Robert Hunter was born in San Luis Obispo, California, in 1941. His association with the Grateful Dead was due to his long friendship with Jerry Garcia, which dates back to when they used to play in bluegrass bands together in the early 60s. After being an early volunteer test subject of LSD, he joined with the Grateful Dead in 1967 as a lyricist. His association was at first informal, but he soon became an integral part of the band. Their third album, 1969's Aoxomoxoa, was the first to see him get a co-writing credit on every single song. Almost all of his songs he co-wrote with Jerry Garcia, so the majority of the Dead's original songs were credited to the Garcia/Hunter partnership. He stayed with the Dead as a non-performing member until their demise in 1995.In 1973 he released the album Tales Of The Great Rum Runners. His first album as a singer-songwriter, it was mostly in a rootsy country-folk style, and proved him to be a fine vocalist himself. Notable songs were "I Heard You Singing", co-written with Quicksilver Messenger Service's David Freiburg (whose version was released on 1975's Solid Silver), and "It Must Have Been The Roses", which Garcia recorded on his 1976 Reflections album (it became a treasured part of the Dead's live set). Among the backing musicians were Garcia, Freiburg, and other Californian friends - Mickey Hart and Keith Godchaux (of the Dead), Barry Melton (of Country Joe And The Fish), Pete Albin (of Big Brother & The Holding Company) and Buddy Cage (of New Riders Of The Purple Sage).
|> Tiger Rose (1975)
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I wasnt a big fan of the Dead back in the day, but when this album came into the store I worked in as a British Import, I decided to give it a listen. Actually still have that vinyl copy in my library, along with a lot of other Dead material amongst all the Gentle Giant, Caravan et al that I listened to extensively back than! Thanx for the great share!
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