What a Difference a Song Makes
I woke up this morning with the Morning Blues. They stuck around until cleared away by a good song; The Mavericks’ “All Over Again”.
I’ve enjoyed The Mavericks for years. “All Over Again” is not their only song that lifts my spirits. Others are “Dance the Night Away” and “Here Comes My Baby.”
The Mavericks formed in the late 1980s when high-school friends Raul Malo (lead singer and composer), Robert Reynolds (bassist), and Paul Deakin (drummer) formed a band. The group added David Lee Holt (lead guitar) and Nick Kane (guitarist), later replaced by Eddie Perez (guitarist). The latest lineup includes Malo, Deakin, Perez, and keyboardist Jerry Dale McFadden. The group’s “sound is defined by a wide variety of musical styles outside of country music such as Tejano, Latin, American, and the pop music of the 1950s, with particular emphasis on Malo's singing voice.”
I found The Mavericks by following Raul Malo when he was part of Los Super Seven which Wikipedia calls a supergroup. Los Super Seven was not a permanent band, but a group of notable musicians assembled to make albums. The group recorded three albums with the members chosen to fit each album’s theme. Los Super Seven existed only to record the three albums and did not last after the final album. Malo sang on two of the albums, Canto and I Heard It On the X.
The musical concept differed for each of the albums. The albums have “sounds from Tejano, mariachi, Cuban, Afro-Peruvian, Brazilian, blues, rhythm and blues, county, jazz, and rock.” The group won a Grammy for Best Mexican/Mexican-American Album in 1999 for its eponymous first album.
Here are some Los Super Seven songs. Raul Malo sings on the first two. The next two feature the country singer Rick Trevino. The Brazilian singer Caetano Veloso does the last song.
Epilogue
This morning, a good song slowed me down and relaxed me. I wasn’t aware that I was writing too fast and was tense until Willie Nelson helped me slow down and relax. The song was “Moonlight In Vermont.”