Ray Wylie Hubbard - Dangerous Spirits

1997 release by the great RWH. This one is a little more country than blues (not a bad thing at all) and includes one of my all time favorite RWH songs "The Last Younger Son". If you're questioning whether or not you want to check this guy out then that song's a hell of a place to start, as well as "Last Train To Amsterdam", "The Ballad Of The Crimson Kings", etc...

"Hubbard may have written "Up Against the Wall Red-neck Mother," but the song couldn't be farther from the meaning of his music. He's lived much of his life on the road--touring steadily for some 25 years now--leading from the birth of progressive country in Dallas and Austin, to fitful honky tonk recordings, to his country folk masterpieces Loco Gringo's Lament and the recent, and perhaps best, Dangerous Spirits. Hubbard has a wind scratched voice and a disposition both philosophical and spiritual that celebrates the beauties that, as he sings in "Ballad of the Crimson Kings," "sparkle and fade away." Hubbard's lyrical vision is fierce and unflinching, encompassing the existential shock of Flannery O'Connor and the mystery of fellow Texas troubadour Townes Van Zandt." --Ray Francis Kasten

1. Dangerous Spirits
2. If Heaven Is Not A Place To Go
3. Without Love ( We're Just Wastin' Time)
4. Hey That's All Right
5. Last Train To Amsterdam
6. The Last Younger Son
7. Ressurrection
8. Crimson Dragon Tatoo
9. The Sun Also Rises
10. The Ballad Of The Crimson Kings
    

RWH - Awright.....

Ray Wylie Hubbard - Delirium Tremolos

This is the 2005 release from the king of Texas cowboy/blues. Another mandatory addition to any outlaw country/southern rock collection...

"It seems strange that folks like Ray Wylie Hubbard once lived such wild lives but have been able to make solid comebacks later in life. Strange, because Hubbard, on Delirium Tremolos, sounds as good as he ever has. Better yet, the album has a nice, mellow country sound, and Hubbard has discarded, for the time being, his penchant for preachy, comic songs. It doesn't hurt that the album's been produced by Gurf Morlix, nor that he's joined by great harmony singers like Patty Griffin and Eliza Gilkyson. Hubbard's choice of songs are solid too, combining deep but real lyrics ("And the rock and roll gypsies are ridin' tonight/ On the carnival strips they'll stay") with good melodies and hooks. The first three songs, "The Beauty Way," "Rock and Roll Gypsies," and "Dallas After Midnight," are all keepers, and a beautiful start to a solid album. Other good songs include "This Mornin' I Am Born Again," a gospel-flavored hymn that even pagans should dig. Delirium Tremolos only runs 45 minutes, which means that Hubbard and Morlix resisted the temptation to fill the disc with less than satisfactory material. Roots fans and anyone who enjoys good songwriting will want to pick up a copy." ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr.

1. The Beauty Way
   
2. Rock and Roll Gypsies
3. Dallas After Midnight
   
4. Torn in Two
   
5. Drivin' Wheel
   
6. This Mornin' I Am Born Again
7. Dust Of The Chase
   
8. Roll and I Tumble
   
9. Cooler-N-Hell
   
10. Choctaw Bingo

RWH - Delirium Tremelos : Awright.....