Long John Hunter
Border Town Legend
Alligator |
Long John Hunter got a late start in the
music business. At 22, he was working in a box
factory in Beaumont, TX. One night he attended a B.
B. King show and his life changed. The next day, he
bought a guitar and within the year, he was playing
regularly at the same bar where King had played. He
recorded a single for Duke Records in 1954 and later
moved to El Paso.
For 13 years, Hunter crossed the Texas/Mexico border
into Juarez and held court at the notorious Lobby
Bar, where he worked hard seven nights a week
entertaining a varied cast of characters including
soldiers from nearby Fort Bliss, cowboys, locals,
frat boys, and everyone else with marathon
performances lasting from dusk till dawn with an
inexperienced band sometimes consisting of the
club’s Mexican bartenders. His performances were
sometimes highlighted by Hunter swinging through the
rafters by one arm while playing with the other.
Though Hunter toiled away in relative obscurity, he
was still an influence on artists like Phillip
Walker and Lonnie Brooks. He also recorded a handful
of singles for the New Mexico label Yucca. These
sides showed a muscular, gutsy guitar attack and
some rapidly developing composing and singing
ability. He eventually recorded a pair of albums,
one financed by a mobile home mogul in the mid ’80s
that was little heard, and one in 1993 for the tiny
Spindletop label that was well-received but also
limited in distribution. However, the Spindletop
recording got the attention of many of the right
blues people and, next thing you know, Hunter was
signed to Alligator, one of the blues genre’s major
labels, and released Border Town Legend.
Hunter wrote or co-wrote nine of the 12 tracks on
the disc, ranging from mid-tempo tunes like “T-Bone
Intentions” and “Nasty Ways” to slow blues tracks
like “Ice Cold” and “Marfa Lights,” to up-tempo
numbers like “Ole Red” and “Lone Star Shootout.” The
guitar takes center stage on the appropriately
titled album closer, “John’s Funk.” Covers include
the old O. V. Wright standard, “Everybody Knows,”
and Titus Turner’s “Grits Ain’t Groceries.”
Hunter’s guitar playing is unique. Since he was the
only bluesman playing in the area where he worked,
he has a really original style that has some traces
or B. B. King, of course, but you also hear echoes
of Chuck Berry and the R&B artists from his time in
the ’50s in his songs and his vocals. He’s capable
of mixing it up vocally, too, alternating between
tough and tender as fits the song. He’s not fancy by
any means, but what he does, he does well. Border
Town Legend was a success and moved Hunter from
the confines of West Texas to broader national and
international attention.
Hunter released one more disc for Alligator, 1997’s
Swinging From The Rafters. Later in the
decade, he teamed with contemporaries Walker and
Brooks (and another local legend, Ervin Charles) for
Lone Star Shootout. He’s recorded quite a bit
less in the 2000s, only a collaboration with his
brother Tom, and last year’s Looking For A Party,
on Blues Express. In addition, his Spindletop
release, Ride With Me, was reissued on
Alligator and those elusive Yucca recordings have
been reissued on Norton Record.
Recently diagnosed with some heart problems, Hunter
has slowed down a bit over the past couple of years,
but is still playing when he gets a chance. He may
not swing through the rafters so much anymore, but
he’s still a force to be reckoned with.
--- Graham Clarke
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