Ray Wylie Hubbard

Ray Wylie Hubbard
Hubbard performing in Austin, Texas 2009
Background information
Born	(1946-11-13) November 13, 1946 (age 70) Soper, Oklahoma
Genres	Country, red dirt, folk, rock
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar
Years active	1965–present
Associated acts	Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Jerry Jeff Walker, Steve Earle, Guy Clark
Website	www.raywylie.com

Ray Wylie Hubbard (born November 13, 1946) is a Texas country singer and songwriter.

Hubbard was born in the town of Soper, Oklahoma. His family moved to Oak Cliff in south Dallas, Texas in 1954. He attended W. H. Adamson High School with Michael Martin Murphey. Hubbard graduated in 1965 and enrolled in college, at the University of North Texas, as an English major. He spent the summers in Red River, New Mexico playing folk music.

During his time in New Mexico, Hubbard wrote "Up Against the Wall, Redneck Mother", made famous by Jerry Jeff Walker's 1973 recording. Bolstered by the success of the song, he was signed by Warner Bros. Records and he then put together a band of friends and locals and in 1976 released Ray Wylie Hubbard and the Cowboy Twinkies. Unbeknownst to Hubbard, after he had finished recording his version of the album, producer Michael Brovsky took the sparse yet heartfelt recordings and decided to "Nashville-ize" the sound by adding larger overdub mixes than necessary and female backup singers to what should have been a more intimate sound as first envisioned. The end result was "a botched sound" that Hubbard disapproved of vehemently, but despite his attempts to block it, it was still released.

Despite the anticipation of a successful debut by the label based on the new recordings, sales were poor and refused to let Hubbard go out and perform the album on tour in support of the album. Soon after the label dropped him from their roster and Hubbard has since distanced himself from the album, saying, "It sucked then and it still sucks. If you have any shred of compassion at all in your heart for me or any musician who got screwed by some jerk in authority at a record label, then don't buy this mistake."

Hubbard then recorded albums for other various labels for the next 10 years but struggled with sales; his mix of country, folk and blues elements did not find an audience. Although he recorded several well-written and produced albums (to little to no success), by 1985 he left the music scene after struggling with personal problems. His last album was Caught in the Act - Misery Loves (1984) (on his newly formed Company Records label).