Born 80 Years Ago Today in the Sooner State, the Country Rocker Whose Answer to a Merle Haggard Hit Made Him an Outlaw Legend

Ray Wylie Hubbard, born in Oklahoma on 13 November 1946, became known for a raw blend of country, rock and folk. His song “Up Against the Wall, Redneck Mother”, later popularised by Jerry Jeff Walker, answered the political and cultural tensions surrounding Merle Haggard’s “Okie from Muskogee” and helped establish Hubbard as an outlaw country figure.

Hubbard formed the Cowboy Twinkies in the early 1970s, mixing honky-tonk songs with Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix. After disagreements with Atlantic over how to record “Redneck Mother”, the band signed with Warner Reprise; Hubbard later said the 1975 album’s added strings and backing vocals erased the sound they had created. He continued recording across several labels, with his latest album, *Reel 2 Reel 4 Real*, released in 2026.