PRESTON HUBBARD 1953-2016: It is with great sadness that the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame notes the passing of 2012 inductee Preston Hubbard at his home in St. Louis, Missouri at age 63.
Hubbard first made his mark on the Rhode Island music scene in the late 1960s as bass guitarist with the psychedelic/hard rock band Napalm Sundae and the Bottomlands Blues Band with guitarist Fred Bates, pianist/vocalist Joe Bargar and harmonica wizard Scott Hamilton who doubled on alto saxophone. Preston made the switch to upright bass when Hamilton traded in his harps and alto for a tenor sax and the band morphed into the jazz unit The Hamilton-Bates Blue Flames.
The Blue Flames became a local sensation and their early-1970s performances at the late-lamented nightspot Joe’s Upstairs in downtown Providence are legendary.
In 1975, he joined the Duke Robillard-era Roomful of Blues completing a classic lineup of the band which recorded two albums for Island Records and toured nationally.
He achieved international success after he replaced bass guitarist Keith Ferguson in the Austin-based Fabulous Thunderbirds in 1985. This lineup of the band included Kim Wilson on vocals and harmonica, Jimmie Vaughan on guitar, and another Rhode Islander, drummer Fran Christina (RIMHOF 2012) with Hubbard performing on both upright and electric bass. The group went on to score Gold- and Platinum-level sales with the albums “Tuff Enuff” (1986), “Hot Number” (1987) and “Powerful Stuff” (1989), the title track of which was featured in the Tom Cruise smash hit motion picture “Cocktail.”
In 2012, Preston Hubbard was inducted into the Rhode Music Hall of Fame in recognition of his contributions as a member of Roomful of Blues.