FA man in his eighties or eighties, Ian Hunter has had a remarkably productive streak in recent years. The legendary rocker, who rose to fame as the lead singer of Mott the Hoople in the ’70s before embarking on a solo career marked by hits such as “Cleveland Rocks” and “All of the Good Ones Are Taken,” has settled into the role of an aged rock statesman at the age of 83 with ease.
But as Hunter tells The Daily Beast below, that doesn’t mean he’s finished making new music with his impressive array of friends. He spent the epidemic writing and recording two new albums, the first of which was The Challenge, Part 1, published on Friday. Ringo Starr, Todd Rundgren, Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott, Guns N’ Roses’ Slash, Mike Campbell, Aerosmith’s Brad Whitford, ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, Johnny Depp, Billy Bob Thornton, Stone Temple Pilots members and the late Taylor Hawkins and Jeff Beck. part 2It will follow soon, with even more special guests and Hunter currently putting the finishing touches on it.
Definitely a remarkable amount of music for an eighty-year-old, and fans of Mott the Hoople and Hunter’s solo work won’t be disappointed because the guests are hardly stunts; each one is there to provide a solid boost to one of the most unique sounds of rock ‘n’ roll’s Golden Age.
Below, Hunter recalls the legendary Mott the Hoople tour held in the US in 1972, which is considered the first (and probably best) rock star memoir: Diary of a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star; his collaborations with everyone from Billy Bob Thornton and Johnny Depp to the late Jeff Beck and Taylor Hawkins; and how coincidence and necessity inspired Defiance.
We were supposed to do this when it was reissued. Diary of a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star It came out a few years ago when you were going to do some shows here in New York. But then your tinnitus flared up and you canceled them just before the epidemic broke out. So, first of all, how are you and how is your hearing?
He still has tinnitus. But other than that I’m fine.
You worked with Mick Ralphs during Mott, with Mick Ronson and Earl Slick in the years after that, and most recently with Mark Bosch on your Rant Band. These are all guys known to play pretty loud. So, I guess no getting around it. [Laughter.]
Oh, yes, I’ve definitely had a lot of great guitarists in my life.
Yes, you saw a favor in that, didn’t you? But I wonder because Bowie had a real magic in finding the right foils. Mike Garson once told me that he felt David was a really great casting director. He knew the right person for the role. Do you think you have an ear or an eye for it?
I don’t know. I know I can only work with guitarists. Steve Holley got me back to playing because I was on hiatus for a few years but I realized very quickly that I can’t work with a drummer. Must be a guitarist. So Steve got me into this business and that’s how I met Andy York, another big hurdle for me.
Like I said, I was looking forward to talking to you around the time it was re-released. Daily. I first read this book in my high school library, so I have a soft spot for it. It was the first of its kind, but at the same time, if you told me you were writing about the end of your career, I would have believed it. It felt like the end to me. In a way, it’s goodbye. Still, you’ve had many careers since then.
Yes you are right. It wasn’t intentional though. I was basically a fan. I was a fan and went so far as to play bass and I thought it would be, you know. And somehow I found myself in Mott.
The grandfather of rock star memories. Now everyone wrote, but then no one was writing. And the “log” thing is a misnomer. I mean it is is HE; It’s a travel diary to a certain extent, but with lots of little stories in it. Each episode feels like an episode of a Netflix series. Tell me a little about how it went with me.
I had just gotten married. So the social aspect of things was outside the window. [Laughter.] And I said, “Well, what am I going to do?” I thought. Because there was too much time to do six-week tours at airports, in hotel rooms, as we do, with a few weeks of vacation in between. So I thought, “I have to do something to blow my mind.” And that was it. Plus, I have a lousy memory so it was just so I could really remember. It was my first time to America. It was very important to get on a plane in those days. Then when I got back to London, there was a DJ at Radio London who had a book deal but he delayed the deadline. So I said, “I have this diary if you want to take a look.” So, he took a look at it and apparently edited it in a way that I don’t know about and got the publisher. And that’s how it started. And now with Omnibus [Press]and I signed for another three years, so it’s still going.
It is a book that will not die. I think the version I have is original because I probably read it in the early 80’s. But back then it was incredibly hard to find here in America.
This is how I met Johnny Depp through the book.
That’s right, because he did the foreword for the new edition.
Yes. Photographer Ross Halfin said Johnny wanted to meet and sent me a photo of Johnny with the book, and I said, “Good.” [Laughter.] But it turned out to be great. And thanks to Johnny, I got to know Jeff Beck.
Like your new album, which we’ll be discussing shortly, the book was a kind of happy coincidence. You didn’t set out with the intention of writing a book. You were just trying to pass the time while you were on the road.
Yes. It was a diary. It was literally a diary. And to be honest with you, I still think so. summoned Diary of a Rock ‘n’ Roll Starbut i was going to call him Rock and Roll Sweepstakes. However, the publisher said, “This is not going to sell. It should basically say ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Star’” as I am. Almost, but not quite. But that’s how they got it out and I guess because of its weirdness it still sells. It’s weird now, if you know what I mean. Like, “Oh, that’s how it was in the 70s.”
And this is such a moment, and there are so many people whose paths crossed that they are very important now. I think it’s very illuminating, even for anyone who was a casual fan of that era – let alone that this whole moment was for Mott the Hoople. I know for myself, it gave me a window that felt authentic. It felt real.
Everyone wants to know what’s going on behind the scenes. I used to go and watch old vaudeville shows as a kid and I always wondered, “What’s it like backstage? How is the situation in the locker rooms?” It fascinated me. And that’s what that book really is. A look behind the curtain. And it’s not as attractive as people think.
Let’s talk about the new album, The Challenge, Part 1. First and foremost at Sun Records it’s great to be a part of that legacy as an old school rock ‘n’ roll fan. How did that happen and what does it mean to you as a first generation rock fan?
The band Rant played at City Winery in 2019, and after one of the shows, Def Leppard’s manager Mike Kobayashi said he wanted to direct me. It all started from there.
Had an affair with Sun’s new iteration?
Yes, I believe through one of their partners. There were a few other companies that were interested, notice, but you know, you see that label with “Memphis, Tennessee” and your name on it, and all I could think of was being 18, which Sun Records meant Jerry Lee Lewis. , Howlin’ Wolf, all these wonderful people on that label. I thought, “I there is just for the label, to be on that label.
And it’s great that this particular project is on Sun Records, because there are all these artists who have a very real connection to influencing Sun. Mike Campbell, Jeff Beck, Ringo… did they know it was a Sun project, or was it some kind of lockdown that just happened because everyone was sitting around?
It was a deadlock event. It came together because of COVID, yes. So nobody had anything to do. Initially, I was going to make a Rant album. But when COVID hit and no one in the band had a home studio or anything like that, Andy York figured out how to do some demos in my basement. It came out with a computer and a small keyboard, and we did these demos in my basement. And in fact, it turned out that these are traces. And then, since guys like Mike Campbell and Slash have their own studios, my manager was just sending. [the tracks] There, we reached out to every person we could think of, and many of these people sent them back. First Slash, then Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top and continued from there. I was completely nauseous. Because they weren’t all people I knew. I met Mike Campbell, but many, many years ago. Taylor Hawkins I met and Todd Rundgren I worked with. I knew Johnny Depp and Johnny knew Jeff Beck and it kept multiplying that way. Billy Bob Thornton suddenly sent a trail through Ross Halfin. I didn’t know he had a band! [Laughter.] “She’s a great movie star,” I thought.
And you gave him a duet, no less.
There was one thing I’ve known since the ’70s, all these people were sitting around, they had studios. So it was just a matter of posting the traces there and seeing who responded. So, there was Taylor Hawkins two studios. And Taylor wanted to do everything! He wanted to make both albums. She wanted to do a lot. Eventually, he did about seven and then COVID picked up a bit, so Foo Fighters started going out again playing live.
“Taylor [Hawkins] I wanted to do everything! He wanted to make both albums. He wanted to do a lot.”
And none of the songs were songs you were talking about. You wrote this at the beginning of the curfew, right? These were all fresh ingredients.
Yes Yes Yes. I think “Defiance” was the first. I remember, I was playing the guitar and then I got to the piano and found myself in a roll. You know how. You go for years with nothing and then all of a sudden the wall opens and something comes towards you. I am lucky. I think I wrote 21 songs.
Good for you. my god
I mean, you know what else I was going to do? [Laughter.]
Did you find yourself forcing yourself as a subject not to be affected by the isolation? Or have you noticed what is going on around you seeping in?
No, I thought the opposite. “People are pissed off enough,” I thought. Why are you writing about this? Actually what I was deliberately trying to do was write something equivalent to: mot The album is a full record and this is a top record.
As you mentioned, Taylor Hawkins is on the record. And we talked about Jeff Beck getting on the record. Both of these losses were shocking. I think you were in the middle of completing this project, both of these losses have come true. What was it like, and what does it mean to you to have them on this recording?
tremor in both cases. So, what will you do? I was not that close. There isn’t much you can say. Jeff was Mick Ronson’s idol, you know. And Taylor said to Steve Holley, who played with me for years and played with McCartney, “Taylor is my favorite drummer.” So both are very strange feelings. Especially since Taylor is 50 years old.
Have you known Jeff for a long time, or did you just cross paths?
No, I didn’t know him at all. It was Johnny Depp – sorry to miss your name. Anyway, Ross Halfin, “Would you like to date Johnny and Jeff Beck?” said. We went out in the UK and had a great time hanging out for about four hours and that was the only time I met Jeff. John was working with him and he said, “We’ll make a few if you want.” And that was the last song Jeff played.
What will happen now? With tinnitus or something, will you be able to play? Will you be able to showcase this recording or tour?
I really don’t know. It’s hard. My main concern is to finish. part 2. Because this record has two parts and I am still waiting for something from various people. The main thing is to do it. But I do not know. I really don’t know. There are different ways to do this. People are doing Q&A now. Maybe I’ll do a few acoustic shows. I don’t think I can do a full-scale rock ‘n’ roll show. So you’ll just have to wait and see!