Raul Malo – Drama’s in My Psyche, It’s in My Voice
ND: I’ve heard it suggested that the 1998 success of “Dance The Night Away”, in Europe especially, left the band pressed to become a sort of “swing salsa” novelty act — as if you were going to be Buster Poindexter for them — and that this contributed to the band’s temporary end.
RM: After “Dance The Night Away”, we really did hear that we “needed another uptempo song with horns.” It was so big over there, and still is, that every wedding band and cover band plays that damned song! And over there, that’s what people said we were now — that “salsa party country band,” with no fuckin’ idea what that might mean. In a way, it was our own doing, since we strayed from what we started as. And, of course, I’ve lived off of that song for the last couple of years!
ND: So came then the five-year band hiatus, and you were soon involved with sounds that were, ironically, more Latino — your work with Los Super Seven, for instance — and then the strong Spanish aspect to your solo CD in 2001. Was something now pulling you in that direction?
RM: The Super Seven was an awakening for me. I enjoyed making that music so much, and singing in Spanish; I had never done that on record. And I wanted to continue that on my solo record, and I basically used almost the same guys.
ND: A spinoff was your producing of country singer Rick Trevino’s CD In My Dreams. He was also beginning to incorporate more Spanish sounds in his music, though he’d done Spanish-language versions of earlier Nashville pop-style CDs.
RM: Rick and I were at the same place at the same time. Working with him on the Super Seven project, I saw that he was a singer of immense depth and talent that did not shine through in those country records. He wanted to make another one, but he wanted it to be different, and for me to helm it. I wrote songs with him, got a killer band together, and worked on the arrangements.
VII. IT’S BEEN A CONSTANT LEARNING THING FOR ME
ND: I’d be interested in your take on certain other singers. What stands out for you about Elvis Presley, as a vocalist?
RM: The main thing about Elvis was his versatility. He could sing a rockabilly rave-up, a gospel song, opera, or cheesy songs in movies. It’s amazing, just listening to the performances — even of the worst of it, when he didn’t want to do them.
ND: You have these two Louvin Brothers numbers (“When I Stop Dreaming” and “Great Atomic Power”) on the acoustic CD. What do you like about their singing?
RM: I like the way they were really raw and on the edge, even lyrically. You know that “Great Atomic Power” song has got edge….Their harmonies are so spot-on. Ira was a complicated man, and Charlie’s still out there. Who knows what brought that edge — but it was there.
ND: Gram Parsons had this large influence in country rock and alt-country, but it’s as easy to find people who think he’s wildly overrated as a singer as it is to find others who highly value him. I found his singing very touching, even if he wasn’t always right on the note.
RM: I could see why some people would say that he’s overrated as a singer, but I think Gram Parsons was very effective, in the way that Bob Dylan is effective, or Johnny Cash was. Johnny Cash didn’t really have the greatest voice or instrument either, but he was very effective. Technically, there were limits; Gram wasn’t Chris Hillman — a perfectly great singer! But I don’t agree with those who say he was overrated.
ND: How about Shelby Lynne, with whom you dueted on your solo CD?
RM: Ooh, man! Now there’s a singer! That’s a girl who lays it down. There are singers who have to do all these acrobatics to make you believe that they’re bleeding. All she has to do is open her mouth and she bleeds.
ND: And Sam Cooke? You’ve done some of his material, including the version of “For Sentimental Reasons” on the Acoustic Sessions CD.
RM: Oh that guy! I don’t think that I could give him enough kudos here. He was just phenomenal — the chops, the versatility, the style. He had an energy about him. One of my favorite old standards records was one that he did, “My Kind Of Blues”. He did songs like “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore”, and I’ve never heard them sound so soulful and groove-y.
ND: How about Willie Nelson, with whom you dueted on the Mavericks reunion CD?
RM: Speaking of effective singers — there’s your poster child! He’s been a mentor and good friend, and someone I’ve admired all through the years — and as much for the songwriting. If all he’d done in his life was write “Crazy” it would be enough, but he did “Night Life’ and all these others, too.
ND: And one last one: Roy Orbison. What is it about him, for you?
RM: What isn’t! What got me initially about Roy — though obviously the voice is spectacular — was the songs. They were an outlet for his voice. Nobody could sing “In Dreams” or “Only The Lonely” or “It’s Over” like that.
ND: And you don’t get much more dramatic in pop than “It’s Over”.
RM: No. And it’s one thing to write a song like those now, but where did he get that from then? Those key changes, those structures — “In Dreams” is as freaky a song as you can have. I can imagine hearing that on the car radio when it came out and pulling the car over to have a coronary. Where was that comin’ from? There was nothing like it. So I took that in.
The thing about singing, with all honesty, is that it’s been a constant learning thing for me since the beginning. I feel I’m a better singer now than I’ve ever been. Yes, I am always trying different things; I think that’s how you become a better singer.