I love the Mavericks. Love the sound of lead singer Raul Malo’s voice. “All You Ever Do is Bring Me Down” rose out of my mp3 shuffle today. Tex-Mex superstar accordionist Flaco Jimenez adds his signature playing to the tune.

The Mavericks: All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down (mp3) – from The Definitive Collection

That led me to listen to Flaco’s early 90’s group the Texas Tornados. The group also consisted of Freddy Fender, Doug Sahm, and Augie Meyers.

Texas Tornados: Adios Mexico (mp3) – from The Best of the Texas Tornados

That song led me, for obvious reasons (you’ll know when you hear both tunes), to Steve Earle. If you take Adios Mexico’s traditional Tex-Mex accordion riff, strap a NASA booster rocker to it, and turn the amp up to 11, you get this:

Steve Earle: What’s a Simple Man To Do (mp3) – from Jerusalem