The Mavericks [11 Tracks #2] (CD - 2003)

The Mavericks: Raul Malo (vocals, acoustic & electric guitar, bass, piano); Ben Peeler (acoustic, electric & lap steel guitar, mandolin, dobro, banjo); Robert Reynolds (background vocals, bass); Paul Deakin (drums).

Additional personnel: Debbie Spring (fiddle); Homer Wills (harmonica); Dennis Hetzendorfer (accordion); Steve Newton (bass); Froilan Sosa (background vocals).

Recorded at Tropical Recording Studio, Miami, Florida in October, 1990.

"I Don't Care (If You Love Me Anymore)" was nominated for a 1998 Grammy Award for Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal.

The Mavericks: Raul Malo (vocals, guitar, melodica); Eddie Perez (guitar, background vocals); Robert Reynolds (bass, background vocals); Paul Deakin (drums).

Additional personnel includes: Willie Nelson (vocals).

Principally recorded at Ocean Way, Nashville, Tennessee and Ken's Gold Club, Franklin, Tennessee.

Personnel: Raul Malo (vocals, guitar, melodica); Eddie Perez (guitar, background vocals); Kenny Greenberg (guitar); Jimmy Bowland (alto saxophone); Jim Hoke (tenor saxophone); Doug Moffet (baritone saxophone); Jim Williamson, Matt Nygren (trumpet); Chris Dunn, Billy Huber (trombone); Gordon Mote (Mellotron, keyboards); John Hobbs (keyboards); Glenn Worf (upright bass); Paul Deakin (drums); Eric Darken, Glen Caruba (percussion); Robert Reynolds (background vocals).

Audio Mixers: Dave McNair; Michael Brauer; Rick Fowler.

Recording information: Bismeaux Studio; Ken's Gold Club, Franklin, TN; Oceanway Studios, Nashville, TN.

Photographer: C. Taylor Crothers.

Unknown Contributor Role: Love Sponge Orchestra.

Arranger: Jim Hoke.

The Mavericks' debut album was a pale shadow of the music they'd be putting on plastic a few years later, but it's strong enough to make clear this was a significantly more interesting band than one would expect to hear on the country charts in 1990. Vocalist (and principle songwriter) Raul Malo was still learning how to control his spacious, Orbison-esque tenor, but anyone with ears could tell the man already had a great voice, and if the group would become more adventurous with time, this material sounds tight, enthusiastic, and pretty ambitious for a band aiming toward the mainstream recording market (and cutting the sessions on their own dime). It's significant that four of the best songs from this album would be re-recorded for the Mavericks' major-label debut in 1992, and that by that time guitarist Ben Peeler (whose style is solid but more than a bit rote) would be out of the picture, but The Mavericks is hardly an embarrassing place for a band this good to start their recording career; it's a stylish and enthusiastic album from a band who would get much better with time. ~ Mark Deming

On their first studio album since leaving MCA in 1999, the Mavericks find themselves at a creative crossroads. While vocalist and songwriter Raul Malo is able to freely indulge his muse on any number of projects, the band as whole has been making numerous musical decisions. The results are not always positive. First, the good news: when at their best, as they are for a good part of this recording, the Mavericks are simply the best there is. On tracks such as "In My Dreams," informed as it is by Roy Orbison's ghost and Malo's deeply expressive singing, the band becomes larger than life. Singing a midtempo ballad, the band gathers around him and allows him to walk out on the emotional edge of his vocal and dig a lot deeper than the arrangement would normally suggest. Likewise, on the son-infused "Shine a Light" sheeny Cuban soul acts as the fiber the tune builds upon. A well-placed horn section and numerous strains of polyrhythmic drive make this the party tune everybody's been waiting to hear from them. Likewise, the slow rumba feel of "Wondering" with Malo's '50s-influenced singing makes this the greatest song k.d. lang never recorded. "By the Time" showcases the band's still deep country waltz roots, and the B-3 touch that hovers in the background is positively haunting. The slightly funky country AOR root of "Time Goes By" is one of the dirtiest and most emotional tunes the group has ever recorded. The Latin lounge of "San Jose" -- not the Bacharach tune -- would be the best thing on the album if it weren't for the badly intoned synthed-out strings. Likewise, "Would You Believe" and "Because of You" with their thickly textured busy-ness draw away from the emotion inherent in them, and they are swallowed by arrangements. The performance of "Air That I Breathe," while valiant and seemingly heartfelt, cannot redeem this song from the shmaltz pile. The Mavericks are still more than capable of coming up with the goods when it comes to fine songwriting and performances, but next time they should hire a producer to rough up their overly rounded surfaces. Malo may indeed be the problem, trying to maneuver his band into playing for his solo moods, but with a unit this fine, he should be writing for them. [The CD was reissued in 2003.] ~ Thom Jurek

The Mavericks shook up country music in the 1990s with their combination of snappy, neo-traditional honky tonk and un-ironic retro pop-rock styles, and then went on an extended hiatus. 2003's THE MAVERICKS (not to be confused with their eponymous debut album) finds them resuming where they left off--they present a tight, accomplished but heartfelt program of winsome ballads ("A Little Too Lonely"), Cuban-influenced numbers ("Shine A Light"), and classic '70s pop (a lovely cover of the Hollies hit "The Air That I Breathe"). As a bonus, the original "maverick" of country music, Willie Nelson, guests on "Time Goes By."

On their first studio album since leaving MCA in 1999, the Mavericks find themselves at a creative crossroads. While vocalist and songwriter Raul Malo is able to freely indulge his muse on any number of projects, the band as whole has been making numerous musical decisions. The results are not always positive. First, the good news: when at their best, as they are for a good part of this recording, the Mavericks are simply the best there is. On tracks such as "In My Dreams," informed as it is by Roy Orbison's ghost and Malo's deeply expressive singing, the band becomes larger than life. Singing a midtempo ballad, the band gathers around him and allows him to walk out on the emotional edge of his vocal and dig a lot deeper than the arrangement would normally suggest. Likewise, on the son-infused "Shine a Light" sheeny Cuban soul acts as the fiber the tune builds upon. A well-placed horn section and numerous strains of polyrhythmic drive make this the party tune everybody's been waiting to hear from them. Likewise, the slow rumba feel of "Wondering" with Malo's '50s-influenced singing makes this the greatest song k.d. lang never recorded. "By the Time" showcases the band's still deep country waltz roots, and the B-3 touch that hovers in the background is positively haunting. The slightly funky country AOR root of "Time Goes By" is one of the dirtiest and most emotional tunes the group has ever recorded. The Latin lounge of "San Jose" -- not the Bacharach tune -- would be the best thing on the album if it weren't for the badly intoned synthed-out strings. Likewise, "Would You Believe" and "Because of You" with their thickly textured busy-ness draw away from the emotion inherent in them, and they are swallowed by arrangements. The performance of "Air That I Breathe," while valiant and seemingly heartfelt, cannot redeem this song from the shmaltz pile. The Mavericks are still more than capable of coming up with the goods when it comes to fine songwriting and performances, but next time they should hire a producer to rough up their overly rounded surfaces. Malo may indeed be the problem, trying to maneuver his band into playing for his solo moods, but with a unit this fine, he should be writing for them. [Sanctuary issued a second, 11-track edition in 2008.] ~ Thom Jurek minimize