the club scene, particularly in the burgeoning Austin, Texas area. Although he considered himself a blues and rock singer, he was signed to RCA Records as a country artist and released Shambala, a song which charted but did not fare as well as the version by rockers Three Dog Night. Stevenson and Daniel Moore's My Maria became a number 9 pop hit (oddly missing the country charts), and the album of the same title reached number 45, also in 1973. Stevenson continued to record, placing two further singles on the charts in the '70s (the latter, Down To The Station, for Warner Brothers Records). He also recorded for MCA Records. Stevenson died following heart surgery in April 1988.