Robert C. Christie Hunter (born Robert Burns, June 23, 1941 – September 23, 2019) was an American lyricist, singer-songwriter, translator, and poet, best known for his work with the Grateful Dead. Born near San Luis Obispo, California, Hunter spent some time in his childhood in foster homes, as a result of his father's abandoning his family, and took refuge in reading and writing. He attended the University of Connecticut for a year before returning to Palo Alto, where he became friends with Jerry Garcia. Garcia and Hunter began a collaboration that lasted through the remainder of Garcia's life. Garcia and others formed the Grateful Dead in 1965, and some time later began working with lyrics that Hunter had written.
Introduction
Robert Hunter (lyricist)
Robert Hunter (lyricist) | Introduction
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Hunter sometimes wrote lyrics the others composed music around; sometimes, he wrote lyrics to music; and sometimes, the group worked together to create music and lyrics simultaneously. Their musical improvisation was often inspired by psychedelic experiences under the influence of LSD, and by other hallucinatory experiences: Hunter wrote "Dire Wolf" inspired by a dream after watching a film adaptation of "The Hound of the Baskervilles".
Robert Hunter (lyricist) | Grateful Dead
Robert C. Christie Hunter (born Robert Burns, June 23, 1941 – September 23, 2019) was an American lyricist, singer-songwriter, translator, and poet, best known for his work with the Grateful Dead. Born near San Luis Obispo, California, Hunter spent some time in his childhood in foster homes, as a result of his father's abandoning his family, and took refuge in reading and writing. He attended the University of Connecticut for a year before returning to Palo Alto, where he became friends with Jerry Garcia. Garcia and Hunter began a collaboration that lasted through the remainder of Garcia's life. Garcia and others formed the Grateful Dead in 1965, and some time later began working with lyrics that Hunter had written.
Robert Hunter (lyricist) | Introduction
"And I believe it, you know?" he told "Rolling Stone" in 2015. According to the "New York Times", Hunter's lyrics "helped define the Grateful Dead as a counterculture touchstone". Analyzing his lyrics became a popular exercise among the band's fans, something Hunter took pride in. His approach to songwriting is described as "deeply literary", and responsible for differenting the music of the Grateful Dead from mainstream popular music. The "Los Angeles Times" compared his lyrical aesthetic to that of Bob Dylan and Randy Newman, and wrote he was one of the few lyricists who "delved into the unique characteristics of the American psyche".
Robert Hunter (lyricist) | Awards and legacy
He joined the Grateful Dead at a concert in Rio Nido, California, where he wrote the lyrics that later became "Dark Star". Hunter played a minimal role in the Grateful Dead's next album, "Anthem of the Sun", but he and Garcia worked together to write every song on "Aoxomoxoa", which came after it. Although their musical style was developing, the album produced several popular songs, including "China Cat Sunflower", which became an enduring part of the Grateful Dead's repertoire. A few months before "Aoxomoxoa" was released, Hunter and his then-partner Christie Bourne began sharing a house with Garcia, his wife, and his step-daughter.
Robert Hunter (lyricist) | Grateful Dead
Hunter was the only writer to collaborate extensively with Dylan. During the 2000s, Dylan said Hunter had "a way with words", and "we both write a different type of song than what passes today for songwriting." Hunter was famously averse to explaining his lyrics and avoided interviews. Dennis McNally, author of a history of the Grateful Dead, said the band only "developed their potential for greatness" after they made Hunter their main lyricist. McNally writes that while Garcia was one of the "outstanding guitar players and songwriters of his generation", his lyrical abilities were minor. Many of the Grateful Dead's early lyrics were "superficial" and simple.
Robert Hunter (lyricist) | Awards and legacy
While Hunter was in New Mexico, he wrote lyrics for three songs. These songs—"China Cat Sunflower", "St. Stephen", and "Alligator"—would become hits for the Grateful Dead. In 1965, Garcia, Ron McKernan, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh and Bill Kreutzmann formed a band, initially called the Warlocks, but were soon known as the Grateful Dead. They covered songs from other artists but soon began to form their own sound. They recorded and released their first album, which included only two original songs, but soon afterward began to develop more of their own, and started work on "Alligator", using Hunter's lyrics. As a result, they invited Hunter to join them in San Francisco to be their lyricist.
Robert Hunter (lyricist) | Grateful Dead
Garcia invited him to join the band as a lyricist, and Hunter contributed substantially to many of their albums, beginning with "Aoxomoxoa" in 1969. Over the years Hunter wrote lyrics to a number of the band's signature pieces, including "Dark Star", "Ripple", "Truckin'", "China Cat Sunflower", and "Terrapin Station". Hunter was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the Grateful Dead in 1994, and is the only non-performer to be inducted as a member of a band. Upon his death, "Rolling Stone" described him as "one of rock's most ambitious and dazzling lyricists".
Robert Hunter (lyricist) | Introduction
Following the dissolution of the Grateful Dead, Hunter successfully continued his writing career, working on new songs with Jim Lauderdale, Elvis Costello, Cesar Rosas, and Bruce Hornsby, among others. He was seen occasionally playing solo acoustic guitar and performing his classic works, as well as newer songs. In 2004 he opened most of the summer tour of the Dead (a group made up of former Grateful Dead members). He also co-wrote, with David Nelson, many of the songs on the New Riders of the Purple Sage albums "Where I Come From" (2009) and "17 Pine Avenue" (2012). Hunter wrote "Cyclone" for Bruce Hornsby and the Noisemakers' "Levitate" album, released in 2009.
Robert Hunter (lyricist) | Collaborations
Hunter was born Robert Burns on June 23, 1941 in Arroyo Grande, California, near San Luis Obispo. He was a great-great grandson of the Romantic poet Robert Burns, according to Charles Perry. Hunter's father was an alcoholic, who deserted the family when Hunter was seven, according to Grateful Dead chronicler Dennis McNally. Hunter spent the next few years in foster homes before returning to live with his mother. These experiences drove him to seek refuge in books, and he wrote a 50-page fairy tale before he was 11. His mother married again, to Norman Hunter, whose last name Robert took.
Robert Hunter (lyricist) | Early life
When the Grateful Dead were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, Hunter was included as a band member, the only non-performer to ever be so honored. In 2013, Hunter received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Americana Music Association. He performed "Ripple" from the Grateful Dead's album "American Beauty". In 2015, Hunter and Garcia were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Hunter accepted the award along with Garcia's daughter, Trixie Garcia, accepting on behalf of her father. Hunter once again performed "Ripple". Hunter said his "pretty much" favorite line he wrote was in "Ripple": "Let it be known there is a fountain that was not made by the hands of men".
Robert Hunter (lyricist) | Awards and legacy
After a friend attempted to dissuade him, he said, "It'll be fun! I'll take my typewriter and no telling what'll come out." This incident was the first substantial experience any of the Grateful Dead had with psychedelic drugs, and the creative surge he experienced would prove influential on their collective outlook. Around this time, Hunter was briefly involved with Scientology, and also struggled with addiction to methamphetamine and speed, which drove him to move briefly to Los Angeles and then to New Mexico. Some of his hallucinations later inspired his lyrics, such as those to "China Cat Sunflower".
Robert Hunter (lyricist) | Early life
Living in close proximity gave additional impetus to their collaborative songwriting. Hunter's relationship with the band grew until he was officially a non-performing band member. The band's reputation also grew; in 1970, a group led by Miles Davis opened a concert for the band. After "Aoxomoxoa", the band shifted from an experimentalist approach toward Americana and country music, featured in their albums "American Beauty" and "Workingman's Dead". This period produced some of their most successful songs, including "Cumberland Blues", "Box of Rain", and "Sugar Magnolia". Many of these pieces were written by Hunter and would go on to become enduring folk songs; according to McNally, pieces such as "Ripple" grew to be "part of the American canon." The band's composition methods were varied.
Robert Hunter (lyricist) | Grateful Dead
Robert Hunter, lyricist with the Grateful Dead, created the names of the tracks for the album. The album cover is by Jerry Garcia, who at the time was creating digital art. Music from "Infrared Roses" was used as the soundtrack for the 18-minute Grateful Dead video "Infrared Sightings".
Infrared Roses | Introduction
In May 1967, Garcia composed the preliminary chords of the song, but it was at the time without lyrics. A handful of months later, Robert Hunter, who would become a longtime collaborator with the Grateful Dead, arrived back in California and overheard the band playing around with the track. He immediately sat down and wrote the opening line, contributing the lyrics and name of the song. As Hunter has explained on multiple occasions, he reworded the opening lines of "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" as the chorus. "Dark Star" was initially released as a single in 1968, backed with "Born Cross-Eyed", a track written by rhythm guitarist Bob Weir.
Dark Star (song) | Composition and release
The music for seven of the songs on the album was written by David Nelson, with lyrics by Robert Hunter, who wrote the lyrics for many Grateful Dead songs. Four of the other five songs were also written by current band members. In 2010, a version of the song "Olivia Rose", written by Ronnie Penque, appeared on his album "Only Road Home".
Where I Come From (New Riders of the Purple Sage album) | Introduction
In 2012, Hunter co-wrote lyrics for the Mickey Hart Band's albums "Mysterium Tremendum" and the follow-up "Superorganism". In an interview with "American Songwriter", Hart categorized Hunter's lyrics compared to other great lyricists saying, "When you're in a situation in the future and you can't explain it, very often a Hunter line or two or three will explain something that's unexplainable." Also in 2012, Hunter co-wrote four songs on Little Feat's album "Rooster Rag".
Robert Hunter (lyricist) | Collaborations
From Hunter and Garcia's collaboration came many of the songs McNally calls the band's masterpieces, including "Ripple", "Brokedown Palace", and "Attics of My Life". According to "Rolling Stone", "[considered] one of rock's most ambitious and dazzling lyricists, Hunter was the literary counterpoint to the band’s musical experimentation", and his lyrics were "as much a part of the band as Jerry Garcia's singing and guitar."
Robert Hunter (lyricist) | Awards and legacy
Bruce Hornsby never officially joined the band full-time because of his other commitments, but he did play keyboards at most Dead shows between September 1990 and March 1992, and sat in with the band over 100 times in all between 1988 and 1995. He added several Dead songs to his own live shows and Jerry Garcia referred to him as a "floating member" who could come and go as he pleased. Robert Hunter and John Perry Barlow were the band's primary lyricists, starting in 1967 and 1971, respectively, and continuing until the band's dissolution. Hunter collaborated mostly with Garcia and Barlow mostly with Weir, though each wrote with other band members as well.
Grateful Dead | Members
Lauderdale has often collaborated with Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter. Lauderdale's first collaboration with Hunter was "Headed for the Hills" and the second was "Patchwork River" in May 2010. The June 2011 release "Reason and Rhyme" was their third collaboration. Additionally, they wrote songs for a North Mississippi Allstars record that was released in the fall of 2013. Two 2013 releases, "Black Roses" and "Blue Moon Junction," were co-written with Hunter. "Black Roses" features North Mississippi Allstars' Cody and Luther Dickinson, whom Lauderdale met in Nashville at the Americana Music Festival, as well as Muscle Shoals musicians Spooner Oldham and David Hood.
Jim Lauderdale | Robert Hunter
A few months before the release of their album "Aoxomoxoa" in 1969, Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter and his then-partner Christie Bourne began sharing a house with the band's guitarist Jerry Garcia, his wife, and his step-daughter. Living in close proximity gave an impetus to their collaborative song-writing: Hunter and Garcia wrote every song on "Aoxomoxoa". Some time later, Hunter and Carolyn Garcia spent an evening watching a film adaptation of "The Hound of the Baskervilles". According to Grateful Dead historian Dennis McNally, Carolyn later remarked that the hound was a "dire wolf". However, according to Hunter himself, as quoted in the "Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics", he and Garcia were speculating about the identity of the hound in the story, and came up with the idea that it may have been a dire wolf.
Dire Wolf (song) | Background and composition
The elder Hunter was a publisher, who gave Robert lessons in writing. Hunter attended high school in Palo Alto, learning to play several instruments as a teenager. His family moved to Connecticut, where he attended the University of Connecticut. He played trumpet in a band called the Crescents. Hunter left the university after a year, and returned to Palo Alto. He enlisted in the National Guard, and spent six months training, before doing a six-month tour of duty. Upon his return to Palo Alto, he was introduced to Jerry Garcia by Garcia's then-girlfriend, who had previously been in a relationship with Hunter.
Robert Hunter (lyricist) | Early life
A Box of Rain is a 1990 book by Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, compiling his complete songbook, in and out of the Dead, from 1965 until 1990. A more-recent paperback edition has also been published, which includes lyrics up until 1993; the original edition was hardbound. The 1993 publication also includes a different introduction by the author. The book's title comes from "Box of Rain", a song recorded and made famous on the Dead's 1970 studio classic, "American Beauty". For a time, the book was considered the best source of Grateful Dead lyrics. However, that distinction is questionable after the publication of "The Complete Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics" by David Dodd, which compiles songs not only by Hunter, but by other Dead lyricist John Perry Barlow; this book also includes cover songs and folk songs performed by the Dead.
A Box of Rain | Introduction
In 1965, after a dalliance with jug band music, Garcia co-founded the rock band the Grateful Dead. "Before the Dead" includes performances by several musicians who also collaborated with Garcia in later years. Robert Hunter wrote the lyrics for many Grateful Dead songs; David Nelson was a member of the New Riders of the Purple Sage; and Nelson and Sandy Rothman were members of the Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band.
Before the Dead | Recording
Graham has written songs with Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead.
Gerrit Graham | Musician
It is known for the guitar riff Garcia plays in the bass register, which is a descending G major scale (G F# E D C B A G). The song is among the most covered songs written by the Grateful Dead; Hunter later stated, "that was the closest we've come to what may be a classic song."
Friend of the Devil | Introduction
Asked in a 2009 interview about some of the song's more "philosophical" lyrics, such as the line "I've got no answers of my own, and none have been provided", Hornsby said, "You know those are Robert Hunter's lyrics with a couple of additions from me." Hornsby commented on his work for "Levitate" ("Cyclone"), saying, "Well, I've always loved [Robert Hunter's] writing. I've loved so many of the Garcia/Hunter songs. They're just timeless sounding to me, could have been written hundreds of years ago. I had this song that had the same feeling as, say, 'Brokedown Palace'." Hunter collaborated with Bob Dylan on multiple occasions; he co-wrote two songs on Dylan's 1988 album "Down in the Groove", all but one of the songs on Dylan's 2009 album "Together Through Life", and "Duquesne Whistle" from Dylan's 2012 album "Tempest".
Robert Hunter (lyricist) | Collaborations
On Allmusic, Fred Thomas wrote, "Recorded in 1980 at the Capitol Theatre in Passaic, New Jersey, the extensive set list includes only a few Garcia/Dead staples ('Deal', 'Sugaree'), but branches out into more eclectic territory with massively jammed-out versions of covers ranging from the Beatles to Jimmy Cliff. Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter joins the band for an encore including 'Tiger Rose' and 'Promontory Rider'."
Garcia Live Volume One | Critical reception
All songs written by Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter, except where noted. 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition – disc two 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition – disc three
Workingman's Dead | Track listing
Albums that Robert Hunter recorded as a solo artist:
Robert Hunter (lyricist) | Solo discography
From 1971 to 1995, Barlow wrote lyrics for the Grateful Dead, mostly through his relationship with Bob Weir. Barlow's songs include "Cassidy" (about Neal Cassady and Cassidy Law), "Estimated Prophet", "Black-Throated Wind", "Hell in a Bucket", "Mexicali Blues", "The Music Never Stopped" and "Throwing Stones". Barlow wrote extensively for "Wired" magazine, as well as "The New York Times", "Nerve", and "Communications of the ACM". In his writings, he explained the wonder of the Internet. The Internet to him was more than a computer network; he called it an "electronic frontier." "He frequently wrote in language that echoed Henry Morton Stanley's African diary.
John Perry Barlow | Writing
Jeff Tamarkin, writing in "Relix", said, "As for the jams, the Grateful Dead were still so raw and unformed in the summer of '66 part garage/punk, part tough blues band, a bit of folk-rock and experimental zeal all filtered through a Prankster-informed lysergic mischievousness but the elements are all in place. And they're quite often on fire here... but hints of the tenderness they would later cultivate in their original ballads also turn up... They're still primarily a cover band at this stage their own tunes are not even close to what they'd soon start turning out when Robert Hunter became involved but there's no denying the inherent originality and enormity of what they've got going on."
July 29 1966, P.N.E. Garden Aud., Vancouver Canada | Critical reception
Garcia served as lead guitarist, as well as one of the principal vocalists and songwriters of the Grateful Dead for its entire career. Garcia composed such songs as "Dark Star", "Franklin's Tower", and "Scarlet Begonias", among many others. Robert Hunter, an ardent collaborator with the band, wrote the lyrics to all but a few of Garcia's songs. Garcia was well-noted for his "soulful extended guitar improvisations", which would frequently feature interplay between him and his fellow band members. His fame, as well as the band's, arguably rested on their ability to never play a song the same way twice. Often, Garcia would take cues from rhythm guitarist Bob Weir, remarking that "there are some [...] kinds of ideas that would really throw me if I had to create a harmonic bridge between all the things going on rhythmically with two drums and Phil [Lesh's] innovative bass playing.
Jerry Garcia | Career with the Grateful Dead
Bob and Jerry Jerry Garcia, Marshall Leicester, and Robert Hunter Jerry Garcia and unknown musician
Before the Dead | Musicians
It is also suggested that American songwriter Robert Hunter drew inspiration from the poem for the song "Althea" performed by Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead.
To Althea, from Prison | Musical settings and recordings
Prior to his death in 2018, John Byrne Cooke intended to produce a documentary film (provisionally titled "The Bar Cross Ranch") that documented this era. Barlow became interested in collaborating with Weir at a Grateful Dead show at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York, in February 1971. Until then, Weir had mostly worked with resident Dead lyricist Robert Hunter. Hunter preferred that those who sang his songs stick to his "canonical" lyrics rather than improvising additions or rearranging words. A feud erupted backstage over a couplet in "Sugar Magnolia" from the band's most recent release (most likely "She can dance a Cajun rhythm/Jump like a Willys in four-wheel drive"), culminating in a disgruntled Hunter summoning Barlow and telling him "take [Weir]—he's yours".
John Perry Barlow | Grateful Dead
It's all about the vibrations that make up the infinite universe. In this case, they began as light waves and these light waves are still washing over us. Scientists at Penn State, Lawrence Berkeley Labs, and Meyer Sound have transformed these light waves into sound waves." Hart said that he worked with George Smoot, a scientist who, with John C. Mather, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2006 for his work in cosmic microwave background radiation. Seven of the twelve tracks on the album have lyrics written by Robert Hunter, who wrote the words for many Grateful Dead songs.
Mysterium Tremendum | Introduction
The single, to quote Phil Lesh, "sank like a stone." Of the 1600 copies that made up the original shipment in 1968 by Warner Bros., only about 500 actually sold. A classic live version appeared in 1969 on "Live/Dead", the Dead's first live album. It also appeared on later compilations "What a Long Strange Trip It's Been" in 1977 and "The Best of the Grateful Dead" in 2015. It also appears as a bonus track on the 2001 reissue of "Live/Dead". It also features Hunter's only appearance on a Grateful Dead record, reciting a monologue at the end of the song.
Dark Star (song) | Composition and release
By 1962, he had written a book, "The Silver Snarling Trumpet", described by McNally as a roman à clef. The volume was not published; however, McNally writes that it showed Hunter's "skill at storytelling and his fantastic ear for dialogue". Recordings of folk and bluegrass bands that included Hunter and Garcia were later released on two albums – "Folk Time" (2016) and "Before the Dead" (2018). Around 1962, Hunter volunteered for psychedelic chemical experiments at Stanford University, research covertly sponsored by the CIA in its MKULTRA program: others participants included Ken Kesey and Allen Ginsberg. He was paid to take LSD, psilocybin, and mescaline, and then report on his experiences, which were creatively formative for him.
Robert Hunter (lyricist) | Early life
"Sugaree" is a song written by long-time Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter and composed by guitarist Jerry Garcia. It was written for Jerry Garcia's first solo album "Garcia", which was released in January 1972. As with the songs on the rest of the album, Garcia plays every instrument himself (except drums, played by Bill Kreutzmann), including acoustic guitar, bass guitar, and an electric guitar played through a Leslie speaker. The song was first performed live by the Grateful Dead on July 31, 1971, at the Yale Bowl at Yale University, as was the song "Mr. Charlie". They played the song in numerous other concerts, including those later released as "Dick's Picks Volume 3" and "One from the Vault".
Sugaree | Introduction
"Playing in the Band" is a Grateful Dead song. The lyrics were written by Robert Hunter and rhythm guitarist Bob Weir composed the music, with some assistance from percussionist Mickey Hart. The song first emerged in embryonic form on the self-titled 1971 live album "Grateful Dead". It then appeared in a more polished form on "Ace", Bob Weir's first solo album (which included every Grateful Dead member except Ron "Pigpen" McKernan). It has since become one of the best-known Grateful Dead numbers and a standard part of their repertoire. According to "Deadbase X", it ranks fourth on the list of songs played most often in concert by the band with 581 performances.
Playing in the Band | Introduction
Porter appears on one track of the album. The lyrics for most of the songs on "7 Walkers" were written by Robert Hunter, who wrote the words for many Grateful Dead songs. Willie Nelson plays guitar and sings on one track, "King Cotton Blues".
7 Walkers (album) | Introduction
In a piece accompanying the list, Robert Christgau wrote of the album:
The Grateful Dead (album) | Critical reception
The title of the album is a palindrome created by cover artist Rick Griffin and lyricist Robert Hunter. According to "Living with the Dead", the audio memoir of band manager Rock Scully, the title is pronounced "ox-oh-mox-oh-ah" One fan legend considers the words "Grateful Dead" on the front of the album, written in large, flowing capital letters, to be an ambigram that can also be read "we ate the acid". Kreutzmann states, "Aoxomoxoa...doesn’t mean anything — it’s just a cool palindrome. People have surmised over the years that you could read the "Grateful Dead" lettering on the front cover as "We Ate the Acid" which, I suppose, is true enough, if you look at it just right." The artwork is adapted from a painting that was originally created as a concert poster for the band.
Aoxomoxoa | Title and cover art
"Casey Jones" is a song by the American rock band the Grateful Dead. The music was written by Jerry Garcia, and the lyrics are by Robert Hunter. Hunter stated in a 2015 interview with "Rolling Stone" that "Casey Jones" didn't start out as a song, it just suddenly popped into my mind: "driving that train, high on cocaine, Casey Jones, you better watch your speed." I just wrote that down and I went on to whatever else I was doing, and some time later I came across it and thought, "That's the germ of a pretty good song." The song first appeared on the Dead's 1970 album "Workingman's Dead".
Casey Jones (song) | Introduction
The Grateful Dead returned to the studio at the end of March 1974, having readied another batch of songs. The majority were again composed by lead guitarist Jerry Garcia and lyricist Robert Hunter and featured Garcia's lead vocals. However, "Pride of Cucamonga" and "Unbroken Chain" were both written and sung by bassist Phil Lesh with the assistance of poet Bobby Petersen. This was the only time he would sing two songs on a Dead studio album, and they would be his final lead vocal work for the band until 1985. Rhythm guitarist Bob Weir contributed "Money Money" with writing partner John Perry Barlow.
From the Mars Hotel | Recording
The era that provides the backdrop to "Might As Well" is the same time period Budnick subsequently wrote about in the box set Robert F. Kennedy Stadium, Washington, D.C., July 12 & 13, 1989.
Dean Budnick | Grateful Dead: Liner Notes, Journalism and Novel
"We could probably write a hundred songs together if we thought it was important or the right reasons were there,” Dylan said of working with him in 2009. Hunter co-wrote the songs for two Jim Lauderdale albums – "Patchwork River" (2010) and "Carolina Moonrise" (2012). Hunter later said that working with Lauderdale was a productive experience, as they both liked working quickly, and wrote an album in a couple of days. Also in 2010 Hunter co-wrote the song "All My Bridges Burning" with Cesar Rosas for the Los Lobos' album "Tin Can Trust". In the same year, Hunter wrote lyrics for 7 Walkers' debut album, including "Louisiana Rain", "Chingo", and "Sue From Bogalusa".
Robert Hunter (lyricist) | Collaborations
After hearing his songs, Hardin convinced him that they should form a new band. Shortly afterward, Robert Hunter of the Grateful Dead was a passenger in Russell's cab; Russell sang Hunter his song "Gallo Del Cielo" and an impressed Hunter invited Russell to join him on stage at New York's Bitter End. Hunter encouraged Russell to make a full-fledged return to the music business and Russell later opened for Hunter at the Lone Star Cafe. Hunter sang Russell's "Gallo Del Cielo" at the Glastonbury Festival in the UK.
Tom Russell | Early life and career
In 2013, Khen Rotem, who records as Israeli hip hop artist Sagol 59, decided to adapt Robert Hunter's Grateful Dead lyrics into Hebrew for a full-length album. He mentioned the idea to the folk singer Ami Yares, a New Jersey native and longtime Israeli resident, who was immediately on board. Rotem spent approximately 18 months translating the lyrics from English into Hebrew. He had previously translated songs by Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, Frank Zappa and Grandmaster Flash into Hebrew. The resulting album, "The Promised Land", a collaboration between Sagol 59 and Yares, was the first album featuring Hebrew versions of Grateful Dead songs.
The Promised Land (Sagol 59 album) | Production
Jack Straw is a rock song written by Bob Weir and Robert Hunter. The track appeared on the Grateful Dead album "Europe '72", and was frequently performed live by the band. The song was first performed in concert on October 19, 1971, in Minneapolis, Minnesota at new keyboardist Keith Godchaux's first show with the band. In the song's earliest performances (c. 1971–72), Weir sang all of the vocals. On the Europe 72 Tour at The Olympia Theater in Paris on 5-03-72 Weir and Jerry Garcia began switching up the vocals. Bob Weir stated in a 2004 interview that the song's lyrics were partly based on John Steinbeck's novel "Of Mice and Men".
Jack Straw (song) | Introduction
Grateful Dead: Production:
Built to Last | Personnel
Grateful Dead Additional musicians Technical personnel
Aoxomoxoa | Personnel
"Dark Star" is a song released as a single by the Grateful Dead on Warner Bros. records in 1968. It was written by lyricist Robert Hunter and composed by lead guitarist Jerry Garcia; however, compositional credit is sometimes extended to include Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann, Mickey Hart, Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, and Bob Weir. "Dark Star" was an early Grateful Dead classic and became one of their most loved and anticipated numbers, often with the group using it as a vehicle for musical improvisation sessions that extended well beyond the original structure of the song. The song is included in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll list and was ranked at number 57 on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time.
Dark Star (song) | Introduction
Roberts graduated in 1908 from Cornell University, where he wrote the lyrics for two Cornell fight songs, including "Fight for Cornell". He was also a member of the Quill and Dagger society. He was later awarded honorary doctorates from three New England colleges: Dartmouth College, in Hanover, New Hampshire; Colby College, in Waterville, Maine; and Middlebury College, in Middlebury, Vermont.
Kenneth Roberts (author) | Early life
"In midst of all this adverse stuff that was happening ... [recording the album] was definitely an upper," said Garcia in an interview. Lyricist Robert Hunter had joined the band on the road for the first time, resulting in a period of faster song development. Unlike the psychedelic, electrified music for which the band had become known, the new songs took a new direction, reviving their folk-band roots. Bassist Phil Lesh stated "The song lyrics reflected an 'old, weird' America that perhaps never was ... The almost miraculous appearance of these new songs would also generate a massive paradigm shift in our group mind: from the mind-munching frenzy of a seven-headed fire-breathing dragon to the warmth and serenity of a choir of chanting cherubim.
Workingman's Dead | Recording
The album marks the band's first original album since 2003's "Kickin' It at the Barn" and the recording debut with the group of new drummer Gabe Ford who replaced original drummer Richie Hayward following his death in 2010. Four of the songs were written by former Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter in collaboration with keyboard player Bill Payne, now the only musician to have played with every line-up of the group. Surprisingly, Paul Barrere, the group's main writer/singer, has only been credited with writing on one track, although his usual co-author Fred Tackett has contributed four songs, all of which have appeared on his solo albums, but not all of which he sings lead on.
Rooster Rag | Background
Robert Levenson (July 19, 1897 – April 26, 1961) was an American lyricist active in Boston in the late 1910s.
Robert Levenson | Introduction
Reviewing the album for "American Songwriter", Hal Harowtz said: Swampy rhythms? Check. Nasty, cutting slide guitar? Present. A funky combination of blues, country and rock and roll? Oh yeah. Quirky idiosyncratic songwriting? Well, three out of four ain’t bad. ... With keyboardist Billy Payne as the lone remaining original member, Feat stomp and strum their way through a pretty good batch of new tunes that capture the band’s distinctive musical gumbo but aren’t exactly classics on the order of Lowell George’s timeless songs that remain the backbone of the group’s raison d’être. Still, with help from Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, they’re solid enough and the veteran band sounds fresh, inspired and revived if not exactly young and hungry on their first studio album of original material in twelve years and after losing irreplaceable founding drummer Ritchie Heyward.
Rooster Rag | Reception
"Dire Wolf" is a ballad by the Grateful Dead, released as the third track on their 1970 album "Workingman's Dead". The lyrics were written by Robert Hunter after watching a film adaptation of "The Hound of the Baskervilles". The music, containing elements of country and folk music, was composed by Jerry Garcia on the same day. The song tells the story of a man who plays cards with a "dire wolf" on a cold winter's night in "Fennario"; the lyrics have been variously interpreted. The piece became a staple of the Grateful Dead's performances, and was played more than two hundred times between 1969 and 1995.
Dire Wolf (song) | Introduction
Production credits are adapted from the album liner notes.
Ed Hunter | Personnel
In an interview with Dave Hemingway she stated:
Hunter (Björk song) | Lyrics
In 2005, Barraco toured with Dark Star Orchestra after the death of keyboardist Scott Larned and continues to play with them at the present time, although he also played sporadically with Phil Lesh and Friends in 2005 and continuously through 2006. Rob has also collaborated with Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter on seven songs recorded on his 2007 solo release, "When We All Come Home".
Rob Barraco | Introduction
According to Robertson, Lynott wrote "Rocky" with him in mind. John Alcock has stated that "Massacre" was written in the studio. Its lyrics came after Lynott was visited in hospital by a Protestant clergyman, and Catholic Lynott became defensive. Later he regretted his reaction, and wrote the lyric condemning religious prejudice.
Johnny the Fox | Songs
On the next album, "In the Dark" (1987), Mydland co-wrote "Hell in a Bucket" with Weir and Barlow; he also penned the train song "Tons of Steel." "Built to Last" (1989) featured several more of Mydland's songs: the moody "Just a Little Light", the environmental song "We Can Run," the live-performance-driven "Blow Away" and the poignant "I Will Take You Home," a lullaby written with Barlow for Mydland's two daughters.
Brent Mydland | Grateful Dead
With the Grateful Dead Solo albums with Kingfish
Bob Weir | Discography
In an obituary, "The Musical Times" wrote of him as "a song writer of genuine lyrical impulse [who] set words by Byron, Keats and Shelley; he was also a symphonist, in a conservative vein."
Robert Still | Work
Hunter married artist Maureen Hunter in 1982, and they had three children. Although an early member of the Church of Scientology, by 1999, Hunter no longer belonged to the organization. In 2013, he was compelled to go on a solo tour as a result of medical bills, after surviving a spinal cord abscess in the previous year. Hunter died at his home in San Rafael, California on September 23, 2019. He had recent surgery before his death. Upon hearing news of his demise, tributes and remembrances were shared from his former bandmates Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, and Phil Lesh, alongside other musicians Jim Lauderdale, Trey Anastasio, John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge and Warren Haynes.
Robert Hunter (lyricist) | Personal life and death
"Bertha" (produced by Los Lobos) "Jack Straw" (produced by Bruce Hornsby and the Range and Eddie King) "U. S. Blues" (produced by Ralph Sall)
Deadicated: A Tribute to the Grateful Dead | By song
All songs written by Charlie Hunter.
Gentlemen, I Neglected to Inform You You Will Not Be Getting Paid | Track listing
Hunter died in London in 1984.
John Hunter (screenwriter) | Introduction
All songs written by Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter and all lead vocals by Jerry Garcia except where noted.
Wake of the Flood | Track listing
Keyboardist Alissa Ricci stated that the band were so excited to record an album that they didn't enter into the process with any preconceived statements or themes and themes which emerged during the writing process were "relationships, the tough things, the great things, death, pain, ambivalence and apathy". The death of principal writer Nate Eiesland's father during the making of the final Scattered Trees record the previous year continued to affect him during the making of "Give In", with his lyrics reflecting a "more of an ambivalent attitude towards death, unlike the first stage of grief". "The Hunter" deals with Eiesland's "level of familiarity and understanding of death".
Give In | Themes
Robert Hunter collaborates with Nelson on a half dozen cuts and the long-time Grateful Dead lyricist demonstrates an elegant command of language on the title song, while the band's playing on a close to eight minute track is articulate in its own way... NRPS 2009 can excel when they improvise, as on the ten-minute plus of 'Ghost Train Blues', and the group would do well to jam more often and bring in more cover material, such as the traditional 'Them Old Minglewood Blues', to complement their originals."
Where I Come From (New Riders of the Purple Sage album) | Critical reception
Hunter died in Washington, D.C. on April 3, 1916, survived by his third wife, children and grandchildren. He is buried at Mount Hebron Cemetery in Winchester, Virginia. The Department of Military Records was ultimately closed and its archival responsibilities transferred to the Library of Virginia.
Robert W. Hunter | Death and legacy
All songs written by Christy and Nathan Nockels, except where noted.
A Grateful People | Track listing
Mydland joined the Grateful Dead in April 1979, replacing Keith and Donna Godchaux, who had decided to start their own band. After two weeks of rehearsals, he played his first concert with the band at the Spartan Stadium, San Jose, on April 22. Mydland quickly became an integral part of the Dead owing to his vocal and songwriting skills as much as his keyboard playing. He quickly combined his tenor singing with founding members Weir and Jerry Garcia to provide strong three-part harmonies on live favorites. He easily fit into the band's sound and added his own contributions, such as in "Go to Heaven" (1980) which featured two of Mydland's songs, "Far From Me" and "Easy to Love You," the latter written with frequent Weir collaborator John Perry Barlow.
Brent Mydland | Grateful Dead
Gordon Thompson was a songwriter who co-wrote the song "The Thing-Ummy Bob" with David Heneker.
Gordon Thompson (songwriter) | Introduction
Hunter wrote the lyrics the next morning, based on images that the phrase conjured for him, and Garcia wrote the music to them later that day.
Dire Wolf (song) | Background and composition
Robert Hunter MacGimsey (Pineville, Louisiana 1898 Phoenix, Arizona 1979) was an American composer. His most famous song was "Sweet Little Jesus Boy" (1934), a well-known Christmas carol written in the style of an African-American spiritual.
Robert MacGimsey | Introduction
This song, "Smog Farm", was recorded at the band's first live performance, on July 4, 1996. The words to a few of the songs were written by Grateful Dead lyricists Robert Hunter or John Perry Barlow, including one tune, "Samba in the Rain", that had been part of the Dead's repertoire in the early '90s.
Missing Man Formation (album) | Introduction
Hunter had four grandchildren at the time of his death.
Robert Hunter (journalist) | Death
Grateful Dead Additional musicians Technical personnel
Grateful Dead (album) | Personnel
All songs written by Ian Hunter except where noted.
Ian Hunter (album) | Track listing
All tracks written by Ian Hunter except where noted.
The Artful Dodger (album) | Track listing
So that night they moved the PA, set it up and mixed the show."
Bob Heil | The Grateful Dead concert
He is married to Carole A. Means since 1976. They raised three children; Laura Jeanne, James Douglas, and John Robert, III .
J. Robert Hunter | Personal life
All tracks were written and composed by Dicky Barrett and Joe Gittleman.
Question the Answers | Track listing
Robert Hall Weir ( ; né Parber, born October 16, 1947) is an American musician and songwriter best known as a founding member of the rock band Grateful Dead. After the Grateful Dead disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with The Other Ones, later known as The Dead, together with other former members of the Grateful Dead. Weir also founded and played in several other bands during and after his career with the Grateful Dead, including Kingfish, the Bob Weir Band, Bobby and the Midnites, Scaring the Children, RatDog, and Furthur, which he co-led with former Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh.
Bob Weir | Introduction
Allen's "Aces Back to Back" (1992), the roots of the Grateful Dead's musical family tree were sown at Kepler's Books in 1960. That year, the Hunter/ Garcia folk duo played there and at universities and colleges all over the Bay Area. "From this point on," says Jerry Garcia, "I kept going farther into music and [Robert] Hunter into writing."
Kepler's Books | Sixties counterculture
All songs composed and arranged by Grave Digger, except where indicated. Lyrics written by Grave Digger except where noted
Witch Hunter (album) | Track listing
Garcia spoke at his funeral, saying "After Pigpen's death we all knew this was the end of the original Grateful Dead".
Ron &quot;Pigpen&quot; McKernan | Health and death
The following are the songs that were planned for this album:
Unfinished Grateful Dead album | Track listing
To cover costs the band took out loans, signed a distribution deal with United Artist Records and self-released a string of albums: Robert Hunter's "Tiger Rose"; Garcia's "Reflections"; the Godchaux's "Keith & Donna"; Lesh & Lagin's "Seastones"; "Old & In the Way" (David Grisman and Peter Rowan's bluegrass band with Garcia); and the Dead's "Blues for Allah" and "Steal Your Face".
The Grateful Dead Movie | Production
The ballad is No. 396 on the Roud Folk Song Index. It is also O 25 on the Laws list, which synopsizes "The lady decides to choose between two brothers who love her by determining which is braver. She tosses her fan into a lion's den and asks them to retrieve it." Hunter, who was also influenced by Sir Walter Scott, had composed "Terrapin Station" in two parts, the second never recorded or performed by the Grateful Dead. Drummer Bill Kreutzmann ironed out the arrangement, explaining "We sat down and mapped it out. I said, 'This is how the song goes.' I showed [Mickey] all the parts that I felt worked really well, he added a couple, and that's what the song is today.
Terrapin Station | Recording
Despite his outward image, friends and band biographers have described McKernan as a quiet, kind, and introspective person. Hart later said "Pigpen was the "musician" in the Grateful Dead." Kreutzmann said McKernan was "the sweetest guy anybody had ever met." Weir later became influenced by McKernan's ability to work a crowd and improvise lyrics. He took over de facto frontman duties in concert and began to reintroduce material originally chosen by McKernan into the Dead's live set after his death. Weir began singing "Good Lovin with the Dead in 1973, and the group recorded the song on 1978's "Shakedown Street".
Ron &quot;Pigpen&quot; McKernan | Legacy
All songs written by Jim Bryson, Nathan Cochran, Pete Kipley, Bart Millard, Mike Scheuchzer and Robby Shaffer except where noted.
Spoken For | Track listing
Grateful Dead Additional musicians Production
Workingman's Dead | Personnel
Dylan is backed on the album by his regular touring band, plus David Hidalgo of Los Lobos and Mike Campbell of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Dylan commented on Campbell's guitar work in his interview with Flanagan: "He's good with me. He's been playing with Tom for so long that he hears everything from a songwriter's point of view and he can play most any style." Dylan wrote all but one of the album's songs with Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, with whom he had previously co-written two songs on his 1988 album "Down in the Groove". In an interview with "Rolling Stone" magazine, Dylan commented on the collaboration: “Hunter is an old buddy, we could probably write a hundred songs together if we thought it was important or the right reasons were there...
Together Through Life | Composition and recording
All songs written by Ian Hunter except where noted
All of the Good Ones Are Taken | Track listing
All songs written by Chris Cornell and Kim Thayil.
Hunted Down | Track listing