Ray Wylie Hubbard (born November 13, 1946) is an American singer and songwriter.

Early life

Hubbard was born in the town of

Soper, Oklahoma Soper is a town in Choctaw County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 261 at the 2010 census. The town was named for Pliny L. Soper, who was an attorney for the Arkansas and Choctaw Railway. History At the time of its founding, Sope ...

. His family moved to

Oak Cliff Oak Cliff is a neighborhood of Dallas, Texas, that was formerly a separate town in Dallas County; Dallas annexed Oak Cliff in 1901. It has since retained a distinct neighborhood identity as one of Dallas' older established neighborhoods. Oak Cl ...

in southwest

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, Texas, in 1954. He attended

W. H. Adamson High School William Hardin Adamson High School, formerly Oak Cliff High School, is a public secondary school located in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas, Texas, United States. It is part of the Dallas Independent School District and is classified as a 5A school ...

with

Michael Martin Murphey Michael Martin Murphey (born March 14, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter best known for writing and performing Western music, country music and popular music. A multiple Grammy nominee, Murphey has six gold albums, including ''Cowboy Songs' ...

. Hubbard graduated in 1965 and enrolled in North Texas State University (now the

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal School," ...

) as an English major. He spent the summers in

Red River, New Mexico Red River is a resort town in Taos County, New Mexico, located in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The population was 477 at the 2010 census. Red River is located along the Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway, and is from Taos. History Prior to ...

, playing folk music in hootenannies with a trio known as Three Faces West.

Musical career

1970s

During his time in New Mexico, Hubbard wrote "Up Against the Wall, Redneck Mother" first made famous by

Jerry Jeff Walker Jerry Jeff Walker (born Ronald Clyde Crosby; March 16, 1942 – October 23, 2020) was an American country music and folk singer-songwriter. He was a leading figure in the progressive country and outlaw country music movement. He was best ...

's 1973 recording, and covered by a wide variety of other artists since. Bolstered by the success of the song, he was signed by

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

. Hubbard then assembled a band of friends and locals and, in 1976, released ''Ray Wylie Hubbard and the Cowboy Twinkies.'' Unbeknownst to Hubbard, producer Michael Brovsky had decided to "Nashville-ize" the sound by adding overdub mixes and female backup singers to the recordings. The result was "a botched sound" that Hubbard disapproved of vehemently, but the album was released despite his attempts to block it.

1980s

Hubbard then recorded albums for various other labels for the next decade, but struggled with the sales of his mix of

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

and

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

. The last album he recorded in the 80s was ''Caught in the Act'' (1984) on his newly formed ''Misery Loves Company'' record label.

1990s and beyond

He returned to recording in the early 1990s, and released his album ''Lost Train of Thought'' in 1992, followed by ''Loco Gringo's Lament'' in 1994. Eventually a steady following began to re-discover Hubbard's music and he has been recording steadily since. His guitar technique uses a strumming by the left (fretting) hand that is very old, but not frequently seen in double time without changing right hand beat. He describes his 2017 album ''Tell the Devil I’m Getting There as Fast as I Can'' as rock & roll, though his style has become associated with outlaw country, which he pans in the song "Lucifer and the Fallen Angels" singing, "Why go to Nashville knowing you never, ever gonna be mainstream? It’s better to reign in hell than serve in heaven."

Discography

* 1975 ''Ray Wylie Hubbard and the Cowboy Twinkies'' –

* 1978 ''Off the Wall'' – Lone Star Records/Mercury/Polygram * 1979 ''Something About the Night'' – Renegade Records * 1984 ''Caught in the Act'' – Misery Loves Company Records * 1992 ''Lost Train of Thought'' – Misery Loves Company/DejaDisc Records * 1994 ''Loco Gringo's Lament'' – Misery Loves Company/DejaDisc Records * 1997 ''Dangerous Spirits'' –

Rounder Rounder(s) or The Rounder(s) may refer to: Film and television * ''The Rounders'' (1914 film), a comedy short * ''The Rounder'' (1930 film), a comedy short * ''The Rounders'' (1965 film), a western comedy * ''Rounders'' (film), a 1998 poker f ...

/Philo Records * 1998 ''Live at Cibolo Creek'' – Misery Loves Company Records * 1999 ''Crusades of the Restless Knights'' – Rounder/Philo Records * 2001 ''Eternal and Lowdown'' – Rounder/Philo Records * 2003 ''Growl'' – Rounder/Philo Records * 2005 ''Delirium Tremolos'' – Rounder/Philo Records * 2006 ''Snake Farm'' – Sustain Records * 2010 ''A. Enlightenment B. Endarkenment (Hint: There is No C)'' – Bordello Records (Thirty Tigers/RED) * 2012 ''The Grifter's Hymnal'' – Bordello Records (Thirty Tigers/RED) * 2015 ''The Ruffian's Misfortune'' – Bordello Records (Thirty Tigers/RED) * 2017 ''Tell the Devil That I'm Getting There As Fast As I Can'' – Bordello Records (Thirty Tigers/RED) * 2020 ''Co-Starring'' –

Big Machine Records Big Machine Records is an American independent record label, distributed by Universal Music Group. Specializing in country and pop artists, Big Machine is based on Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee. The label was founded in September 2005 by fo ...

* 2022 ''Co-Starring Too'' –

- Released March 18, 2022

Books

* ''A Life... Well, Lived'' – A biography and memoir published in 2015.

References

External links

*
THE SECOND LIFE OF RAY WYLIE HUBBARD
from

D Magazine ''D Magazine'' is a monthly magazine covering Dallas–Fort Worth. It is headquartered in Downtown Dallas. ''D Magazine'' covers a range of topics including politics, business, food, fashion and lifestyle in the city of Dallas. The first iss ...

(1993)
A Country Music Outlaw, Resurrected

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

July 24, 2006
Hubbard's Path: 'Redneck Mother' to 'Wylie Lama'

September 17, 2006
The Resurrection of Ray Wylie Hubbard: The Turnstyled Junkpiled Interview
(2012)
Ray Wylie Hubbard at The Kessler Theater in Dallas, TX : ''Ray Wylie Hubbard celebrated his 70th Birthday Bash with special guests Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams''
by David Simers in ''National Rock Review'' (November 24, 2016)
The 25 Best Ray Wylie Hubbard Songs
by Thomas Mooney in ''Wide Open Country'' (March 2018) {{DEFAULTSORT:Hubbard, Ray Wylie 1946 births Living people People from Hugo, Oklahoma Country musicians from Oklahoma Country musicians from Texas American country singer-songwriters Musicians from Dallas University of North Texas alumni Music of Denton, Texas Singer-songwriters from Texas Singer-songwriters from Oklahoma People from Oak Cliff, Texas