Robert Hunter (lyric poet)

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Robert Hunter, 1980

Robert C. Hunter (born June 23, 1941 in Arroyo Grande , California - † September 23, 2019 in San Rafael , California) was an American poet , songwriter and singer-songwriter , who was best known for his collaboration with Jerry García and Grateful Dead was known.

Life

He was born Robert Burns in San Luis Obispo , California . He was early friends with Jerry Garcia and played with him in the early 1960s in bluegrass bands like The Tub Thumpers, with Hunter playing mandolin and bass . They spent this time in coffee houses in Palo Alto , occupied themselves with poetry and the beat movement (see also: beat music , beatnik ).

In 1962 Hunter earned money together with Ken Kesey as a test subject for psychedelics at Stanford University . This experimental project was the CIA's MKULTRA research program . Hunter was paid to take LSD , mescaline, and psilocybin and report on the effects and experience with them. These influences enriched his own creativity: “Sit back picture yourself swooping up a shell of purple with foam crests of crystal drops soft nigh they fall unto the sea of ​​morning creep-very-softly mist ... and then sort of cascade tinkley-bell like (must I take you by the hand, every so slowly type) and then conglomerate suddenly into a peal of silver vibrant uncomprehendingly, blood singingly, joyously resoundingbells .... By my faith if this be insanity, then for the love of God permit me to remain insane. "

Robert Hunter, 1982

This is how the first song lyrics he wrote for the Grateful Dead were written under the influence of LSD. At that time he was not a member of the band. This then resulted in the songs China Cat Sunflower and The Eleven , which were initially often played as a medley , similar to China Cat Sunflower and I Know You Rider . China Cat Sunflower was also influenced by Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland and the works of Edith Sitwell . After battling his drug addiction, Hunter finally joined the Grateful Dead on the first weekend of September 1967 at a gig in Rio Nido, California. At first it was a more free and relaxed collaboration, before it came to promising similarities and mutual advantages. During this weekend Hunter wrote the first verses of his perhaps best-known song Dark Star , for which Garcia had already composed the instrumental accompaniment. The song is considered the figurehead of Grateful Deads and one of the 500 most important songs according to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (along with Uncle Tom ). Many deadheads were of the opinion that the band only found their psychedelic style to improvise from then on.

The collaboration between Hunter and the band and above all the trust in each other grew until Hunter was officially a "non-performing" member. Most of the songs on Grateful Dead come from the collaboration between Garcia and Hunter, with Garcia composing the music and Hunter writing the lyrics. Garcia described Hunter as "a band member who doesn't go on stage with us". Hunter also worked with the other Grateful Dead singers: Bob Weir , Phil Lesh and Ron "Pigpen" McKernan , although Weir preferred to work with John Perry Barlow .

Hunter described Friend of the Devil in 1970 as the next attempt by Garcia and himself to write a classic song. Musicians like Kenny Loggins , Bob Dylan and Tom Petty and bands like Counting Crows covered this song. In fan circles, the line “What a long, strange trip it's been” from the song Truckin 'is one of the best known in rock. Hunter reached a high point of his work in the 70s with the texts for Help on the Way / Franklin's Tower (1975) and Terrapin Station (1977).

In 1974 Hunter released his solo album Tales of the Great Rum Runners , where he acted as a singer-songwriter. The next year he released the album Tiger Rose . Both did not achieve the success of the Grateful Dead albums. His other solo endeavors can be downloaded from his archive. These include the rare Jack O 'Roses release , a long version of Terrapin Station Suite and a solo rendition of Friend of the Devil .

In addition to his work as a songwriter and singer, Hunter also published his own poetry and other works, including translations of Rainer Maria Rilke's Duineser Elegien and his sonnets to Orpheus .

In 2015 Rolling Stone listed him together with Jerry Garcia on rank 36 of the 100 best songwriters of all time .

Discography

  • Tales of the Great Rum Runners (1974)
  • Tiger Rose (1975)
  • Alligator Moon (recorded but unreleased - 1978)
  • Jack O'Roses (1980)
  • Promontory Rider: A Retrospective Collection (1982)
  • Amagamalin Street (1984)
  • Live '85 (1985)
  • Flight of the Marie Helena (1985)
  • Rock Columbia (1986)
  • Duino Elegies (1988)
  • Liberty (1988)
  • Box of Rain (1990)
  • Duino Elegies / The Sonnets To Orpheus (1993)
  • Sentinel (1993)

Works

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Neil Genzlinger: Robert Hunter, Grateful Dead Lyricist, Dies at 78. In: The New York Times , September 24, 2019 (English). Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  2. ^ Dennis McNally, A Long Strange Trip: The Inside History of the Grateful Dead. 2002. p. 42
  3. ^ Dennis McNally, A Long Strange Trip: The Inside History of the Grateful Dead. 2002. pp. 42-43
  4. ↑ Davis Dodd: The Annotated 'China Cat Sunflower'
  5. ↑ Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 500 Songs ( Memento from August 26, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  6. ↑ Davis Dodd: The Annotated 'Truckin'
  7. ↑ The 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time. Rolling Stone , August 2015, accessed August 7, 2017 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Hunter, Robert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Burns, Robert (maiden name); Hunter, Robert C.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American lyricist, poet, and singer-songwriter
DATE OF BIRTH June 23, 1941
PLACE OF BIRTH Arroyo Grande , California , United States
DATE OF DEATH 23 September 2019
Place of death San Rafael , California , United States