Ian Hunter (singer) - Early Years

Early Years

Hunter's entry into the music business came after a chance encounter with Colin York and Colin Broom at a Butlin's Holiday Camp, where the trio won a talent competition performing "Blue Moon" on acoustic guitars. York and Broom were members of a Northampton-based band called The Apex Group, fronted by bass player and band leader Frank Short. Ian soon left his home in Shrewsbury, transferred his apprenticeship from Sentinel/Rolls Royce to British Timken in Northampton, and joined The Apex Group on rhythm guitar. Ian recalls jumping around like a lunatic on stage: "Music affected me so much. The rest of them just stood there. It was funny, I had kids who came just to watch me do this, and I can't imagine what it looked like."

Hunter left The Apex Group in 1958, just before they recorded their first single "Yorkshire Relish, Caravan" for John Lever Records. Ian played in a few local groups, but eventually his financial situation forced a change. "I wasn't making my hire-purchase payments, and 'little jobs' were getting done and people were getting smacked. I was never in the middle of it, but I was always somewhere in the area." He returned to Shrewsbury, ostensibly to become more responsible in his personal life, and settled down enough to have a steady girlfriend in Diane Coles. Outside of his day job, he and Tony Wardle formed a harmonica duo inspired by Morton Fraser's Harmonica Gang, a local variety act.

Once out of debt and seemingly settled, Ian returned to Northampton and The Apex Group. Diane followed and the two married and settled in St James End. Their first child, Stephen, was born there in 1962. Tensions were in the air though, both musically and in his personal life. While his wife attended to home life, Hunter resumed his wild ways with his Northampton mates.

The Apex Group had steady regional work at clubs and military bases, but Hunter bristled at the formality of the band, who wore matching stage jackets and were moving increasingly toward an R&B-like stage revue. In 1963, while still a group member, Ian formed a band in direct competition to them: Hurricane Henry and the Shriekers, with Tony Marriott on drums and Julian Coulter on guitar. They worked steadily in Northampton, and attracted the attention of pianist Freddie 'Fingers' Lee. Lee took over as frontman in March 1964, and Ian moved to bass. Frank Short eventually learned of Hunter's duplicity, and Hunter was kicked out of The Apex Group.

It was during this period – late 1963 or early 1964 – that The Apex recorded a second disc for John Lever records, released as The Apex Rhythm & Blues All Stars. The four-song EP included their own "Tall Girl", and covers of Chuck Berry's "Reeling and A'Rocking" and "Down the Road A'piece", and Jimmy Gilmer and The Fireballs' "Sugar Shack". Hunter probably does not appear on this record; the EP was recorded around the time Hunter left the group for the second time.

At Freddie Lee's suggestion, The Shriekers began taking jobs in the same German clubs where the Beatles had cut their teeth a few years earlier. In an interview taped in 2004, Hunter volunteers that Lee and their gigs in Hamburg were a major turning point, at which he first began to "think maybe I could do this instead of working in factories."

In 1966 Hunter moved to London, where he joined The Scenery with guitarist Miller Anderson, drummer Dave Dufort and keyboard player Dante Smith. There Hunter met Mick Ronson, then guitarist of bands the Voice and The Rats, at the Flamingo Club in London. According to Anderson, "Mick was coming down the stairs ... and we were going up and I said, `Mick, this is my friend, Ian Patterson.'" The Scenery, now with John Vernon Smith on drums, recorded tracks with Bill Farley at Regent Sound that were licensed for international release without their knowledge. Hunter and Anderson recall writing and recording "To Make a Man Cry," but not the B-side, "Thread of Time." John Vernon Smith appears on the picture sleeve, but Johnny Banks, of The Merseybeats, played on the record. Johnny Gustafson was also included in the session work. The songs were released on the Impact label, and it is unclear whether they originated from France or Belgium.

Hunter remained in the band after Anderson's early 1968 departure. Anderson and J.V. Smith were replaced by guitarist Chris Mayfield and drummer Pete Phillipps, and the group backed up Freddie Lee in the At Last The 1958 Rock and Roll Show. They got a regular booking at The Angel in Edmonton, and drew interest from both Chrysalis Records and NEMS but were signed by neither. With Miller Anderson back in place of Mayfield, the group released a single on CBS called "I Can't Drive." As the short-lived rock and roll revival waned, At Last the 1958 Rock and Roll Show changed its name to Charlie Woolfe and released a final single, "Dance, Dance, Dance".

Hunter played with various other artists throughout the 1960s, including The Young Idea, Billy Fury and David McWilliams. In late 1968 Mickie Most hired Hunter and Dufort to play in a band that was to be called "The New Yardbirds", a name that Jimmy Page had been using for his post-Yardbirds group before discarding it in favour of "Led Zeppelin". This led confused fans to think that Hunter had been a member of Led Zeppelin. Explained Hunter: "See: this is rubbish, but people read it and believe it." Hunter also worked as a journalist and staff songwriter for the firm Francis, Day & Hunter, did road-digging for a local council, and reported for a local newspaper. During Hunter's obscure early years, Hereford's Shakedown Sound gigged in roughly the same circles but without any record company interest.