I caught the Mavericks at the Ryman last night, mostly because my wife wanted to see them. Absolutely fantastic Western Swing band, one of the better shows I’ve ever seen. You could feel the floorboards of the Ryman bouncing up and down because they had the whole crowd dancing. Their horn section is incredible.
I don't have a video immediately available, but when they start a show with a song like All Night Long with these horn stings...
A reminder to fans that don’t have their Christmas album…I have a huge pile of holiday music on vinyl and The Mavericks is easily in the top 3 of the stack! Great songs if you can still buy one. And they got their act back together on sound quality after the last three studio albums sounding pretty dire. Anyone know if they are working on another? I bought it, but they sure took a sideways turn doing their last one in spanish, though I know a lot of you enjoyed it. I guess they never issued the second volume of live music. Assume the first didn’t sell well?
Maybe I’m not using the word correctly. To me that’s what they struck me as - sort of a fusion of country, jazz, and Latin music. Whatever you want to call it, they were great. The Ryman is hands-down the greatest live concert venue I’ve ever been in. I’ve never been to Carnegie Hall or many of the other iconic venues in the world, but the Ryman is a truly special room, and the vibe and acoustics of the room have clearly brought out the best in every artist I’ve ever seen there. I try to go see at least one show a year there.
They don't fit comfortably into any single genre, which is why the industry never really quite knew what to do with them. I'm convinced you can't really get this band unless you see them live in concert.
Well, I'm living proof of that not being correct. Been a fan since album one. All three versions! And have every release since, in every format. I was in the biz when they signed to MCA and they did a local showcase. I had never heard of them, had little one's at home. I passed! I've never seen them live. My band mate saw them at one of my favorite small theaters while I was in England. They blew the roof off. (That same roof had literally collapsed on Doug Kershaw) My loss, many times over.
I've been once, but it was in the 1960's. I wonder if I knew what acoustics were? I knew I was someplace special: I still have my program.
I started listening to them in 1994 after "What a Crying Shame." Didn't get to see them live until their first reunion, I guess in 2003? I was totally a rock guy when I started listening to them, and it felt a little strange to listen to a "country" band. (At the time, they were definitely being marketed as country, even though their music was clearly broader than most of the other acts in that genre.) I guess I just picked up on the integrity in their music. I'm glad they never sold out and tried to go mainstream like the Derailers. It's kind of amazing they've been around for this long. I feel like they didn't really get the level of success they now have until within the last ten years. I went to the "In Time" reunion/warm-up shows in 2013, and they were at 3rd and Lindsley, a club that holds a couple hundred people. It's been a slow climb, and they've earned it.
That's a crying shame. Seeing this band live has provided some of the most incredible musical moments of my life. One special one was at Knuckleheads Saloon on a perfect Autumn night, and they covered Neil Young's Harvest Moon.
When I first moved to Nashville, I worked as an usher at the Ryman while Mandy Barnett was doing the "Always Patsy Cline" show there. It was great to get to be in the building so many times, but also cool to hear that show performed probably 20-25 times. I heard it so often that I could eventually tell when they were having a good night or an off night. I want to say one of the other ushers seated Robert Plant one time, but I could be imagining that.
Very early notice - they are returning to Knuckleheads Saloon next spring for a 3 day series of concerts, May 12, 13 & 14.
Yes, they mash up a lot of different genres. And I definitely got them after seeing them in concert. Their live show was easily near the top of all of the live shows I’ve ever seen, and, as I noted above, they literally had the floorboards of the Ryman rocking because they had the entire crowd so into what they were doing.
Hi All - I'm wondering if any Mavericks superfans can help me out with something. I'm more or less trying to get every studio recording of the group for my collection. If I have every studio album, as well as "The Definitive Collection" which has a few stray tracks - what are the other odds and ends that I'd be missing? So far, I do note "Pizziricco" and a cover of "World Without Love" - these are compilation only cuts, right? What else am I missin'? Cheers!
You probably know this, but Raul has a number of solo albums. I don’t enjoy them as much as his band albums buy you sound like a completist so I thought I would mention it. I assume you got the spanish album last year? I bet for those of us into vinyl we’ll see an Essentials set on vinyl, hopefully later this year. I don’t do cds, and my favorite track is Dance The Night Away from Trampoline. That’s what introduced me to them. If you don’t have Mono and you are buying vinyl, I have a copy you can have on the cheap. Talk about an impulse purchase, I was at my local store and they have hundreds and hundreds of unsold RSD vinyl. One day I went in and they had all of it on sale for like 25% off, and then you could take something like another 20% off when I was in. They had one copy of Mono and I impulsively picked it up as it was so inexpensive. PM if you are looking for a copy. Not a great recording, but a very good album and on vinyl it’s at least listenable.
I have most of Malo's studio albums. Figure I'd focus on "completing" the Mavericks before getting into any odds and ends of the solo stuff. Yes, I have all of the Mavs' studio albums in their basic configurations. Just looking for help on any strays, bonuses, exclusives on various editions or compilations etc.
First thing I thought of was the ‘95 re-record of “I Don’t Care If You Love Me Anymore” from the “Michael” soundtrack, but it looks like that’s on “The Definitive Collection.”
Also, just a little heads up - I had the choice between an LP or a CD of Play The Hits at one of my locals, and went with the LP because it was noted a digital download card was included. Turns out that the only download option is a 192 kpbs mp3 (!). It doesn't even really pass the headphone test and I can hear artifacts. I would have been fine with 320, I don't even need WAV, but this astounds me. Who would make this choice?
Hope you end up enjoying it. I think Raul’s writing was starting to sound a bit tiring, like he was out of ideas, so trying something different was a good idea. I really didn’t enjoy Hits and the Spanish album didn’t connect at all with me for obvious reasons. I hope he has one more original albums worth of Mavericks material in him.
Off the top of my head, there's 'True Love Ways' from the Buddy Holly tribute album, 'Not Fade Away'. Somebody posted the version here on YouTube:
