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 during his childhood in foster homes as a result of his father 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 musician Jerry Garcia. Hunter and Garcia began a collaboration that lasted through the remainder of Garcia's life.
Garcia and others formed the Grateful Dead in 1965, and later began working with lyrics from Hunter, whom Garcia invited to join the band as a lyricist. Hunter contributed substantially to many of their albums, beginning with Aoxomoxoa in 1969. He wrote lyrics to a number of the band's signature songs, 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". He was a great-great-grandson of the Romantic poet Robert Burns, according to Charles Perry. Hunter's father was an alcoholic and 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. The elder Hunter was a publisher, who gave Robert lessons in writing. McNally writes that it shows Hunter's "skill at storytelling and his fantastic ear for dialogue".
Around 1962, Hunter volunteered for psychedelic chemical experiments at Stanford University, research covertly sponsored by the CIA in its MKULTRA program: other participants included Ken Kesey and Allen Ginsberg. 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. 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'."
alt=Hunter onstage|thumb|Hunter at the [[Newport Folk Festival, 2014]]
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. "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". 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.
Awards and legacy
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 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. "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.
Personal life and death
Hunter married artist Maureen Hunter in 1982, 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 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.
Bibliography
- The Silver Snarling Trumpet (1962, published 2024)
- Sonnets to Orpheus by Rainer Marie Rilke, translator (1993).
- Tales of the Great Rum Runners (1974 – Round Records)
- Tiger Rose (1975 – Round Records)
- Alligator Moon (1978 – unreleased)
- Jack O'Roses (1980 – Dark Star Records)
- Promontory Rider: A Retrospective Collection (1982 – Relix Records)
- Amagamalin St. (1984 – Relix Records)
- Live '85 (1985 – Relix Records)
- Flight of the Marie Helena (1985 – Relix Records)
- Rock Columbia (1986 – Relix Records)
- Liberty (1987 – Relix Records)
- Rilke: Duino Elegies (1988 – Hulogosi)
- A Box of Rain (1991 – Rykodisc)
- Sentinel [spoken word] (1993 – Rykodisc)