But as Malo believes, that actually showcases the lasting artistry of the song itself. Like the rest of their career, The Mavericks’ take on “Hungry Heart” is unexpected in how much of a departure it is from the original.
You kind of have to pretend a little bit, pretend like ‘Hungry Heart’ wasn’t a big hit and you just got a demo from Springsteen and this is the song he just wrote and you’re gonna cover it. “One of the beauties of Bruce Springsteen is that not only does he write these epic, cinematic songs about triumph and loss, but he also has these really simple love songs that almost sound like Sam Cooke, and ‘Hungry Heart’ is one of those songs,” Malo explains. When he considers that specific criteria, Malo quickly points to one of his favorite tunes on Play the Hits as a total Mavericks re-imagining. One of the most important criteria is what the band can do with the song, what can we do to make it our own and make it sound like it came from us.”
“There’s been a ton of good music along the way,” Malo admits, “but these songs were the ones that stood out. Instead, the LP unveils 11 covers that are best summed up as the songs The Mavericks cut their teeth on. Play the Hits is the band’s latest studio effort, and doesn’t feature a single Mavericks-penned track. Rock critic David Fricke once wrote, “Every great band, any superstar combo that has ever truly mattered, started out playing covers, forging an identity and agenda out of the licks and kicks of other people’s songs.” Thirty years into their career, The Mavericks have decided to continue forging their genre-breaking identity by celebrating the licks and kicks that have long inspired them. While some bands may take a milestone like a 30th anniversary as an opportunity to release a greatest hits record, Malo and The Mavericks are going a different route while still creating some of the most interesting music of their career. “In turn, that music will hopefully mean something to a lot of people.” “Continue to make music that is interesting to you and means something to you,” he states. The mission is simple, or at least it seems so when Malo explains it. “Thirty years of this band, whenever we’ve deviated from our mission, I would say it’s been an abject failure, creatively and spiritually.”
“That’s been the lesson for me,” Malo says as he considers what he’s learned over the last three decades. For Raul Malo, frontman and co-founder of The Mavericks, that self-awareness has taught him to stay true to the mission that has embodied his music since 1989. For others, it may produce a deeper love for something outside of work. For some, it may consist of near-perfect understanding of their particular vocation. If I absolutely had to bet this one (I wouldn’t), I’d just take the Pelicans to win, as they are likely to get blown off the floor anyway and you may as well get the better odds.There’s a certain kind of self-awareness that arises when you’ve worked in the same career for 30 years. the Clippers or the one that looked like a high school team against the Mavericks. It’s impossible to bet the Pels right now because you have no idea which team is going to show up, the one that looked amazing vs. The money lines are set at +255 for the Pelicans and -310 for the Mavericks and the over/under is 217 combined for both teams. Kristaps Porzingis is listed as questionable for this one, but that was true in the last game as well, so expect him to play, as no one on the Mavericks is going to want to sit this one out and waste a shot at padding their stats. Dallas Mavericks: Odds, spread, over/underĪccording to WynnBET, the New Orleans Pelicans are 7.5 point underdogs on the road to the Mavericks, which seems low after the beating that was administered in the last game. Zion Williamson is not walking through that door anytime soon, so the Pelicans will have to get it done without him, and if they can’t, this season is lost. Related Story:This rotation move by Willie Green was bafflingĪfter the Mavericks, the Pelicans will play the Rockets, Nuggets, Pistons, Spurs and Thunder, which are all winnable games, so now would be the perfect time to go on a streak.