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Product Details
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Track Listings
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
To listen to Ray Wylie Hubbard's Snake Farm is to enter an eerie netherworld populated by dark and fascinating characters, some of whom are creepy enough to give you the shivers. The sandpaper-voiced Hubbard, a Texas songwriting legend, works a primal, greasy groove with these bluesy portraits, starting with Ramona, the dancing, tattooed reptile-house worker of the unforgettable title track. "Snake Farm" hypnotically mixes slithering images of sex, fear, revulsion, and humor, especially when Hubbard lets out a shimmering and menacing shudder of disgust. ("Snake farm / It just sounds nasty / Snake farm / Purty much is.") Guitar gunslinger Seth James sharpens the fine point on the stiletto that helps make these songs so lethal, but throughout, Hubbard strives for a tone of decadent elegance, whether evoking polecat love or the sideshow thievery of "Rabbit" ("There's two kinds of people in the world / The day people and the night people / It's the night people's job / To get the day people's money"). Produced by the masterful Gurf Morlix, who keeps things lean, foreboding, and roadhouse rough, the album sounds as if it were recorded in a room lit only by a naked 90-watt bulb--the perfect atmosphere in which to conjure songs of sin, deceit, and subterranean shenanigans. By record's end, redemption appears in a gonzo-ized telling of the Christ tale ("Resurrection"). But the Devil holds center stage until then, particularly on "The Way of the Fallen," inspired by Dante's Inferno, and on the Joseph Campbell mythology of "Wild Gods of Mexico," which involves a graphic canine sacrifice. Like Reservoir Dogs, the Quentin Tarantino classic Hubbard references in another humorous--if complex--example of women, sex, and revulsion, Snake Farm is not for the faint of heart. But fans of lowlife chic and exemplary Texas songwriting should lap this up quicker than cold longnecks and hot chicken-fried steak. --Alanna Nash
About the Artist
When F. Scott Fitzgerald reached his classic conclusion that ‘There are no second acts in American lives,’ he failed to envision the career of legendary Texas troubadour Ray Wylie Hubbard. A willing conspirator in the late seventies Cosmic Cowboy revolt that ushered in the mythical Outlaw era, Hubbard was a catalyst in the cultural upheaval that led to the peaceful coexistence of Lone Star music enthusiasts who comprised each end of the social and political spectrum of that troubled time. In the stellar company of iconic colleagues like Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Doug Sahm and Jerry Jeff Walker, Ray Wylie Hubbard was an architect of the musical legacy that continues to inspire subsequent generations of up-and-coming Texas talent.
A working musician throughout his self-inflicted stint in professional purgatory, Hubbard held steadfast to the hope afforded him by his robust character and deep inner well of humility and keen, raw humor. As the fog of addictive behavior lifted, Hubbard committed himself to improving his prowess on guitar and began to realize a renaissance of sorts in his songwriting. The often arduous journey of recovery, meted out ‘one day at a time’ has helped contribute to a songwriting canon comprised of some of the richest literary references and compelling melodic tapestries of any contemporary artist, in any genre of popular music.
Ray Wylie Hubbard’s latest offering is the gritty, humorous, seductive and exhilaratingly intelligent Snake Farm, a collection of commanding songs that represent the best of both worlds, juxtaposing impeccable lyrics with dirty, primal grooves. The distinct imprint of uber roots producer/guitarist Gurf Morlix is apparent in the record’s authentic texture and sonic superiority. Morlix has helmed pivotal efforts by standard-setting artists, including Lucinda Williams, Robert Earl Keen and the riveting newcomer Mary Gauthier, whose brilliant CD Mercy Now is due, in part, to musical mid-wifing by Ray Wylie Hubbard.
Snake Farm’s cornerstone is the hypnotic title track, inspired by a real-life reptile house. "The idea was to make it (the song) about a woman working at a snake farm. I could kind of sense this character of the guy writing the song being in love with the woman who worked there."
Recorded at The Zone studio in Dripping Springs, Texas, the songs on Snake Farm lend themselves to an amalgam of adjectives---greasy, rootsy, gnarly and slightly rude. The record was envisioned as a semi-live garage-swamp foray, and clearly achieves Hubbard’s goal of conveying a tone he defines as ‘decadent elegance.’
If the songs on Snake Farm have a literary roadhouse aura about them, they are equally viable in the visual medium. Noted filmmaker Tiller Russell, producer/director of the provocative documentary Cockfight and director of the CMT series Small Town Secrets, shot music videos for two tracks from the album. "Resurrection" features skeletal figures contending with the elements of fire, earth and water and was filmed at California’s Salton Sea, which Russell describes as ‘a post-apocalyptic wasteland.’ The location for "Snake Farm" was the log cabin near Wimberley, Texas shared by Hubbard, his wife Judy and twelve-year-old son Lucas.
When asked about the process that has led him to write and record a collection of songs that resonate so deeply with such a broad, diverse and discriminating set of listeners---and to have done so at an age when many artists are decades past their creative prime---Ray Wylie Hubbard answers with characteristic self- deprecation.
" I didn’t want to peak too soon," he offers, laughing the laugh of one who is alternately comfortable with and grateful for his present station in life.
Customer Reviews
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
More Growl than Growl,
By
This review is from: Snake Farm (Audio CD)
Ray continues move away from folk/country style music to a more roots blues sound. If you liked RWH's Growl you will love this one. Greasy backwoods roadhouse southern fried blues. Gurf Morlix' guitar and production work with RWH is fantastic. RWH is an American roots music treasure who keeps getting better with age.
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Middle-of-the-night music, fuel for bonfires, dice, and showdowns,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Snake Farm (Audio CD)
Ray Wylie Hubbard's "Snake Farm" is one evil, growling monster of a record, a finely focused muscular effort that effuses grit, malice, and funk. The sound ripples with thick, raw grooves that compliment the subject matter: the devil, women, redemption and damnation, hexes, and guitars. Clearly, this stuff is middle-of-the-night music, fuel for bonfires, dice, and showdowns.
Though Mr. Hubbard's considerable sense of humor and keen wit are not lost, his music has changed a great deal. To see how dramatically Mr. Hubbard's, listen to "Dangerous Spirits," a much more freewheeling, country-laced sound. More specifically, compare the earlier, lilting version of Resurrection with the darker vibe that runs through the same song on "Snake Farm." Nearly all the tracks feature Hubbard along with a now familiar cast of characters: his producer and guitar player Gurf Morlix, stalwart Rick Richards on drums, and steady George Reiff on bass. A smattering of guests keep matters interesting without altering the focus. Time to get yourself down to the "Snake Farm."
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Love at first note...,
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Snake Farm (Audio CD)
I can't get this cd out of my player. I love Austin music and Ray is the best. The swampy, sultry sound can take you away. The lyrics are amazing and certain lines stick in my head. Amazing stuff and a far cry from 'Up Against the Wall Redneck Mothers' although I like that too.
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