Customer Reviews

The Deacon

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Born in Decatur,Illinois, Steve Hunter (not to be confused with

the Australian bassist who released "Night People") first gained

success with Mitch Ryder's DETROIT. They released the legendary

"Detroit with Mitch Ryder" LP in 1971 & "Get Out The Vote-Live"

recorded in 1972. The "Decatur Gator" has played lead guitar

for everyone from Peter Gabriel to Alice Cooper. Most notable

is his stellar work (with co-guitarist Dick Wagner) with Lou

Reed ("Rock N Roll Animal" "Lou Reed Live") & Alice Cooper

("Welcome To My Nightmare" & others). This CD, his 2nd solo release,was released in 1989 & now out of print. It is a great CD with stunning guitar playing. Fortunately, his first solo release,1977's "Swept Away", has finally been released on CD. Try to get your hands on "The Deacon" & 1989's "H Factor"(a collaboration with Climax Blues Band's Pete Haycock & Derek Holt).Both of these CDs are out of print & getting harder to find, but well worth the search. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!

As one who has been listening to and enjoying Steve Hunter's guitar work and songs for going on 30 years, I can say that he has never failed to show great dexterity & creativity in his guitar playing. Although his 1st CD, "Steve Hunter" displays more variety and a bit more versatility, The Deacon shows some of his great (although lesser-known) acoustic playing as well as influences he has admired, like Lenny Breau and John Renbourn. The very 1st cut,Black Cat Moan, shows a bit of his blues guitar playing..and his blues playing ranks with the best. Overall there is a great deal of ambience in the cuts here and I recommend it highly--especially for those who have never heard Steve Hunter, guitarist extraordinaire.

Terrific album but incognito. It is an instrumental guitar album. This guy was playing with Alice Cooper and Lou Reed.

Sometimes he gets western like in "Ghost riders", jazzy like "Pig jam", Pink Floydish like "The surge" or "The old man in the boat".

My favorite track is "hidden portrait"

I, like many I'm sure, remember Steve from the intro to Sweet Jane with Lou Reed. I had

always loved that intro, and for some reason, did some checking up on Steve. I came across

this cd, and thought what the heck. Boy was I blown away. This was done some time ago, but

it is really a masterpiece of great guitar work. I like that it's only instrumental, for many

times singers just get in the way of a craftsman like Steve. He is very diverse with his playing

and it's too bad he doesn't get more accolades. Great work!