Talk:Robert Hunter (lyricist)

Lyricist
Wouldn't it be more appropriate to call him a poet or musician or better a lyricist than a singer? It seems he did very little singing. --Zachbe 20:27, 13 December 2005 (UTC)


 * I definitely think (lyricist) is much better than (singer). Wasted Time R 23:09, 26 December 2005 (UTC)


 * And so I have done; all links here have been updated.  Wasted Time R 23:44, 26 December 2005 (UTC)

Well, he released at least one album and performs concerts where he does, in fact, sing. Perhaps he is more recognized as a lyricist or a poet, but he is, additionally, a singer [albeit not a particularly good one, IMHO].ROG 19 18:55, 16 October 2007 (UTC)

Some questions, suggestions...
As far as Hunter's "drug addiction," is there a source for this? I was under the impression that Hunter had kind of voluntarily wandered away from the drugs (and I am not against the categorization of him as an addict, if this is true).

Also - the "apex" of his lyricism is "Terrapin"? By whose standards? The man has continued to write for the last 30 years as well. His eulogy for Jerry was spectacular.

Some mention of his other literary efforts (The Duino Elegies? His online journal?) seems warranted (although certainly the reason he is known is the connection with the Dead).

Also, Dylan recorded an album of mostly Hunter covers/collaborations in the late '80s. That seems worth mention.

I'll make these changes in a few weeks if I don't see any objections here.

UncleCheese 17:02, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Drug addiction
"As far as Hunter's "drug addiction," is there a source for this?"

McNally writes that Hunter did have a problem with meth, but, amazingly, was able to shake it.

helenabucket — Preceding unsigned comment added by Helenabucket (talk • contribs) 21:16, 24 May 2006 (UTC)

I'd like to commend rh for doing so......I was running out of light bulbs

~abaiah — Preceding unsigned comment added by Abaiah (talk • contribs) 15:53, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

First song written for the Dead
""Alligator", co-written with Ron McKernan, and Hunter's first lyric for the band;" -http://arts.ucsc.edu/GDead/AGDL/nonsense.html

Which is it, Alligator or CCS? — Preceding unsigned comment added by OAC (talk • contribs) 19:32, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

Bob Weir and Hunter
The story as I've seen it written in several sources (including Phil's Searching for the Sound) is that Hunter dropped Weir after he insisted on adding some of his own lyrics to Sugar Magnolia and told Barlow "take him, he's yours." —Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.138.151.250 (talk) 12:56, 18 September 2007 (UTC)

Best-known work
I would suggest changing the wording of the article concerning Dark Star being his best-known work. Perhaps among Deadheads, but if you were to poll those who are not serious fans of the Dead I think you would find that Ripple is as well known. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mercwyn (talk • contribs) 03:00, 8 March 2009 (UTC)


 * Among non-Deadheads, I'm guessing that either "Uncle John's Band" or "Truckin'" are the best known Dead songs. Or possibly "Touch of Grey", their only top ten hit.  All three have lyrics by Hunter. — Mudwater (Talk) 03:34, 8 March 2009 (UTC)

Lyric book
Hunter recently released a publication of his life's works (lyrics & poems). Also, it should be noted that his guitar work is amazing, mixing contemporary jazz with classical & Spanish style picking/strumming. And for the comment that he is a not so great singer, he is actually on tune in every note. This is not a pop culture puppet. Hunter is pure genious. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.62.43.196 (talk) 09:17, 4 February 2010 (UTC)

songography section
we could use a sect/ for songs that he wrote lyrics for.. 98.148.182.33 (talk) 22:53, 16 February 2010 (UTC)

How about Sugaree and Loser on the list of noted songs? Just sayin. http://archive.org/details/gd71-12-14.sbd.deibert.12763.sbeok.shnf — Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.8.15.80 (talk) 05:24, 7 October 2012 (UTC)

Original research?
"Perhaps the apex of Hunter's lyricism came with two suites written in the mid-1970s, "Help on the Way"/"Slipknot!"/"Franklin's Tower" (1975) and "Terrapin Station" (1977)" is not cited, and sounds like original research. --JohnnyLurg (talk) 18:32, 16 March 2011 (UTC)
 * I'll put a citation needed tag after it, then wait a couple weeks to see if someone responds, how's that? Novickas (talk) 20:05, 16 March 2011 (UTC)

Mistake in attribution
"sans the non-Hunter "At A Siding""

Those lyrics ARE by Hunter. GeneCallahan (talk) 11:09, 23 November 2011 (UTC)

Other important songs

 * It must have been the roses
 * Arizona Lightening
 * Maybe She's a Bluebird
 * Keys to the Rain

Hunter's voice is probably why he could not perform w/ the G. Dead; given this, his songs did not "shine" unless they were Dead-performed. Deadheads from New Paltz, NY (tie-dye tee-shirt/drug capital of the 80s-90s close to Woodstock) pointed me to the above songs on Rumrunners. Must have been the roses was performed by Jerry and the GD, and Arizona Lightning might actually be one of the best songs ever written, but Hunter's versions of these songs are only available on expensive, rare albums, cassettes and CDs. These songs rank with Ripple in their meaning and quality, and interestingly, roses and lightning bolts appear in much Dead "skull" art. (I was told that the Dead felt it "owned" the thirteen-point lightening bolt and confiscated non-licensed art for sale with it during shows; may be BS--who knows.) My examples are on tapes from records from the 90s that have been repaired many times from "eating" accidents. --John Bessa (talk) 12:20, 17 September 2013 (UTC)

External links modified
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 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20090228102640/http://arts.ucsc.edu:80/gdead/agdl/silber.html to http://arts.ucsc.edu/Gdead/AGDL/silber.html

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bad source in Grateful Dead section
I tried to correct the source for Hunter's cocaine comment, in the last paragraph of the Grateful Dead section. The source should be David Browne's 2015 Rolling Stone article, Grateful Dead’s Robert Hunter on Jerry’s Final Days: ‘We Were Brothers', and it fixed the hyperlink portion but didn't change the citation number (from 5 to 2). I don't know if this is because I did it in visual mode, or if it's because the incorrectly cited article is cited 22 times, or both. So I undid my own correction. If someone more savvy than me could do this, and possibly write up a mini-tutorial here explaining the correct process, I'd be much obliged. Peterh6658 (talk) 01:38, 29 April 2024 (UTC)
 * If you look at this edit you can see how I changed it. DuncanHill (talk) 23:32, 29 April 2024 (UTC)
 * Ah yes, the old ref name trick. Sorry about that, Chief! (Note the use of not one, but two Maxwell Smart catchphrases.) Thanks, Duncan! Peterh6658 (talk) 23:43, 29 April 2024 (UTC)
 * You can make this change in the visual editor too, but it's not very intuitive. There are two ways you could do it:
 * After you select the reference marker (i.e. the "[5]"), instead of clicking "Edit" in the menu, you can just delete it (press Delete/Backspace on your keyboard), and then copy-paste the right reference marker in its place (i.e. the "[2]").
 * Or, after you click "Edit" in the reference menu, you can click on "Change reference type" in the bottom-left corner, which will open the "Replace citation" menu – in that menu, go to "Re-use" and choose the correct citation from the list.
 * Hope that helps in your future editing. Matma Rex talk 10:00, 30 April 2024 (UTC)