Tag: What a Crying Shame

The Mavericks on The Tonight Show in 1994: “What a Crying Shame”

Raul Malo, who passed away in December 2025, and the Mavericks released several singles off their third album, “What a Crying Shame.”

Raul Malo passed away from cancer on December 8, 2025. Known as the lead singer of The Mavericks and a successful solo career, Malo’s voice brought one of the most identifiable sounds to whatever original or cover song he was singing.

I first heard that voice in 1994 on the radio playing the title track from The Mavericks’ album What a Crying Shame, a song co-written by Malo with Kostas Lazarides. Four more singles from the album would follow: “O What a Thrill,” “There Goes My Heart,” “I Should Have Been True,” and a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “All That Heaven Will Allow.”

After first hearing “What a Crying Shame,” I immediately went out and bought the album on cassette tape, eventually playing it so much I wore it out.

Although the band would disband by the end of the 1990s, they soon reunited. They would break up again and reunite again, and Malo would also continue to do solo work. On December 5 and 6, 2025, various artists performed at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville as part of a tribute concert to the Mavericks. Unfortunately, Malo fell ill and could not attend the tribute concert “Dance the Night Away: A 35 Year Musical Legacy Celebration Honoring Raul Malo.” And he died two days later.

Malo left behind a legacy of the great songs he wrote, the music he made himself and with The Mavericks, and that voice, always that voice. Below is a performance from The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in 1994 when the young band’s song “What a Crying Shame” was climbing the charts. RIP Raul Malo.

What is your favorite song by Raul Malo? Leave your two cents in the comments.

The Reunited Mavericks: “In Time”

The Mavericks

The Mavericks, who split up in 2003, are back with a new CD, In Time (2013). While lead singer Raul Malo has had a successful solo career and multi-instrumentalist Robert Reynolds and other band members have had some success on their own, they still sound great together.

I remember listening to their debut self-titled album on a cassette in my car in 1991 when “What a Crying Shame” was all over the radio, so I am glad to hear them together again, even if the listening source has changed. Now, I can listen to them on my computer, and you can too because for a limited time the album is streaming below. Check out the new In Time CD from the Mavericks and hear the various musical influences from Tex-Mex, Cuba, Hawaii, Latin rhythms, Bakersfield and more. [March 9 Update: The stream of the new album was only available for a limited time, so I have replaced the now-dead stream with the video for one of the songs from the album, “Born to Be Blue.”]

The other members of the band include drummer Paul Deakin, keyboardist Jerry Dale McFadden and guitarist Eddie Perez. The Mavericks’ website notes that during the eight-year hiatus, the band members rarely spoke and had not even been in the same room together. When they decided to reunite for this album, the members just showed up. According to Malo, the band was back in sync in the first minute, “We started playing, and it just happened. It was that explosion of sounds! There’s this beautiful simplicity to this, because when we play together, we know each other so well.”

Listeners seem to agree about the chemistry. The Los Angeles Times gives the CD four stars out of four, and the CD is getting a lot of other good reviews from places like Paste.

While you enjoy the music, think on the friends you have not talked to in the last eight years. Maybe it will inspire you to pick up the phone.

What is your favorite song on the new album? Leave your two cents in the comments.

  • The Mavericks on The Tonight Show in 1994: “What a Crying Shame”
  • When Dean and Jerry Reunited on the MDA Labor Day Telethon
  • The Mavericks Cover Waylon’s “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way?”
  • The Replacements Reunite
  • Van Morrison: Til I Gain Control Again

    • (Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)