Biography
Long John Hunter's renown stayed mostly confined to the border region linking El Paso, Texas, and Juarez, Mexico, for an extended stretch. Beginning in 1957, the guitarist held the stage for 13 years at Juarez's notorious Lobby Bar, where a raucous crowd of locals, cowboys, Fort Bliss soldiers, frat boys, and assorted trouble-seeking visitors kept the atmosphere volatile. His extravagant stage presence and biting guitar lines held the entire mix in check.
A Louisiana native, Hunter entered music relatively late. At age 22 while working in a Beaumont, Texas, box factory, he caught a B.B. King performance and found himself immediately captivated; the following day he purchased his first guitar. Within a year he was headlining the identical venue where B.B. King had previously appeared. His 1954 debut single, "She Used to Be My Woman"/"Crazy Baby," appeared on Don Robey's Houston-based Duke label before he relocated to El Paso in 1957. Phillip Walker and Lonnie Brooks both absorbed elements of his style. Yet Hunter's recorded catalog stayed modest, consisting of several fiery yet little-known singles issued between 1961 and 1963 on the small Yucca imprint from Alamogordo, New Mexico, among them "El Paso Rock," "Midnight Stroll," and "Border Town Blues." Seven nights a week from sundown until sunrise at the Lobby left scant time for anything else.
Eventually his name traveled beyond Texas borders. The 1992 Spindletop album Ride with Me initiated wider recognition, followed by two Alligator releases, Border Town Legend (1996) and Swinging from the Rafters (1997), that reached a broader listenership. During the next decade Hunter entered the studio less frequently, though One Foot in Texas (2003), recorded with his brother Tom, and Looking for a Party (2009) on Blues Express both added significant entries to his body of work.
A Louisiana native, Hunter entered music relatively late. At age 22 while working in a Beaumont, Texas, box factory, he caught a B.B. King performance and found himself immediately captivated; the following day he purchased his first guitar. Within a year he was headlining the identical venue where B.B. King had previously appeared. His 1954 debut single, "She Used to Be My Woman"/"Crazy Baby," appeared on Don Robey's Houston-based Duke label before he relocated to El Paso in 1957. Phillip Walker and Lonnie Brooks both absorbed elements of his style. Yet Hunter's recorded catalog stayed modest, consisting of several fiery yet little-known singles issued between 1961 and 1963 on the small Yucca imprint from Alamogordo, New Mexico, among them "El Paso Rock," "Midnight Stroll," and "Border Town Blues." Seven nights a week from sundown until sunrise at the Lobby left scant time for anything else.
Eventually his name traveled beyond Texas borders. The 1992 Spindletop album Ride with Me initiated wider recognition, followed by two Alligator releases, Border Town Legend (1996) and Swinging from the Rafters (1997), that reached a broader listenership. During the next decade Hunter entered the studio less frequently, though One Foot in Texas (2003), recorded with his brother Tom, and Looking for a Party (2009) on Blues Express both added significant entries to his body of work.
Albums
