John Thurman Hunter Jr. (July 13, 1931 – January 4, 2016), known by the stage name Long John Hunter, was an American Texas blues and electric blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He released seven albums in his own name, and in his later years found critical acknowledgement outside of his homeland. Hunter's best known tracks are "El Paso Rock" and "Alligators Around My Door", the latter of which Hunter co-wrote with Bruce Iglauer.
Hunter was born in Ringgold, Louisiana.He was raised on a farm in Magnolia, Arkansas, but by his early twenties was working in a box factory in Beaumont, Texas. He bought his first guitar after attending a B. B. King concert, and then adopted the stage name of Long John Hunter in 1953
El Paso Rock
Hunter saw his first single, "She Used to Be My Woman" b/w "Crazy Girl", released by Duke Records in 1953. By 1957 he had relocated to El Paso, Texas, and found employment playing at the Lobby Club in Juárez, Mexico. He remained there for over thirteen years, seeing the release of several singles in the early 1960s on local record labels. These tracks included one of his most notable numbers, "El Paso Rock".
Its riotous, often brawling clientele included locals, cowboys, soldiers from nearby Fort Bliss, frat boys, and every sort of troublemaking tourist in between. Hunter kept 'em all entertained with his outrageous showmanship and slashing guitar riffs.
Fortunately, Hunter's reputation eventually outgrew the Lone Star State. His 1992 set for the Spindletop imprint, Ride With Me, got the ball rolling. A pair of albums released later in the decade for Alligator, Border Town Legend (1996) and Swinging from the Rafters (1997), exposed the Texas blues great to a wider (if not wilder) audience than before. The following decade, Hunter didn't record quite as often, but 2003's One Foot in Texas (made with his brother Tom) and 2009's Looking for a Party (issued on Blues Express) were both notable additions to his discography.
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