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Over50
12-15-2003, 09:12 AM
We were sitting around the bar listening to music on the satellite dish when this song came on. It was called Screw You I'm From Texas by Ray something Hubbard by the time the song was over we were all singing this tune. People would walk up to the bar to get a drink and we would just repeat the song. Lots of laughs and nobody got hurt by it until I got home and my wife asked me to put up the christmas tree and naturally I said screw you i'm from Texas. LOL

Jim Clark
12-15-2003, 10:09 AM
Yep, Ray Wylie Hubbard better known for the classic-Up Against The Wall Redneck Mother- if you recall that little gem. Haven't heard anything else though. Redneck bar anthems may be this guys calling in life from the sound of it.

jc

Whooptee
12-16-2003, 03:18 AM
Yep, Ray Wylie Hubbard better known for the classic-Up Against The Wall Redneck Mother- if you recall that little gem. Haven't heard anything else though. Redneck bar anthems may be this guys calling in life from the sound of it.

jc

Actually, most of his songs have lyrics that are very deep and thoughtful. With his last five albums, it's been amazing to witness his progression as an artist. 1994's "Loco Gringo's Lament" was amazing, and he's just gotten better and better since. His latest album, "Growl" and the previous "Eternal and Lowdown" are bluesy mixes of various styles that document life's hard struggles. I included a song called "Didn't Have a Prayer" on the comp I did a while back. It's a slow and bluesy gospel-tinged number about overcoming the destructive nature of overindulgence. It's about a man that's desperately lost, yet truly wants to save himself and is agonizingly trying to find his way back. The lyrics of this song struck me the first time I heard them, but the following pretty much stopped me dead in my tracks,

<i>I stood in spiritual rags
Blinded by the dust of pride
Possessed by my own cold, cold heart
And the shallow reign of my life
In the distance there was thunder
I saw the lightning strike twice
I threw out a little prayer
I threw out a little prayer
Threw out a little prayer, not expecting a reply</i>

It's a powerful song.

He always talks about "Redneck Mother" with a strange mixture of pride and regret. After a lot of years, and a lot of really fine work, every concert inevitably finds him enduring drunken shouts for "Redneck Mother". So, he'll tell the story about Red River, New Mexico and the genesis of the song. He'll explain that the song is meant as a parody of intolerance and how it was to his chagrin that the very people he was parodying took the song on as an anthem of sorts. On the other hand, twice a year he gets a nice little check in the mail and that's allowed him to keep making music. He also always gives a bit of advice to aspiring songwriters, "Right after you write a song, ask yourself, "Can I sing this for the next 31 years?"" Then he'll launch into it. Everyone sings along and has a big time, most are oblivious to the fact that they're revelling in a song that was meant to make fun of them (even though Ray just told a long story telling them that very thing), others get the joke and still take a sort of perverse pride in their "redneck-ness". I'm not exactly on the outside looking in here, so I'll leave it to you to guess which category I belong in.

Anyhow, "Screw You", has already pretty much achieved anthem status around here. And despite how it seems, the song is really partly a tribute to Texas music and musicians and partly an apology for our corporations and politicians.

John

Jim Clark
12-16-2003, 06:45 AM
Actually, most of his songs have lyrics that are very deep and thoughtful. John

That was an interesting little read there, thanks. Not being a Country music guy my exposure is more than a little limited. I do have the "Redneck Mother" track on the Kickin' Country disc though. Actually on this disc the track is performed by Jerry Jeff Walker so I'm not even really sure how I knew anything at all about Ray Wylie Hubbard. There may be a Jeff Foxworthy joke hiding in there somewhere.


Tracklist of worthless bar anthems:


Side One

Whiskey River — Willie Nelson
Take This Job And Shove It — Johnny Paycheck
Numbers — Bobby Bare
Just Good ‘Ol Boys — Moe Bandy and Joe Stampley
Barstool Mountain — Moe Bandy
Don’t All The Girls Get Prettier at Closing Time — Mickey Gilley
Eastbound and Down — Jerry Reed
Wasn’t It A Party — Rovers

Side Two

Up Against The Wall Red Neck Mother — Jerry Jeff Walker
Panama Red — New Riders of the Purple Sage
Willie, Waylon and Me — David Alan Coe
Red Necks, White Socks and Blue Ribbon Beer — Johnny Russell
Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up - Ed Bruce
She’s Acting Single — Gary Stewart
I Think I’ll Just Stay Here And Drink — Merle Hagggard
*Bar Room Buddies-Merle Haggard-Clint Eastwood

jc

dld
12-16-2003, 07:06 AM
Nice writing John. I'll have to look up Ray Wylie's latest laments. And Jim, Jerry Jeff starts out Up Against the Wall Redneck Mother with these words, "And heres a little song by Ray Wylie Hubbard...." or words to that effect. First time I ever heard of him, that would have been back in 1973 on JJW's Viva Terlingua album, loved it then, love it now, played it yesterday.