- Larry Carlton - guitar (1972-73)

- Walter Collie - (1975)

- Layton DePenning- guitar (1973)

- Donnie Dolan - drums (1973)

- Rodney Garrison - bass (1973)

- Gib Guilbeau: fiddle, background vocals (1972)

- Jim Gordon - drums (1972-73)

- Emory Gordy, Jr. - bass (1972)

- Larry Muhoberac - keyboards (1972-73)

- Joe Osborn - bass (1973)

- Riley Osbourn - (1975)

- Dean Parks - guitar (1972)

- Mickey Raphael - harmonica (1972)

- Red Rhodes - steel guitar (1972)

- Stuart Schulman - (1975)

- Dennis St. John - drums (1972)

- Herb Steiner - pedal steel (1973)

- B.W. Stevenson (RIP 1988) - vocals, guitar

- Cassell Webb - (1975)

- none known

Rating: ** (2 stars)

Title:  Lead Free

Company: RCA Victor 

Catalog: LSP-4794

Year: 1972

Grade (cover/record): VG/VG

Comments: large promo sticker on front cover (not shown in image)

Available: 1

GEMM catalog ID: 4133

Price: $8.00

Cost: $1.00

The late B.W. Stevenson is one of our favorite "unknown" artists.  Actually if you want to be technical about it we can't say he's unknown since during his brief life he enjoyed a couple of substantial radio hits.  On the other hand, today he's all but unknown to popular audiences.

Born in Dallas, Texas Stevenson started his musical career while still in high school.  After attending college, the mid-1960s saw him to a stint in the Air Force.  Discharged from the service he returned to Texas, eventually settling back in Texas where he resumed his musical career as a solo act on the city's club circuit.  Stevenson's break came when he was spotted playing a Dallas club by an RCA talent scout.

Want a short and sweet review for 1972's "Lead Free"?  Nice voice, pretty songs, but all told a little too country for our tastes.

"Lead Free" track listing:

side one:

1.) Like What You Do   (B.W. Stevenson)
2.) Early Morning Memphis   (B.W. Stevenson)
3.) My Feet are So Weary   (B.W. Stevenson)
4.) Waitin' for Spring   (B.W. Stevenson)
5.) Gypsies   (B.W. Stevenson)
6.) Don't Go To Mexico   (McCrimmon)

side two:

1.) August Evening Lady   (B.W. Stevenson)
2.) Peaceful Easy Feeling   (Templin)
3.) Touch of Pennsylvania   (Dave Loggins)
4.) Minuet for My Lady   (B.W. Stevenson)
5.) Maybe Mexico   (Walker)
6.) Jackson   (B.W. Stevenson)

Rating: *** (3 stars)

Title:  My Maria

Company: RCA Victor 

Catalog: APL1-0088

Year: 1973

Grade (cover/record): VG/VG

Comments: small cut out notch along lower edge

Available: 1

GEMM catalog ID: 4131

Price: $10.00

Cost: $1.00

Produced by David Kershenbaum, 1973's "My Maria" retains a distinctive singer/songwriter feel.  First the bad news.  Exemplified by tracks such as "Sunset Woman" and "Remember Me", there are lots of pretty (if forgettable) acoustic ballads. There's also a little too much country for our tastes on tracks such as "A Good Love Is Like a Good Song" and "Lucky Touch".  On the other hand, Stevenson has a gruff voice that's tremendously attractive.  For a Texas white guy he has plenty of soul.  Moreover, maybe 'cause the title track was one of the first 45s we ever bought (ah to be in junior high school again), this LP is a longstanding personal favorite.  Besides, how can you not like a guy who covers an Al (NRBQ) Anderson song ("Be My Woman Tonight").  Elsewhere, his cover of "Shambala" is every bit as good as the Three Dog Night cover.

"My Maria" track listing:

(side 1)

1.) My Maria   (Daniel J. Moore - B.W. Stevenson) - 2:33

2.) Be My Woman Tonight   (Al Anderson) - 2:36

3.) Sunset Woman   (Dave Loggins) - 3:30

4.) A Good Love Is Like a Good Song   (Casey Kelly) - 2:39

5.) Grab On Hold of My Soul   (Alex del Zappo - B.W. Stevenson) - 3:52

(side 2)

1.) Shambala   (Daniel J. Moore) -2:30 

2.) Lucky Touch   (B.W. Stevenson) - 2:15

3.) I Got To Boogie   (Michael Smotherman) - 3:22

4.) Remember Me   (B.W. Stevenson) - 3:50

5.) Pass This Way   (B.W. Stevenson) - 1:32

Rating: *** (3 stars)

Title:  We Be Sailin'

Company: Warner Brothers

Catalog: BS-2902

Year: 1975

Grade (cover/record): VG/VG

Comments: small cut out notch along lower edge

Available: 1

GEMM catalog ID: 4181

Price: $4.50

"We Be Sailin'" track listing:

(side 1)

1.) Way Down By the Ocean

2.) East India Company

3.) Dream Baby

4.) Wastin' Time

5.) Temper, Temper

(side 2)

1.) Hold On

2.) Jerry's Bar and Grill

3.) Cold, Cold Winter

4.) Kokomo

5.) Quits

Rating: *

Title:  Calabassis

Company: RCA Victor 

Catalog: APL1-0088

Year: 1972

Grade (cover/record): VG/VG

Comments: --

Available: 1

GEMM catalog ID: 4134

Price: $

Cost: $1.00

.00

Best remembered for his 1973 smash "My Maria," singer/songwriter B.W. Stevenson (the "B.W." reportedly stood for "Buckwheat" — his real first name was Louis) was born October 5, 1949 in Dallas, TX. As a teen he played in a variety of local rock bands before attending college, eventually joining the U.S. Air Force; upon returning from duty Stevenson settled in the Austin area, where he became a frequent attraction on the city's thriving club circuit. Upon signing to RCA he was marketed primarily to country listeners, enjoying little success with either his 1972 self-titled debut or its follow-up Lead Free; the title track of 1973's My Maria, however, became a Top Ten pop favorite, although ironically it missed the country charts altogether. Stevenson never again recaptured the single's success, and after 1974's Calabasas he landed at Warner Bros. to issue We Be Sailin' a year later. "Down to the Station," from 1977's Lost Feeling, was his last chart hit, and after 1980's Lifeline his recording career was over. Sadly, Stevenson died on April 28, 1988 shortly after undergoing heart surgery; he was just 38 years old.

I've had a lot of inquiries recently about my B. W. Stevenson collection from people who have wanted to either buy items from me (sorry, my collection isn't for sale) or just want to get some information about where they can find Stevenson's recordings. That's why I built this page - in the hopes that it would help you find the items you're missing from your collection.

(b Louis C. Stevenson, 5 Oct. '49, Dallas TX; d 28 April '88 after heart surgery) Singer/songwriter. Began to find success in a sort of hard folk-rock category and infl. the Austin "redneck rock' phenomenon of the '70s, but was subsequently misplaced by the music business. Played in rock bands as a teenager, went solo, was spotted in Dallas '72 by an RCA promo man: albums B.W. Stevenson and Lead Free were regional hits; single "Shambala' written by Daniel Moore began to climb the chart but a cover by Three Dog Night eclipsed Stevenson's; "My Maria' (co-written with Moore) reached the top 10, pulling an RCA LP of that title to no. 45 '73, but Calabasas '74 on RCA, We Be Sailin' '75, Lost Feeling '77 on WB, Lifeline '80 on MCA didn't do much. Rainbow Down The Road on Amazing was still in print '94.