The Song Remains: Raul Malo (1965 – 2025)

Farewell to the greatest voice in modern popular music

Raul Malo has died, at the ridiculously young age of 60.  The son of Cuban emigrants who could sing virtually anything with ease and conviction will no longer grace us with his heavenly tones, having succumbed to severe complications from colon cancer that he publicly disclosed in June 2024.  So it is perhaps fortunate that he leaves an extensive and important body of work, both with The Mavericks and solo. In total, there are 14 group albums, including 3 live albums and one Christmas album, and 11 solo outings, including the two collaborations,  Los Super Seven and The Nashville Acoustic Sessions. He also lent his talents to a number of other artists’ albums. Over the years, he proved to be an excellent songwriter but was especially adept as an interpreter of many artists’ songs, and he invested every song he covered with a certain gold dust, whatever the style.

He was born in Miami to Cuban immigrant parents and in his teenage years played in local bands, in mostly punk or pop venues. He had learned to play the guitar, though his guitar playing skills developed as time went on until he produced a signature sound on most of the later albums, a deep baritone guitar sound that was quite distinctive. He met Robert Reynolds, who played bass locally and together with a friend of Reynolds’, Paul Deakin, they established The Mavericks in 1989. A year later he let loose his formidable vocal chops on their self-titled album that was met with critical acclaim and is probably the most out and out country album that they recorded. Tracks like ‘Mr Jones’ and ‘A Better Way’ used classic country chords, Miami-style, with Malo’s voice (which had little or no country twang) soaring over the instrumentation. The nearest equivalent to Malo’s voice was Roy Orbison, with whom he was often compared (see video below – apologies for first 90 seconds but it is worth the wait! – on a song that he sang live many times but never recorded)

They were signed to MCA Nashville and even with their second album, began to show signs of a slight move away from the classic country of their first album. “From Hell to Paradise” was mostly country, with covers of Harlan Howard and Hank Williams songs, and refined re-recordings of the two above-mentioned tracks from their first album, but included songs which traced back his roots, about abused children (‘Children’) and the story of their parents’ migration from Cuba (the title track, with its iconic line “this 90 mile trip has taken 30 years to make”).

Now on a roll, their third, and most commercially successful, album was “What a Crying Shame”, a more sophisticated production on which most of the songs were co-writes lending the album a vibe that mixed their country roots with something of a pop sheen.

“Music for All Occasions” followed, and then “Trampoline” (with its standout track ‘Dance the Night Away’), each album increasingly moving away from a purely country sound to include soul, pop, and particularly Latin influences. On every album, Malo’s voice was invariably the talking point, and during a break in recording as a band, Malo performed solo (with an orchestra) many songs from The Great American Songbook, a period of time that cemented his reputation as one of the great vocalists of his generation. As they moved towards more Latin and pop sounds, country music basically left them and their run of nominations for Grammys, ACMA and CMA awards dried up, but Malo’s voice maybe proved to be more suited to the new sounds that the group were producing.  In 2000, as success diminished somewhat and disputes arose between the band members, with each other and with their record company, the decision was made to disband and Malo embarked on a solo career which took his music in several different directions.

He released a run of albums during the 2000s that demonstrated, if it was not already known, his ability to tackle and succeed in virtually any musical style, starting with “Today”, in which his Roy Orbison comparisons were probably at their height on an album of largely 1950s/1960s pop-oriented songs with some country influences . “You’re only Lonely” was a spectacular covers album, “After Hours” had a late night appeal with jazzy interpretations of country classics, “Lucky One” was a melange of styles while “Saints and Sinners” was much more Louisiana-style roots music. He even delivered a Christmas  album, an album of children’s songs, a country collaboration called “The Nashville Acoustic Sessions”, and an instrumental album that demonstrated his guitar and arrangement skills: he reformed The Mavericks with original members Paul Deakin and Robert Reynolds, along with the extraordinary talents of pianist Jerry Dale McFadden and (their fourth) guitarist Eddie Perez in 2012 (a temporary comeback that yielded a greatest hits album and a well-received, though commercially unsuccessful, self-titled studio album had been attempted in 2003 but they broke up again a year later).

So began another run of timeless albums varying in style, their popularity regenerated by a fan base that had tracked Malo’s solo albums, hoping no doubt for a proper band re-uniting. “In Time” was all Malo writes or co-writes including one of their most-played tracks ‘Back in your arms again’, and the group’s first track in Spanish (apart from the tail end of the track ‘From Hell to Paradise‘). Any semblance of classic country had disappeared from their sound, but their various roots music qualified as americana and their next album ‘Mono’ was nominated for a Grammy for Best Americana Album; they recorded a highly regarded album entirely in Spanish (Malo had included Spanish language songs on a number of his solo albums and this album addressed his Cuban roots); they recorded live albums and finally, in2024, the superb “Moon and Stars”, one of their most critically acclaimed albums. They appeared to be on a significant roll, incredibly popular even if not commercially so successful, and then came the announcement of Malo’s diagnosis.

During COVID Malo released an album of songs recorded at home due to lockdown restrictions that, despite its lo-fi recording technique, once again demonstrated the range of his singing voice, As lead singer, significant instrumentalist and songwriter of Te Mavericks, there is no question that the group operated in his own image and whether it will continue is debatable. His voice was the main instrument of the band. We should rejoice in the body of work that includes such a range of musical styles – country, rock’n’roll, Tejano, pop, soul, Tex-Mex, lounge, jazz and so on.  He is gone far too soon and leaves a wife of 34 years, Betty, and three children to whom we send our condolences.

On a personal note, I went to The Mavericks’ very first UK gig (Hammersmith April 1994 -I still have the backstage pass that I got sent personally by the band). There is only one band that I recall had the same initial impact on first hearing them live (Little Feat, if you want to know) but I cannot recall any lead singer who hit with the same impact on first hearing as Raul Malo, and continued with every song he sang in whatever style he chose.