From left to right: B.W. Stevenson, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Rusty Weir and Steven Fromholz. (Photo courtesy of Judy Hubbard)
Oak Cliff-raised Ray Wylie Hubbard found success in the progressive country scene out of 1970s Austin that included Willie Nelson.
His first hit was “Up Against the Wall Redneck Mother,” made famous by Jerry Jeff Walker. Hubbard has recorded 16 studio albums since then, including the recently released album of duets “Co-starring,” and performing new music for all these decades since, and he made his Grand Ole Opry debut last year at age 72.
The Adamson High School graduate is a member of the Texas Heritage Song Writers Hall of Fame in 2018, and he co-wrote Eric Church’s hit “Desperate Man.”
But Hubbard still has to play “Up Against the Wall” at every show he does forever, just like Willie does “On the Road Again.” The curse of a hit song.
The video below shows Hubbard and band performing the song in May 1975, after it was a hit for Walker but before Hubbard released his debut album, “Ray Wylie Hubbard and the Cowboy Twinkies.”
This newly digitized footage of a WFAA story from May 1975 is from the G. William Jones Film and Video Collection at SMU. Watch to the 1:45 mark to hear young Ray Wylie explain the genre.
Keep scrolling for a 1974 WFAA story about Willie Nelson and the 1974 progressive country scene in Austin.
