Steve Hunter

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This article is about the musician. For the basketball player, see Steven Hunter. For the novelist, see Stephen Hunter.
Steve Hunter
File:Steve Hunter Guitar Player.JPG
March 2013
Background information
Birth name Stephen John Hunter
Also known as The Deacon
Born (1948-06-14) June 14, 1948 (age 76)
Decatur, Illinois
Genres Blues, pop, rock
Occupation(s) Musician
Instruments Guitar
Years active 1971 – present
Labels Atco, I.R.S.
Associated acts Mitch Ryder
Detroit
Peter Gabriel
Lou Reed
Alice Cooper
Julian Lennon
Bette Midler
Tracy Chapman
David Lee Roth
Website www.stevehunter.com

Stephen John Hunter, sometimes called "The Deacon",[1] born June 14, 1948, is an American guitarist best known for his collaborations with Lou Reed and Alice Cooper. He first played with Mitch Ryder's Detroit, beginning a long association with record producer Bob Ezrin who has said Steve Hunter has contributed so much to rock music in general that he truly deserves the designation of "Guitar Hero".[2] Steve Hunter has played some of the greatest riffs in rock history[3] - that first slamming solo that rings in Aerosmith's Train Kept A Rollin', the acoustic intro on Peter Gabriel's Solsbury Hill, and he wrote the legendary intro interlude that made Lou Reed's live version of Sweet Jane a first gold record (the Rock 'N' Roll Animal live set).

Early life

Steve Hunter was born and raised in Decatur, Illinois. He was first introduced to music when, as a young child, he would listen to country and western music on a Zenith console radio and his father would play the guitar. He watched the Lawrence Welk show on TV at his grandparents home where he saw Neil LeVang and Buddy Merrill. His grandparents had a Harmonium and his father would sit young Steve on his lap and pump the organ while Steve would work out melodies on the keyboard. When he was eight years old he began to take guitar lessons on a Lap steel guitar. He saw and heard Jerry Byrd play the lap steel and learned what could be done on the instrument. He eventually switched to the standard guitar and was influenced by the music of Chet Atkins, The Ventures and Duane Eddy. [4]

Hunter continued playing guitar throughout high-school where he played in a group called the Weejuns, taking their name from a shoe. Later he joined the Light Brigade, a rock and soul group that played in the Decatur area.

In 1967, during the Vietnam War, Hunter was drafted into the Army, trained as an x-ray technician, and served in an air evacuation hospital in Okinawa, Japan where Vietnam combat casualties were being treated. He considered becoming a doctor but he enjoyed music so much he knew he would follow a career in music.[5]

After his service in the Army, he returned to Decatur where he built a reputation as a gifted guitar player. One day he got a telephone call from his Decatur friend, John "Polar Bear" Sauter, that changed his life.

Career

Hunter has had an illustrious 40 year career as a session musician, band member and as a solo performer.

Work with Mitch Ryder

John Sauter called Hunter to tell him that he was playing with Mitch Ryder in Detroit and that Ryder was auditioning for guitar players. He suggested that Hunter come up to Detroit and try out. Hunter packed up his guitar and made the eight hour drive to Detroit. Hunter made the cut and became part of Mitch Ryder's new band Detroit. Here Hunter met and formed a long-time professional association with producer Bob Ezrin. Detroit released one self-titled album on Paramount Records. They had a hit with a cover of Lou Reed's "Rock & Roll". Reed was so impressed with Hunter's arrangement and performance on that song that he recruited Hunter to join his band.[3]

Work with Alice Cooper

In the 1970s, he appeared on five Alice Cooper albums, all of which were produced by Ezrin. His first recording with Alice Cooper was in 1973 as a session musician on the second to last and most successful album recorded by the Alice Cooper group, Billion Dollar Babies. When Alice Cooper became a solo artist, Hunter followed and appeared on the 1975 groundbreaking album and live show Welcome to My Nightmare alongside guitarist Dick Wagner as seen in the film Welcome to My Nightmare. This was released on home video in 1976 and featured the celebrated guitar battle between Hunter and Wagner that formed part of the Alice Cooper 1975 live show. In 2010, Hunter also worked on the basic tracks and solos for Alice Cooper's album Welcome 2 My Nightmare and then toured with Alice Cooper throughout 2011 on the No More Mr. Nice Guy Tour.[6]

Work with Lou Reed

His first collaboration with Lou Reed was for the Berlin album. He also played with Dick Wagner in the band captured on Reed's live albums, Rock 'n' Roll Animal and Lou Reed Live, including the "Intro" to "Sweet Jane", which was composed by Hunter,[7] who plays the solo up to Lou walking on stage. In 2006, Reed and Hunter presented a new live version of Berlin, released in 2008 as a DVD and CD Berlin: Live at St. Ann's Warehouse.

Work with Aerosmith

In 1974 he played the (uncredited) opening-half solo on Aerosmith's "Train Kept A Rollin" from Get Your Wings. In a February 2015 interview in Detroit Rock N Roll Magazine Hunter tells how it came about that he recorded the opening solo of Aerosmith's " Train Kept a Rollin": "Aerosmith was in Studio C of The Record Plant and I was doing work with Bob Ezrin in Studio A. I had a long wait between dubs and was waiting in the lobby. Jack Douglas popped his head out of Studio C and asked "Hey, do you feel like playing? I said sure, so I grabbed my guitar and went in" "I had two run thru’s, then Jack said "great' that's it! That turned out to be the opening solos on 'Train Kept A Rollin’".[8]

Work with Jack Bruce, Peter Gabriel and other artists

In 1974, shortly after his work with the band on the live Reed albums, Hunter played guitar on former Cream bassist Jack Bruce's solo album Out of the Storm.

He played on Peter Gabriel's self-titled first solo album (1977) that included the classic single ‘Solsbury Hill’ which was likewise produced by Ezrin.[9]

Other artists Hunter has worked with include David Lee Roth (in the mid-1990s), Julian Lennon, Dr John, Tracy Chapman and more recently Glen Campbell and 2Cellos. It was while recording Roth's A Little Ain't Enough that Hunter met Jason Becker. Hunter and Becker have remained the best of friends since.[10] He wrote "Camelia", which is featured on the soundtrack of the film The Rose, starring Bette Midler, and performed as part of the backing band. Additionally, he appears in the film Blame it on the Night, a movie co-written by Mick Jagger, featured as one of the guitarists in the band.

Solo work

Hunter's first solo album, 1977's critically acclaimed Swept Away, was produced by Bob Ezrin.[11]

Hunter opted to leave Alice Cooper's touring band in 2012 to concentrate on solo projects.[12]

His 5th solo album The Manhattan Blues Project was released on April 30, 2013, and features contributions from Joe Satriani, Tony Levin, Johnny Depp, Joe Perry, Marty Friedman, Michael Lee Firkins, Phil Aaberg, 2Cellos and Tommy Henriksen, with background vocals provided by Karen Ann Hunter.[13]

In Sep 2014 a DVD and Soundtrack CD called 'Tone Poems Live' was released, featuring Hunter, bass player Tony Levin, pianist Phil Aaberg and drummer Alvino Bennett.

Awards

In 2009 Hunter received an Emmy Award for his contribution to the Detroit Free Press Christ Child House multimedia project.[14][15]

In June 2015 Hunter was inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame.[16]

Personal life

Hunter lives in Phoenix, AZ with his wife, Cornish singer/songwriter, Karen Ann Hunter.[17] He suffers from pigmentary glaucoma, which has rendered him legally blind.[4]

Solo discography

  • 1977 - Swept Away (Atco)
  • 1989 - The Deacon (IRS)
  • 2008 - Hymns for Guitar (Deacon Records)
  • 2008 - Short Stories
  • 2013 - The Manhattan Blues Project (Deacon Records)
  • 2014 - Tone Poems Live (Singular Recordings/Gokuhi)

Other contributions

References

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  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Christ Child House Emmy Award winning video.
  16. ↑ Michigan Rock and Roll Legends
  17. ↑ Karen Ann Hunter's webpage
  18. ↑ Discogs

External links

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