Customer Reviews

Growl

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I mean no disrespect in observing that Growl, surely Ray Wylie Hubbard's finest album, brings to mind Bob Dylan's recent work: gritty, bluesy electric sound, lyrics exhaled through clenched teeth, the years rolled by, death coming down the highway, not a moment or a thought to waste. As with Dylan's, Hubbard's writing is filtered through an intense affection for traditional folk music, lyrics from which each misses no opportunity to quote or paraphrase. At least two songs, "Rooster" and "Little Mama," could easily pass for the real thing.

Hubbard has the benefit of Gurf Morlix's keen producer's talents. As usual Morlix finds a perfect fusion of roots and modern sensibility. Even if you paid no attention to what Hubbard was singing about, this record would just plain sound good, even thrilling, to the ear. It must be said, however, that strong melodies aren't Hubbard's strong suit. Mostly, these are grooves more than melodies, and there's nothing here you're going to be humming in the shower. Still, Growl -- pretty much what this CD is -- is one superior piece of work.

The is the first Ray Wylie Hubbard CD I have ever bought. All I have to say is I will be buying more. I can not belive I missed the boat on the artist. This is the type of Texas county music I love and needs to be played more on the radio. All songs on this CD are first rate. This album sounds great sitting on the porch smoking a cigar and drinking a Shiner while talking about Texas and how great we have it here. This a must for any music fan.

I never heard of Ray Wylie Hubbard until a month ago, but I think he's going to be one of my favorite artists. "Growl" is a great CD -- a mixture of country, rock, and folk with some Texas attitude, a lot of humor, and some musing on heavy-duty topics.

Just to mention four of the songs, "Rock-n-Roll is a Vicious Game" is a semi comic bio of a rock band. You might be able to figure out the tone of "Screw you, We're From Texas" from the title, but it also has a killer rock guitar threading its way through the half-spoken vocal. "The Knives of Spain" has another great display of guitar work by Buddy Miller. And finally "No Lie" is talking blues with a beat than makes your toes wiggle.

These may be the best songs on the CD, but they're all a pretty good combination of Hubbard's gravel voice and top notch instrumentation.

Smallchief

This is like Robert Johnson meets Willie Nelson. Fantastic slide guitar and the lyrics are pure Texas poetry.

Taken as a whole, the music here is not nimble, slick, or overpolished. "Growl" lives up to its name, as Ray Wylie Hubbard plumbs life's true meaning. He conjures up songs about drinking, playing dice, drugs, immortality, crime, death, love, and all the other important themes generally taboo for those who pander to the radio gods. Mr. Hubbard crafts superb lyrics, rarely pulling punches but sometimes things get a little over the top as in Rock-n-Roll Is a Vicious Game.

Most tracks find Mr. Hubbard melding his---how can one describe his vocals adequately---voice and various guitars with Rick Richards on drums and Gurf Morlix on all sorts of guitars, bass, and percussion plus production.

And the production here is dead-on, just enough spit and polish to hold things together instead of smothering the rough spirit of this music.

"Growl" occupies that niche of music that is hard to label, similar to much of Steve Earle's work. But careful listening to this CD brings its own rewards and even casual listening its own joys. In short, "Growl" deserves to be heard by a wider audience, not that the audience deserves to hear it.

I was walking down a creek bed out in the country with a friend, telling him about this album. I went on to say that I believed he, Ray Wylie, is one of the great poets of our time. He asked, "Are you including Dylan?" I was thinking about whether to include Dylan in the category of "our time," and must have thought quietly for awhile, and before I could answer, my friend said, "wow." I guess that was an answer. When I listen to this album, the most vivid images wash through my head. He has an uncanny ability to present profound issues, mixing it with prosaic, folksy phrases. Who else could replicate the freedom of Nirvana with riding on stolen horses. You sense that you are in the hands of a master, stretching you in ways you've never been stretched. Listening to this music and taken as a whole, I sometimes see a tow headed kid on the rolling prairies of Oklahoma, growing up listening to Muddy Waters.

Ray Wylie Hubbard one of Texas' favorite sons has recorded a new anthem for Texans. Screw You We're From Texas! is a new classic. Although it's just a bump in the road for this incredibly soulful disc. Ray's songs are more like paintings. It's impossible to listen to his lyrics without seeing them in your head. Songwriting like this is what legends are made of, Townes, Guy Clark, Dylan. People who with a two minute tune and soulful guitar can draw on your inner being and bring you into their world and away from yours. This is real American music, combine Lighting Hopkins and Willie Nelson and you've got Ray Wylie Hubbard. Do yourself a favor if you love music and buy this disc.
It's as simple as that. The term songwriter is something that should be earned, if that was the case RWH is a Doctor of Musicology. Texas should be proud!!!!

Growl Ray Wylie Hubbard is a Texas icon. I discovered his music about a year ago when a friend shared her copy of Growl with me. She told me "Listen to track 11."

So, I popped the disc into the drive on my way home and listened to Track 11 -- "Screw You, We're from Texas." <Ahem> With a lyric like that, you know there has to be a backstory.

There is.

The story is that a group of drunk wannabe cowboys from some other state showed up at a Ray Wylie concert and started calling for country Top 40 songs. That's not a good thing, especially to do to original Texas music. So, somewhere down the emotional-intellectual road that is a songwriter's inspiration, "Screw You, We're from Texas" was born.

It has just the right amount of in-your-face attitude for a lyrical comeback. I like it.

These words are as true as St. John the Revelator,
Our Mr. Vaughn was the best there ever was,
And no band was cooler than,
The 13th Floor Elevators.

So screw you, we're from Texas...

My favorite track has to be "Rock and Roll Is a Vicious Game." How many times have we heard the story of a band that was special, worked hard, and made it to find that life fell apart in the aftermath Well, this song pretty well sums up the story, does it with style, and is a gritty rocker to boot I like it.

Growl is a well-crafted album of heavy songs that have something to say These aren't songs that will appear on the radio, but they are definitely worth a listen. So, if you're in the mood for something different, rough-and-tumble, and deep, pick up a copy of Growl.

Ray Wylie Hubbard's songs are as full or memorable couplets and quotable lines as any songwriter I've ever heard.

I heard him for the first time at the 2006 Kerrville Folk Festival. (I was a first-time attendee.) I hadn't seen his name on the program or calendar of events and had no idea who he was or what he was about. I gathered that he is regarded as a legend by some, but nobody that I polled knew anything about him. His performance was the best of the festival (in the time that I was there), and I resolved to pick up a some of his music upon my return to Pittsburgh.

I buy a lot of music based on an artist's connection to the work of artists I already admire. I'm often disappointed. There's an awful lot of poseurs running around who heard "Folsom Prison Blues" when they were kids and were taken with the image of shooting a man just to watch him die but who wouldn't have it in them to raise their voices to their own mothers--people singing about trains who've never jumped a train, spewing hyperbole about desire and heartbreak without ever having really experienced desperation.

I don't know the man, Ray Wylie Hubbard. Maybe he's just an extremely talented writer capable of creating the illusion that he speaks from experience. But he's made a believer out of me. I suspect that I'll end up buying everything he's ever recorded, enjoying most of it and appreciating all of it.

I just can't get enough of this guy. Great story teller and excellent music. Some things are just too good not to share with everyone. Give him a listen and see for your self.