Song of the Day 12/11: The Mavericks, “Here Comes the Rain”

Raul Malo, founder and lead singer of the Mavericks, died of cancer Monday at 60, silencing one of the best voices of his generation.

Malo, the son of Cuban immigrants, formed the group in Miami, but they were signed as a country band and relocated to Nashville. Their sound, which owed as much to rock and Latin as it did country music, was critically admired, but it never found a big audience. Their highest charting single, “All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down,” a collaboration with legendary accordionist Flaco Jiménez, reached No. 13 on the country chart. They hit their peak in the mid’90s but broke up at the end of the decade.

Malo sold even fewer solo records, but he was widely respected by his peers, and recorded with lots of bigger stars. His voice was a force of nature. Technically a tenor, he was equally strong in the baritone range, and he was as expressive as he was powerful, particularly on heartbreak ballads, like this one from their 1995 LP “Music for All Occasions.” It reached No. 22 on the country chart.

As a showcase for his vocal prowess, you can’t do much better than his cover of this audience-recorded performance of the Roy Orbison hit.