Biography
Guitarist Neil Hubbard stood out as a constant presence across the leading edge of British rock, starting in the middle and later years of the 1960s and extending into the opening decade of the 2000s. His résumé lists engagements with Bluesology, Wynder K. Frog, Joe Cocker, Juicy Lucy, the Grease Band, Pete Wingfield, Roxy Music, Bryan Ferry, B.B. King, Alvin Lee, Kevin Rowland, and Jimmy Smith.
As rock & roll swept through English youth culture, Hubbard entered his teenage years and turned to the guitar. At King’s School in Peterborough he and a fellow student constructed their own amplifiers; he soon absorbed and reproduced the signature phrases of Buddy Holly (and Tommy Allsup) while demonstrating a convincing command of genuine American rock & roll. By the middle of the 1960s his reputation as a versatile player had taken hold, whether handling rhythm guitar—an asset during the British invasion—or stepping forward for lead lines. One of his first paid positions came late in 1966 when he joined the reconfigured Bluesology alongside Reg Dwight (later known as Elton John), Long John Baldry, Stu Brown, Marc Charig, and Elton Dean.
When that ensemble dissolved at the start of 1968, Hubbard moved to Wynder K. Frog, the jazz-inflected blues outfit led by Mick Weaver and also featuring Alan Spenner on bass and Bruce Rowland on drums. He appears on their 1968 album Out of the Frying Pan and on the 1970 follow-up Into the Fire, released after his departure. Saxophonist Chris Mercer, another Wynder K. Frog alumnus, joined Hubbard in 1969 when the pair entered the more blues-driven rock band Juicy Lucy, whose cover of Bo Diddley’s “Who Do You Love” reached the U.K. Top 20.
Early in 1970 Hubbard left to reunite with Rowland and Spenner in the reconstituted Grease Band, where he shared guitar duties with Henry McCullough. The unit had already earned respect as Joe Cocker’s backing group on record and at Woodstock. Their first assignment proved unusual: they supplied the core instrumentation for the original studio cast recording of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Jesus Christ Superstar. Shortly afterward the Grease Band signed with EMI’s Harvest label and cut their self-titled debut, later regarded as a roots-rock landmark and warmly received by the British music press. Their concerts proved even more striking, quickly attracting an international audience; Hubbard and McCullough formed a potent guitar tandem, though they were hardly the only attraction. Personal tensions fractured the lineup within a year, and although the name lingered into the mid-1970s the Grease Band never regained the direct appeal of those initial recordings.
Hubbard and Spenner appeared on Joe Cocker’s Something to Say (1972). Session opportunities multiplied rapidly during the next five years, encompassing dates with Eddie Harris, Donovan, Pete Wingfield, the Streetwalkers, Alexis Korner, Alvin Lee, and Chris Jagger, plus a return to the Webber/Rice catalog on MCA’s 1974 recording of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, whose cast featured a sixteen-year-old Donny Osmond. Midway through the decade Hubbard and Spenner helped launch Kokomo, the large soul/funk ensemble that found wide popularity in Britain.
Hubbard first entered Bryan Ferry’s circle during the sessions for the 1976 album Let’s Stick Together. He subsequently played on In Your Mind (1977), The Bride Stripped Bare (1978), Boys and Girls (1985), and Mamouna (1994). With Roxy Music he contributed to Flesh + Blood (1980) and Avalon (1982) and their supporting tours, which were documented on the video release The High Road; he rejoined the group for the 1990 concert set Heart Still Beating.
Recording activity slowed in the 1990s as newer artists rose to prominence, yet Hubbard remained in demand with established names such as Buddy Guy on Damn Right, I’ve Got the Blues and B.B. King on Deuces Wild. Into the early twenty-first century his name surfaced more often on retrospective anthologies, though he still contributed to significant new projects including Jimmy Smith’s Dot Com Blues (2005) and Bryan Ferry’s thirteenth solo album, Olympia (2010). Most listeners continue to recognize him through his associations with Ferry, Joe Cocker, or the original Jesus Christ Superstar, or through belated discovery of the Grease Band’s classic first album, yet his playing threads through a broad catalog of distinguished recordings heard on both sides of the Atlantic since those formative years.
As rock & roll swept through English youth culture, Hubbard entered his teenage years and turned to the guitar. At King’s School in Peterborough he and a fellow student constructed their own amplifiers; he soon absorbed and reproduced the signature phrases of Buddy Holly (and Tommy Allsup) while demonstrating a convincing command of genuine American rock & roll. By the middle of the 1960s his reputation as a versatile player had taken hold, whether handling rhythm guitar—an asset during the British invasion—or stepping forward for lead lines. One of his first paid positions came late in 1966 when he joined the reconfigured Bluesology alongside Reg Dwight (later known as Elton John), Long John Baldry, Stu Brown, Marc Charig, and Elton Dean.
When that ensemble dissolved at the start of 1968, Hubbard moved to Wynder K. Frog, the jazz-inflected blues outfit led by Mick Weaver and also featuring Alan Spenner on bass and Bruce Rowland on drums. He appears on their 1968 album Out of the Frying Pan and on the 1970 follow-up Into the Fire, released after his departure. Saxophonist Chris Mercer, another Wynder K. Frog alumnus, joined Hubbard in 1969 when the pair entered the more blues-driven rock band Juicy Lucy, whose cover of Bo Diddley’s “Who Do You Love” reached the U.K. Top 20.
Early in 1970 Hubbard left to reunite with Rowland and Spenner in the reconstituted Grease Band, where he shared guitar duties with Henry McCullough. The unit had already earned respect as Joe Cocker’s backing group on record and at Woodstock. Their first assignment proved unusual: they supplied the core instrumentation for the original studio cast recording of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Jesus Christ Superstar. Shortly afterward the Grease Band signed with EMI’s Harvest label and cut their self-titled debut, later regarded as a roots-rock landmark and warmly received by the British music press. Their concerts proved even more striking, quickly attracting an international audience; Hubbard and McCullough formed a potent guitar tandem, though they were hardly the only attraction. Personal tensions fractured the lineup within a year, and although the name lingered into the mid-1970s the Grease Band never regained the direct appeal of those initial recordings.
Hubbard and Spenner appeared on Joe Cocker’s Something to Say (1972). Session opportunities multiplied rapidly during the next five years, encompassing dates with Eddie Harris, Donovan, Pete Wingfield, the Streetwalkers, Alexis Korner, Alvin Lee, and Chris Jagger, plus a return to the Webber/Rice catalog on MCA’s 1974 recording of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, whose cast featured a sixteen-year-old Donny Osmond. Midway through the decade Hubbard and Spenner helped launch Kokomo, the large soul/funk ensemble that found wide popularity in Britain.
Hubbard first entered Bryan Ferry’s circle during the sessions for the 1976 album Let’s Stick Together. He subsequently played on In Your Mind (1977), The Bride Stripped Bare (1978), Boys and Girls (1985), and Mamouna (1994). With Roxy Music he contributed to Flesh + Blood (1980) and Avalon (1982) and their supporting tours, which were documented on the video release The High Road; he rejoined the group for the 1990 concert set Heart Still Beating.
Recording activity slowed in the 1990s as newer artists rose to prominence, yet Hubbard remained in demand with established names such as Buddy Guy on Damn Right, I’ve Got the Blues and B.B. King on Deuces Wild. Into the early twenty-first century his name surfaced more often on retrospective anthologies, though he still contributed to significant new projects including Jimmy Smith’s Dot Com Blues (2005) and Bryan Ferry’s thirteenth solo album, Olympia (2010). Most listeners continue to recognize him through his associations with Ferry, Joe Cocker, or the original Jesus Christ Superstar, or through belated discovery of the Grease Band’s classic first album, yet his playing threads through a broad catalog of distinguished recordings heard on both sides of the Atlantic since those formative years.
Singles
