Mavericks

As Entertainment Weekly noted in 2017, (W)hat kind of music do The Mavericks record? is a question with no real answer. On the one hand, the Miami-bred outfit records bits of everything: Elvis Presley-esque rock, Roy Orbison-style balladry, Latin-fusion party tunes, throwback country, irresistible pop. On the other handa vocabulary for their style... remains out of reach. The band has resolutely defied pigeonholing since their founding in 1989; they played their earliest dates in Floridas alternative rock clubs, where their on-stage contemporaries included another new act on the scene, Marilyn Manson. The Mavericks eclectic sound fronted by a Cuban-American vocalist and songwriter who drew strongly on his Latin/Caribbean roots, and flexing a panoply of influences drawn from rock n roll, rockabilly, pop balladry, blues, R&B and jazz -- ultimately fit most comfortably in a country pocket, and in 1991 the group was signed to MCA Records Nashville division. It took the band a couple of albums to find their commercial footing, but in 1994 they launched a bona fide hit with their third collection, the #6 country album What a Crying Shame. The sets title number, which climbed to #25 on the country charts and remained on the charts for six months, was the first of many early hits penned by lead singer Raul Malo and his frequent writing partner Kostas, and was the first of four singles to reach the country top 30 in 1994-95. It was succeeded by O What a Thrill (#18), There Goes my Heart (#20), and I Should Have Been True (#30). While What a Crying Shame attained Platinum record status, The Mavericks were no mere dancefloor success: their unique, swaggering fusion of American and Latin styles and sounds garnered praise from both music critics and their industry peers. What a Crying Shame collected a Grammy award nomination as best country performance by a duo or group with vocal the first of the bands eight Recording Academy nods. In 1995, their fourth full-length release, Music For All Occasions, (#9 on the country album ...Read More