The Mavericks
The Mavericks are an American country music band formed in Miami in 1989. The original lineup consisted of Raul Malo, Paul Deakin, Robert Reynolds, and Ben Peeler. After one independent album, the band was signed by MCA Nashville Records and David Lee Holt replaced Peeler on lead guitar; he would be replaced by Nick Kane shortly after their second MCA album and third overall 1994's What a Crying Shame. The band recorded a total of four albums for MCA and one for Mercury Records before disbanding in 2000. They reunited for one album in 2003 on Sanctuary Records, by which point Eddie Perez had become their fourth guitarist, and former touring keyboardist Jerry Dale McFadden became an official fifth member. The lineup of Malo, Deakin, Reynolds, Perez, and McFadden reunited a second time in 2012 for a series of new albums, first on Big Machine Records' Valory imprint and then on Mono Mundo. Reynolds was fired in 2014 and Ed Friedland served as touring bassist until 2023, with Malo briefly taking over on bass before Scotty Huff joined as touring bassist in 2024. Malo died in 2025 of colon cancer.
The Mavericks have charted 15 times on the American Billboard Hot Country Songs charts; their highest-peaking single there is "All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down", a collaboration with accordionist Flaco Jiménez which reached number 13 in 1996. Three of their singles made top 10 on the country music charts of the defunct RPM magazine in Canada, and "Dance the Night Away" was a hit single in the United Kingdom in 1998. Their most commercially successful album What a Crying Shame has been certified platinum in the United States and double-platinum in Canada. In addition, the band has received one Grammy Award, two Country Music Association awards, and three Academy of Country Music awards. Their sound is defined by a wide variety of musical styles outside of country music, such as Tejano, Latin, Americana, and the pop music of the 1950s, with particular emphasis on Malo's singing voice.
History
The Mavericks were founded in Miami in 1989. Lead vocalist and guitarist Raul Malo met bass guitarist Robert Reynolds, a native of Kansas City, Missouri, when both were performing in local bands. The two of them developed a friendship after realizing that they both shared interest in musicians such as Roy Orbison, Elvis Presley, and Johnny Cash, and decided to form their own band. Paul Deakin, a friend of Reynolds and native of Ohio, was chosen as drummer. Completing the original lineup was lead guitarist Ben Peeler, a native of Jackson, Mississippi. They immediately began touring throughout the Miami area, primarily at venues that typically booked rock bands. This was because the band wanted to perform original songs, while most of the country music-themed venues at the time preferred acts that performed cover songs instead. In late 1990, The Mavericks released their self-titled debut album on a local independent label called Y&T Music. Malo wrote every song on the album.19921993: ''From Hell to Paradise''
Due to the independent album's success throughout the Miami music community, the band was invited to perform for a showcase in Nashville, Tennessee, at which talent scouts for major country music labels were present. One of these labels, MCA Nashville, signed the band in May 1991. According to Colin Larkin in the Virgin Encyclopedia of Country Music, the band was signed before they had finished their soundcheck. Peeler was fired from his role as guitarist in October 1991 due to concerns from the other three band members and their then-manager Frank Callari that his playing was not suitable for a country music band. He was replaced by David Lee Holt, a session musician who had also played for Joe Ely and Carlene Carter. After Holt joined, the band began recording their first MCA album From Hell to Paradise at Miami-based Criteria Studios late in 1991. Malo wrote the title track, which was about his parents emigrating from Cuba to the United States. He co-produced it with guitarists Richard Bennett and Steve Fishell, both of whom also played on the album. The album was released in May 1992 and charted one single a month later: a cover of Hank Williams' "Hey Good Lookin'", which the band took to number 74 on Billboard Hot Country Songs. Sandra Schulman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel wrote that this album "reflected their Miami roots with social issues of homelessness and immigrant rights shoehorned in with the boot-kicking country ballads". Rating it "B+", Alanna Nash of Entertainment Weekly wrote that "Some of the group's writing could use a finer bead, but the Mavericks earn major points for integrating the hillbilly heart of the masters with the consciousness and muscle of the contemporary generation."Holt quit the band after only one album. Dale Martin, music reviewer for The Victoria Advocate, attributed Holt's departure to "friction of some sort". Conversely, Karen Essex of New Country magazine stated that Holt left amicably. After leaving The Mavericks, Holt would become a founding member of the blues rock band Storyville. In 1993, The Mavericks chose Bill Dwyer to fill in on lead guitar while on tour in Europe. Reynolds told Mike Cooper of The Hard Report in July of that year that the band did not yet know who would replace Holt.
19941995: ''What a Crying Shame''
The Mavericks' next MCA release was 1994's What a Crying Shame. This was also their first to be produced by Don Cook, best known for his work with Brooks & Dunn. By the time of the album's release, Reynolds had selected Nick Kane, another friend of his, to become the band's third guitarist. Although Kane was pictured on the album's liner notes and in promotional material, the project was completed before his joining. As a result, Bruce Bouton and Mark Casstevens of Garth Brooks' studio band The G-Men played guitar on the album alongside session guitarist Brent Mason. It was also at this point that keyboardist Jerry Dale McFadden began accompanying the band in concerts. Malo wrote four of the album's ten songs with Greek-American songwriter Kostas, best known for his work with Patty Loveless and Dwight Yoakam. Three months before the album's release, Reynolds married country singer Trisha Yearwood; she, along with James House and Joy Lynn White, contributed backing vocals. Mark Deming of AllMusic thought that Cook's production was "glossier" than the preceding albums, also stating that they "fully hit their stride with...the band's blend of rootsy country and vintage pop sounds".What a Crying Shame produced a total of five singles, four of which made the top 40 on the Billboard country singles charts. First was "What a Crying Shame", one of the songs which Malo and Kostas co-wrote. The song was initially unsuccessful at radio, but Malo insisted that the label keep promoting it through the Christmas season of late 1993-early 1994, after which it began ascending the airplay charts. As a result, it reached a peak of number 25 in early 1994. After it was a cover of Jesse Winchester's "O What a Thrill", which would become the most successful single off the album with a number 18 peak on the country charts. It was followed by "There Goes My Heart", "I Should Have Been True", and a cover of Bruce Springsteen's "All That Heaven Will Allow". "What a Crying Shame" and "O What a Thrill" both made top 10 on RPM Country Tracks, then the main country music chart published in Canada. In February 1995, What a Crying Shame was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipments of one million copies. In Canada, the album was certified double-platinum by the Canadian Recording Industry Association, a certification which at the time honored shipments of 200,000 copies in that country.
The commercial success of What a Crying Shame also led to the first of several industry award nominations for the band. The title track earned the band their first Grammy Award nomination at the 37th Annual Grammy Awards in 1995, in the category of Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. The Academy of Country Music also awarded the band as Top Vocal Group and Top New Vocal Duet or Group in 1994; they would win the former again in 1995 and be nominated a third time for it in 1996. In mid-1995, The Mavericks covered Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart's 1934 standard "Blue Moon" for the soundtrack of the film Apollo 13.
19951997: ''Music for All Occasions''
MCA released the band's next album Music for All Occasions in 1995. The album was led off by the single "Here Comes the Rain", which charted at 22 on Hot Country Songs that year. "Here Comes the Rain" was their most successful single in Canada, peaking at number 4 on RPM Country Tracks. Its follow-up was "All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down", a collaboration with Tejano accordionist Flaco Jiménez. The song peaked at number 13 on Hot Country Songs in 1996, representing not only The Mavericks' highest peak on that chart, but also Jiménez's only appearance on it. Despite this, the follow-up single "Missing You" failed to make top 40. Malo wrote nine of the 11 songs on the album, including all three singles. He collaborated with Kostas on "Here Comes the Rain" and with former NRBQ member Al Anderson on the other two. Also included on the album was a collaboration with Trisha Yearwood on a cover of Frank Sinatra and Nancy Sinatra's 1967 single "Somethin' Stupid". Yearwood, along with Shelby Lynne and Lari White, also sang backing vocals on the track "Foolish Heart". Nash described the Sinatra cover as "kitsch", but otherwise praised Malo's voice and the musical variety. Rick Harmon of the Montgomery Advertiser called the album "more subtle" than its predecessor, highlighting the singles in particular and considering the Sinatra cover superior to the original song. Similarly, Mark Deming of AllMusic wrote that it was "a slyer, more subtle affair" compared to What a Crying Shame, and added that "the record's abundant pleasures become clear upon repeated listenings". Joel Bernstein of Country Standard Time noted that the band did not "play it safe", praising "All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down" and "Somethin' Stupid" in particular.In 1996, Music for All Occasions was certified gold by the RIAA for shipments of 500,000 copies. At the 38th Grammy Awards in February 1996, Music for All Occasions was nominated for Grammy Award for Best Country Album, while "Here Comes the Rain" won Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal; one year later, "All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down" was nominated in the same category. Despite the commercial success of the album, Deakin was critical of its overall sound, saying that "there was little vibe to it" and that he considered "All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down" to be its only good song. After this album's release, The Mavericks contributed the original composition "I Don't Care " to the soundtrack of the 1996 Nora Ephron film Michael; the song would also receive a Grammy Award nomination for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal in 1997. The Country Music Association nominated the band for Vocal Group of the Year for four consecutive years between 1995 and 1998. They would win this award in both 1995 and 1996.