Steve Hunter (guitarist)
Encyclopedia
Steve "The Deacon" Hunter, born June 14, 1948, in Decatur, Illinois
, 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
.
In the 1970s, he appeared on five Alice Cooper
albums, four of which were produced by Ezrin. In 1973, he was on the final two albums recorded by the Alice Cooper group, Billion Dollar Babies
and Muscle of Love
. 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
, with whom Hunter had already formed a formidable guitar team, as can be heard on the Lou Reed
live album Rock 'n' Roll Animal
and further demonstrated on the film 'Welcome To My Nightmare', released on home video in 1976 featuring the celebrated guitar battle between Hunter and Wagner that formed part of the Alice Cooper 1975 live show. He and Wagner also played on Peter Gabriel
's self-titled first solo album, which was likewise produced by Ezrin, in 1977.
His first collaboration with Lou Reed was for the Berlin
album. He also played in the live band captured on Reed's live albums, the aforementioned Rock 'n' Roll Animal
and Lou Reed Live
. Reed and Hunter are currently working on a new live version of Berlin.
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
in 1974. Other artists Hunter has worked with include David Lee Roth
(in the mid-1990s) and Tracy Chapman
. He also contributed music to and is featured on the soundtrack of the film The Rose, starring Bette Midler. 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.
A film about the guitar partnership of Hunter and Wagner entitled Rock 'n' Roll Animals is currently in production.
In March 2011 Alice Cooper announced that Steve Hunter would be returning to the band for the upcoming tour.
Decatur, Illinois
Decatur is the largest city and the county seat of Macon County in the U.S. state of Illinois. The city, sometimes called "the Soybean Capital of the World", was founded in 1823 and is located along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in Central Illinois. In 2000 the city population was 81,500,...
, is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
guitarist best known for his collaborations with Lou Reed
Lou Reed
Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades...
and Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...
. He first played with Mitch Ryder
Mitch Ryder
William S. Levise, Jr , better known by his stage name Mitch Ryder, is an American musician who has recorded over two dozen albums in more than four decades.-Career:...
's Detroit
Detroit (band)
Detroit was a rock group formed by Mitch Ryder as a successor to his Detroit Wheels in 1970. The only original Wheel in the group was drummer John Badanjek; other members were guitarists Steve Hunter and Brett Tuggle, organist Harry Phillips, and bassist W.R. Cooke. A single album was released by...
, beginning a long association with record producer Bob Ezrin
Bob Ezrin
Robert Alan "Bob" Ezrin is a Canadian music producer and keyboardist, known for his work with artists including Alice Cooper, Kiss and Pink Floyd. He was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2004.-Biography:...
.
In the 1970s, he appeared on five Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...
albums, four of which were produced by Ezrin. In 1973, he was on the final two albums recorded by the Alice Cooper group, Billion Dollar Babies
Billion Dollar Babies
Billion Dollar Babies is the sixth studio album by American hard rock band Alice Cooper, released in 1973. The album became the best selling Alice Cooper record at the time of its release, hit number one on the album charts in both the United States and the United Kingdom, and went on to be...
and Muscle of Love
Muscle of Love
Muscle of Love is the seventh studio album by Alice Cooper, released in 1973. It is the final studio album recorded by the original Alice Cooper band, and is a concept album about teenage angst, life on the streets of New York City, and implied male prostitution.In place of the usual jacket, the...
. When Alice Cooper became a solo artist, Hunter followed and appeared on the 1975 groundbreaking album and live show Welcome to My Nightmare
Welcome to My Nightmare
Welcome to My Nightmare is the eighth album by Alice Cooper, released in 1975. This was Alice Cooper's first solo album . The cover artwork was created by Drew Struzan for Pacific Eye & Ear. Rolling Stone would later rank it as one of the "Top 100 Album Covers Of All Time".Welcome to My Nightmare...
alongside guitarist Dick Wagner
Dick Wagner
Dick Wagner Dick Wagner Dick Wagner (born December 14, 1943, in Oelwein, Iowa is an American rock music guitarist and songwriter best known for his work with Alice Cooper, Lou Reed and KISS.-Performing career:...
, with whom Hunter had already formed a formidable guitar team, as can be heard on the Lou Reed
Lou Reed
Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades...
live album Rock 'n' Roll Animal
Rock 'n' Roll Animal
Rock n Roll Animal is a live album by Lou Reed, released in 1974. In its original form, it features five songs from different periods of his creative career, including several songs by the Velvet Underground. The songs are all re-arranged into a powerful glam rock set...
and further demonstrated on the film 'Welcome To My Nightmare', released on home video in 1976 featuring the celebrated guitar battle between Hunter and Wagner that formed part of the Alice Cooper 1975 live show. He and Wagner also played on Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
's self-titled first solo album, which was likewise produced by Ezrin, in 1977.
His first collaboration with Lou Reed was for the Berlin
Berlin (album)
Berlin is a 1973 album by Lou Reed, his third solo album and the follow-up to Transformer. In 2003, the album was ranked number 344 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, though the publication had called the album a "disaster" 30 years prior.-Background and...
album. He also played in the live band captured on Reed's live albums, the aforementioned Rock 'n' Roll Animal
Rock 'n' Roll Animal
Rock n Roll Animal is a live album by Lou Reed, released in 1974. In its original form, it features five songs from different periods of his creative career, including several songs by the Velvet Underground. The songs are all re-arranged into a powerful glam rock set...
and Lou Reed Live
Lou Reed Live
Lou Reed Live is a live album by Lou Reed, released in 1975. It was recorded at the same concert as Rock 'n' Roll Animal ; on December 21, 1973, at Howard Stein's Academy of Music in New York....
. Reed and Hunter are currently working on a new live version of Berlin.
Shortly after his work with the band on the live Reed albums, Hunter played guitar on former Cream
Cream (band)
Cream were a 1960s British rock supergroup consisting of bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, guitarist/vocalist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker...
bassist Jack Bruce
Jack Bruce
John Symon Asher "Jack" Bruce is a Scottish musician and songwriter, respected as a founding member of the British psychedelic rock power trio, Cream, for a solo career that spans several decades, and for his participation in several well-known musical ensembles...
's solo album Out of the Storm
Out of the Storm (album)
Out of the Storm is the fourth studio album by British bassist Jack Bruce. The album, Bruce's first solo effort in over three years, was recorded and released in 1974, following the dissolution of Bruce's power trio West, Bruce and Laing....
in 1974. Other artists Hunter has worked with include David Lee Roth
David Lee Roth
David Lee Roth is an American rock vocalist, songwriter, actor, author, and former radio personality. Roth was ranked nineteenth by Hit Parader on their list of the 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Singers of All Time....
(in the mid-1990s) and Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her singles "Fast Car", "Talkin' 'bout a Revolution", "Baby Can I Hold You", "Give Me One Reason" and "Telling Stories". She is a multi-platinum and four-time Grammy Award-winning artist.-Biography:Tracy Chapman was born in Cleveland,...
. He also contributed music to and is featured on the soundtrack of the film The Rose, starring Bette Midler. 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.
A film about the guitar partnership of Hunter and Wagner entitled Rock 'n' Roll Animals is currently in production.
In March 2011 Alice Cooper announced that Steve Hunter would be returning to the band for the upcoming tour.
Solo discography
- 1977 - Swept Away (Atco)
- 1989 - The Deacon (IRS)
- 2008 - Hymns for Guitar (Deacon Records)
- 2008 - Short Stories
Other contributions
- 1971 - Detroit (Mitch RyderMitch RyderWilliam S. Levise, Jr , better known by his stage name Mitch Ryder, is an American musician who has recorded over two dozen albums in more than four decades.-Career:...
) - 1973 - BerlinBerlin (album)Berlin is a 1973 album by Lou Reed, his third solo album and the follow-up to Transformer. In 2003, the album was ranked number 344 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, though the publication had called the album a "disaster" 30 years prior.-Background and...
(Lou ReedLou ReedLewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades...
) - 1973 - Billion Dollar BabiesBillion Dollar BabiesBillion Dollar Babies is the sixth studio album by American hard rock band Alice Cooper, released in 1973. The album became the best selling Alice Cooper record at the time of its release, hit number one on the album charts in both the United States and the United Kingdom, and went on to be...
(Alice CooperAlice CooperAlice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...
) - 1973 - Crowbar (Crowbar)
- 1974 - Alice Cooper's Greatest Hits (Alice Cooper)
- 1974 - Rock N Roll Animal (Lou Reed)
- 1974 - Out of the StormOut of the Storm (album)Out of the Storm is the fourth studio album by British bassist Jack Bruce. The album, Bruce's first solo effort in over three years, was recorded and released in 1974, following the dissolution of Bruce's power trio West, Bruce and Laing....
(Jack BruceJack BruceJohn Symon Asher "Jack" Bruce is a Scottish musician and songwriter, respected as a founding member of the British psychedelic rock power trio, Cream, for a solo career that spans several decades, and for his participation in several well-known musical ensembles...
) - 1975 - Ain't It Good to Have It All (Jim & Ginger)
- 1975 - Hollywood Be Thy Name (Dr. JohnDr. JohnMalcolm John "Mac" Rebennack, Jr. , better known by the stage name Dr. John , is an American singer-songwriter, pianist and guitarist, whose music combines blues, pop, jazz as well as Zydeco, boogie woogie and rock and roll.Active as a session musician since the late 1950s, he came to wider...
) - 1975 - Lou Reed LiveLou Reed LiveLou Reed Live is a live album by Lou Reed, released in 1975. It was recorded at the same concert as Rock 'n' Roll Animal ; on December 21, 1973, at Howard Stein's Academy of Music in New York....
(Lou Reed) - 1975 - Welcome to My NightmareWelcome to My NightmareWelcome to My Nightmare is the eighth album by Alice Cooper, released in 1975. This was Alice Cooper's first solo album . The cover artwork was created by Drew Struzan for Pacific Eye & Ear. Rolling Stone would later rank it as one of the "Top 100 Album Covers Of All Time".Welcome to My Nightmare...
(Alice Cooper) - 1976 - Alice Cooper Goes to HellAlice Cooper Goes to HellAlice Cooper Goes to Hell is the ninth studio album by Alice Cooper, released in 1976. A sequel to Welcome to My Nightmare, this concept album was written almost exclusively by Cooper with guitar player Dick Wagner and producer Bob Ezrin....
(Alice Cooper) - 1976 - Glass Heart (Allan Rich)
- 1977 - Peter Gabriel (Peter Gabriel)
- 1977 - Lace and WhiskeyLace and WhiskeyLace and Whiskey is the 10th studio album by Alice Cooper, released in May 1977.After many years of portraying a dark and sinister persona Alice Cooper decided to try something new and donned the persona of a heavy drinking comic PI named "Maurice Escargot" - a fictional character in the same vein...
(Alice Cooper) - 1977 - The Alice Cooper ShowThe Alice Cooper ShowThe Alice Cooper Show is a live album by Alice Cooper, released by Warner Bros. in December 1977.It was recorded live in Las Vegas at the Aladdin Hotel on August 19th and 20th, 1977, during Cooper's "King Of The Silver Screen" US tour...
(Alice Cooper) - 1977 - Goin' Places (Michael Henderson)
- 1980 - The Rose (soundtrack)The Rose (soundtrack)The Rose is the soundtrack to the feature film of the same name starring Bette Midler which was released in 1980. Midler performs all the songs on the album, with the exception of the instrumental "Camellia"...
(Bette MidlerBette MidlerBette Midler is an American singer, actress, and comedian, also known by her informal stage name, The Divine Miss M. She became famous as a cabaret and concert headliner, and went on to star in successful and acclaimed films such as The Rose, Ruthless People, Beaches, and For The Boys...
) - 1989 - H Factor (with Pete HaycockPete HaycockPete Haycock is a guitarist and composer who started his career as lead guitarist and vocalist with the Climax Chicago Blues Band. Born at 63 Tixall Road, Stafford, Staffordshire....
and Derek Holt)http://www.irscorner.com/h/hfac.html - 1991 - A Little Ain't EnoughA Little Ain't EnoughA Little Ain't Enough is the third full-length album by David Lee Roth , released in 1991. It was certified gold on April 11, 1991. Produced by Bob Rock, the album featured the lead guitar work of Jason Becker, a then up-and-coming guitarist who was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis a...
(David Lee RothDavid Lee RothDavid Lee Roth is an American rock vocalist, songwriter, actor, author, and former radio personality. Roth was ranked nineteenth by Hit Parader on their list of the 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Singers of All Time....
) - 1994 - Your Filthy Little MouthYour Filthy Little MouthYour Filthy Little Mouth is the fourth full-length studio album by David Lee Roth , released in 1994. It was the last David Lee Roth album released on the Warner Bros. label and produced by famous producer Nile Rodgers....
(David Lee Roth) - 1998 - DLR Band (David Lee Roth)
- 2008 - Collection (Jason BeckerJason BeckerJason Eli Becker is an American virtuoso neo-classical metal guitarist and composer. At the age of 16, he became part of the Mike Varney-produced duo Cacophony with his friend Marty Friedman. They released Speed Metal Symphony in 1987 and Go Off! in 1988...
) - 2011 - Welcome 2 My NightmareWelcome 2 My NightmareWelcome 2 My Nightmare is the 26th studio album by Alice Cooper, following his 2008 album Along Came a Spider.The idea for the album came about soon after the thirtieth anniversary of the original Welcome to My Nightmare album, while Cooper was talking with producer Bob Ezrin, who proposed the idea...
(Alice Cooper)