All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down - The Mavericks, Anderson, Al [1]
My Secret Flame - The Mavericks, VanHoy, Rafe
The Writing on the Wall - The Mavericks, Anderson, Al [1]
Loving You - The Mavericks, Anderson, Al [1]
If You Only Knew - The Mavericks, Kostas [1]
I'm Not Gonna Cry for You - The Mavericks, Malo, Raul
Something Stupid - The Mavericks, Parks, Carson C.
If Chris Isaak comes at the Roy Orbison-Ricky Nelson tradition of three-minute country-pop operettas from the pop side, the Mavericks' Raul Malo approaches from the country perspective. Malo's dreamy, creamy tenor is every... more » bit as intoxicating as Isaak's, and his emotional range is much broader. On this, the Mavericks' fourth album, Malo and his three bandmates demonstrate their complete mastery of this territory with its heavily echoed vocals, its low-pitched guitar figures, its chunky backbeat, and its claustrophobic sense of romance that is almost right but not quite. Bassist Robert Reynolds's wife Trisha Yearwood sings a duet with Malo on Nancy Sinatra's "Something Stupid," but the album's highlights are the four songs Malo cowrote with former NRBQ guitarist Al Anderson, including a Tex-Mex rave-up juiced by accordion legend Flaco Jimenez. --Geoffrey Himes« less
If Chris Isaak comes at the Roy Orbison-Ricky Nelson tradition of three-minute country-pop operettas from the pop side, the Mavericks' Raul Malo approaches from the country perspective. Malo's dreamy, creamy tenor is every bit as intoxicating as Isaak's, and his emotional range is much broader. On this, the Mavericks' fourth album, Malo and his three bandmates demonstrate their complete mastery of this territory with its heavily echoed vocals, its low-pitched guitar figures, its chunky backbeat, and its claustrophobic sense of romance that is almost right but not quite. Bassist Robert Reynolds's wife Trisha Yearwood sings a duet with Malo on Nancy Sinatra's "Something Stupid," but the album's highlights are the four songs Malo cowrote with former NRBQ guitarist Al Anderson, including a Tex-Mex rave-up juiced by accordion legend Flaco Jimenez. --Geoffrey Himes
Tamara C. (ChicaLinda) from BELTON, TX Reviewed on 11/10/2007...
A wonderful CD. Raul Malo's voice is always a pleasure to listen to.
CD Reviews
I Am Thrilled To Hear This Music
anonymous | USA | 03/08/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Desiring for many years to avoid what is today termed C&W music, I missed the emergence of The Mavericks onto the pop/country scene. After seeing the band's lead singer, Raul Malo, on a production of PBS' Soundstage, and investigating his recording history, I was thrilled to find what he and his Mavericks cohorts had accomplished.I am of an age that can recall the smell of the dust burning from the radio's vacuum tubes as it warmed and the cadence of an Everly Brothers, Roy Orbison or Gene Pitney hit grew into my ears and imagination.I purchased both the "Music For All Ocassions" and "What A Crying Shame" CD's, and am happy that I did.I love this music."
Country/pop/lounge in a Mavericks style
G. Sawaged | Canada | 01/01/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The Mavericks are certainly country, but with this album they have taken on an early 60's pop sound, but with a country feel. It is so hard to explain because they are so unique. Even the booklet is lavishly illustrated with photos that could be right out of the late 50's early 60's timeframe. One of the highlights is "All you ever do is bring me down" which feature Flaco Jimenez on accordian, for a rousing dance number. But every song on this album is excellent, not one that could be called a filler. I also love listening to the instrumentation in the background as well as the instrumental breaks...wonderful...piano, pedal steel, guitar, strings etc...listen to the piano on "My Secret Flame"...beautiful! Highly recommended."
An inspired update of the Countrypolitan sound
hyperbolium | Earth, USA | 09/13/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This LP fulfills the promise of 1994's "What a Crying Shame" On this release, the Mavericks wed Raul Malo's awe-inspring voice with a relaxed countrypolitan sound that at once celebrates and makes an ironic twist of its 50s/60s roots. From the packaging, on through the early 60s female backing vocals of "Foolish Heart", the Mavericks swing with an easy beat. There's not the overt Bakersfield twang of Buck Owens or the depth of despair of contemporary crooners like Dwight Yoakum (or even Chris Isaak), it's a smoother, more polished effort. Which isn't to suggest that this sounds like the plastic cookie-cutter pap that Nashville often tries to pass of as country - it doesn't. The roots are there, but they're a bit polished up for goin' to town on Saturday night.The whole LP is a wonderful mix of country and pop melded less to a barroom than a country club. Don Cook and Raul Malo produce everything with a balanced feel - pedal steel easing its way in, rather than jumping to the front and forcing its way into the spotlight, lots of nice hollowbody electric guitars, a great shuffling beat and a swingin' tempo. Even the more upbeat numbers such as "All You Ever Do is Bring Me Down" mix Flaco Jimenez's accordion in to spice up the beat, but keep it polite.Oon top of it all, Malo's voice - with a depth that can't really be described in words. Whether singing solo, with backing, or dueting with the likes of Trisha Yearwood (on a nice remake of the Sinatra & Sinatra hit single "Something Stupid"), Malo's style and ability give the Mavericks their trademark sound. Whether he's crooning "My Secret Flame" or plumbing the Buck Owens' blue sound of "The Writing on the Wall", Malo bends and shapes his voice to fit, with the production team crafting the sound all around him."
The Mavericks play "country". Don't hold this against them.
G.C. Windeler | 10/08/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Speaking as a pop music fan who does not appreciate the kinds of music known as either the old "country and western" or the new "new country" (a genre that manages to simultaneously offend both rockers and country fans, all while causing label management to drool over the crossover demographics), let me say this about The Mavericks' "Music For All Occasions": Wow. Maybe it's "new country", maybe it's something else. Either way, I won't rehash others' comments about how great Raul Malo is as a singer/songwriter; I won't dwell on how tight the band is; I'll even forget my distaste for country music! I will instead advise that anyone with a taste for well-crafted, well-arranged, well-played and well-sung pop music (ok, with a slightly Latinized country flavor) do what I did: 1. Give this CD a spin. 2. Try to stop humming."