Ray Wylie Hubbard | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Born | Soper, Oklahoma, U.S. | November 13, 1946
Genres | |
Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar, harmonica |
Years active | 1965–present |
Labels | Bordello (Thirty Tigers), Rounder |
Member of | Lost Gonzo Band |
Website | raywylie |
Ray Wylie Hubbard (born November 13, 1946) is an American singer and songwriter.
Hubbard was born on November 13, 1946, in Soper, Oklahoma. [2] His family moved to Oak Cliff in southwest Dallas, Texas, in 1954. He attended W. H. Adamson High School with Michael Martin Murphey. [3] Hubbard graduated in 1965 and enrolled in North Texas State University (now the University of North Texas) as an English major. He spent the summers in Red River, New Mexico, playing folk music in hootenannies with a trio known as Three Faces West. [4]
During his time in New Mexico, Hubbard wrote "Up Against the Wall, Redneck Mother" [4] first made famous by Jerry Jeff Walker's 1973 recording, and covered by a wide variety of other artists since. [5] Bolstered by the success of the song, he was signed by Warner Bros. Records. Hubbard then assembled a band of friends and locals and, in 1976, released Ray Wylie Hubbard and the Cowboy Twinkies. [6] 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. [4]
Hubbard then recorded albums for various other labels for the next decade, but struggled with the sales of his mix of country, folk and blues. [7] The last album he recorded in the 1980s was Caught in the Act (1984) on his newly formed Misery Loves Company record label.
He returned to recording in the early 1990s, and released his album Lost Train of Thought in 1992, [4] 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.
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. [8]
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Outlaw country is a subgenre of American country music created by a small group of iconoclastic artists active in the 1970s and early 1980s, known collectively as the outlaw movement, who fought for and won their creative freedom outside of the Nashville establishment that dictated the sound of most country music of the era. Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Paycheck and David Allan Coe were among the movement's most commercially successful members.
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