Robert Hunter (lyricist)

Robert C. Christie Hunter (born Robert Burns; June 23, 1941 – September 23, 2019) was an American lyricist, singer-songwriter, translator and poet, best known for his work with the Grateful Dead.

Born near San Luis Obispo, California, Hunter spent some time during his childhood in foster homes as a result of his father abandoning his family, and took refuge in reading and writing.

He attended the University of Connecticut for a year before returning to Palo Alto, where he became friends with musician Jerry Garcia.

Hunter and Garcia began a collaboration that lasted through the remainder of Garcia's life.

Hunter was born Robert Burns on June 23, 1941, in Arroyo Grande, California, near San Luis Obispo.

He was a great-great-grandson of the Romantic poet Robert Burns, according to Charles Perry.

Hunter's father was an alcoholic, who deserted the family when Hunter was seven, according to Grateful Dead chronicler Dennis McNally.

Hunter spent the next few years in foster homes before returning to live with his mother.

These experiences drove him to seek refuge in books, and he wrote a 50-page fairy tale before he was 11.

His mother married again, to Norman Hunter, whose last name Robert took.

The elder Hunter was a publisher, who gave Robert lessons in writing.

Hunter attended high school in Palo Alto, learning to play several instruments as a teenager.

His family moved to Connecticut, where he attended the University of Connecticut.

He played trumpet in a band called the Crescents.

Hunter left the university after a year, and returned to Palo Alto.

He enlisted in the National Guard, and spent six months training, before doing a six-month tour of duty.

Upon his return to Palo Alto, in 1961 he was introduced to Jerry Garcia by Garcia's then-girlfriend, who had previously been in a relationship with Hunter.

Garcia was 18 and Hunter 19.

The duo began to perform together, spending their time in "what passed for Palo Alto's 1961 bohemian community", including a bookstore run by Roy Kepler.

They formed a short-lived duo called "Bob and Jerry" that debuted at the graduation ceremony of the Quaker Peninsula School on May 5, 1961.

According to McNally, the group did not last because of "Hunter's limits as a guitarist and Garcia's ravenous drive to get better," but the two remained friendly.

Garcia became involved with bluegrass groups in the area such as the Thunder Mountain Tub Thumpers and the Wildwood Boys; Hunter sometimes played the mandolin with these groups, but was more interested in writing.

By 1962, he had written a book, The Silver Snarling Trumpet, described by McNally as a roman à clef.

The volume was not published; however, McNally writes that it showed Hunter's "skill at storytelling and his fantastic ear for dialogue".

Around 1962, Hunter volunteered for psychedelic chemical experiments at Stanford University, research covertly sponsored by the CIA in its MKULTRA program: other participants included Ken Kesey and Allen Ginsberg.

He was paid to take LSD, psilocybin, and mescaline, and then report on his experiences, which were creatively formative for him.

After a friend attempted to dissuade him, he said, "It'll be fun! I'll take my typewriter and no telling what'll come out."

This incident was the first substantial experience any of the Grateful Dead had with psychedelic drugs, and the creative surge he experienced would prove influential on their collective outlook.

Around this time, Hunter was briefly involved with Scientology, and also struggled with addiction to methamphetamine and speed, which drove him to move briefly to Los Angeles and then to New Mexico.

Some of his hallucinations later inspired his lyrics, such as those to "China Cat Sunflower".

While Hunter was in New Mexico, he wrote lyrics for three songs.

These songs—"China Cat Sunflower", "St. Stephen", and "Alligator"—would become hits for the Grateful Dead.

Garcia and others formed the Grateful Dead in 1965, and later began working with lyrics from Hunter, whom Garcia invited to join the band as a lyricist.

In 1965, Garcia, Ron McKernan, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh and Bill Kreutzmann formed a band, initially called the Warlocks, but soon renamed the Grateful Dead.

They covered songs from other artists but soon began to form their own sound.

Hunter contributed substantially to many of their albums, beginning with Aoxomoxoa in 1969.

He wrote lyrics to a number of the band's signature songs, including "Dark Star", "Ripple", "Truckin'", "China Cat Sunflower", and "Terrapin Station".

Hunter was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the Grateful Dead in 1994, and is the only non-performer to be inducted as a member of a band.

Upon his death, Rolling Stone described him as "one of rock's most ambitious and dazzling lyricists".

Recordings of folk and bluegrass bands that included Hunter and Garcia were later released on two albums – Folk Time (2016) and Before the Dead (2018).