In Memoriam, Steve "The Colonel" Cropper and Raul Malo
The Maverick's founding member and frontman passes just days after legendary guitarist Steve Cropper.
There’s been many tributes to Raul Francisco Martínez-Malo Jr. since he passed at age 60 this past week. One of the best I’ve read so far is from Michael Elliott’s Mixtape newsletter that can be found here, so I’m going to leave my words of memoriam on Malo much shorter than Mike’s as I can’t do a better job than he has already done.
It’s been another tough year of loss in the music community and the passing of Steven Lee Cropper (aka “The Colonel”) on December 3 was a massive loss. With Cropper’s passing we slip closer and closer to loosing the living history of musicians that were there and physically involved in the day, “that song”, was born or, “that album”, found it’s soul.
While Cropper gained much notoriety to a new audience playing himself as the lead guitarist in the Blues Brother’s movies and backing band, his musical hand goes much further back and is greater than what many people know.
The Colonel’s early role in the Stax Records house band and as record producer at the storied label led him to a musical legacy most musicians only dream of.
The list of artists Cropper worked with is astonishing; Ringo Starr, Leon Russell, Rod Stewart, Mavis Staples, Neil Sedaka, John Prine, Dolly Parton, Wilson Pickett, John Oates, and Etta James to name a few. Long live The Colonel!
If it wasn’t tough enough loosing The Colonel last week hit even harder with the passing of Raul Malo of The Maverick’s. I’ve had the pleasure to see the band on many, many occasions and I’m honored to call a few of the guys in The Maverick’s my friends.
The Maverick’s were in a category all their own. Most often heard and considered “country” with steady play on alt country radio stations, I wouldn’t pigeonhole the band as country by any means. It’s clear to see the Elvis influence in Malo’s stage performances and there’s no denying there’s some Hank Williams in the mix. It’s worth noting the band did open for Marilyn Manson in the early days when The Mavericks were a ska/punk outfit, so I wouldn’t say they were strongly rooted in any one genre.
Sometimes it’s best to let the deceased eulogize themselves because they were that giant, so great at what they gave us that our words can’t do them any more justice. Whatever you think The Mavericks and Raul were, they were damn good at it! If this doesn’t get you dancing in your seat check your pulse.
Interestingly, there is a loose Maverick’s/Cropper connection outside of the two artists passing within days of each other. Malo collaborated with Cropper covering vocals on “I Leave You In Peace” from Cropper’s 2024 release Friendlytown.
Long live Malo’s legacy!