Artist Spotlight
Steve Hunter
Start with the rhythm guitar on A Little Ain’t Enough.
Steve Hunter played rhythm and slide guitar on David Lee Roth’s A Little Ain’t Enough. Jason Becker handled the leads. Hunter also co-wrote four songs with Roth and keyboard player Brett Tuggle. His rhythm playing gives the record a good deal of its weight underneath Becker’s lines. That’s a fine place to first hear him.
Hunter grew up in Decatur, Illinois, and started on lap steel when he was eight. After the Army, he joined Mitch Ryder’s Detroit. Bob Ezrin produced the band’s 1971 album, including Hunter’s arrangement of Lou Reed’s “Rock and Roll.” Reed soon hired Ezrin and Hunter for Berlin.
Hunter and Dick Wagner became a two-guitar team in Reed’s touring band. The long introduction to “Sweet Jane” on Rock ’n’ Roll Animal started as a piece Hunter had been writing since his Detroit days. He brought it to the band when they needed an entrance for Reed. They built it out together, and it became one of Hunter’s defining performances.
Ezrin kept calling. Hunter played on Alice Cooper’s Billion Dollar Babies and later Welcome to My Nightmare. The opening solo on Aerosmith’s “Train Kept A-Rollin’” is his too. He recorded it during a quick session at the Record Plant and went uncredited on the original album.
The picked acoustic part on Peter Gabriel’s “Solsbury Hill” is Hunter as well. He recorded three passes of it, with small differences in pitch giving the part its shimmer. Later came work with Tracy Chapman and the Roth record. During those Roth sessions, Hunter and Becker spent time with Albert King records and became close friends.
The gear we know about
Hunter’s guitar and amp on A Little Ain’t Enough haven’t been identified in a reliable account. These are the setups he described for other sessions.
- Lou Reed: Rock ’n’ Roll Animal
- A 1959 Les Paul TV Special with a bridge P-90, a 100-watt Hiwatt, Echoplex, and MXR Phase 100. Hunter’s account.
- Aerosmith: “Train Kept A-Rollin’”
- A Gibson TV Special through an old Fender tweed Twin for the opening solo. Hunter’s account.
- Alice Cooper: “Hello Hooray”
- A worn six-string Gibson pedal steel in open E through a Marshall half-stack, with no effects pedals. Hunter’s account.
- Peter Gabriel: “Solsbury Hill”
- A borrowed Martin acoustic with a capo at the second fret, recorded three times. Hunter couldn’t recall whether it was a D-18 or D-28. Hunter’s account.
A few tracks to play
- David Lee Roth, “40 Below” for Hunter’s snapping rhythm part. Becker also points to Hunter’s slide on “Sensible Shoes” and their traded parts on “Hammerhead Shark.”
- Lou Reed, “Intro/Sweet Jane” for Hunter’s long entrance and the way he and Dick Wagner build it together.
- Alice Cooper, “Hello Hooray” for the pedal-steel solo and harmony.
- Peter Gabriel, “Solsbury Hill” for the picked acoustic part heard in three layers.
- Aerosmith, “Train Kept A-Rollin’” for Hunter’s opening solo; Wagner takes the later lead.
Keep digging: Hunter tells the story of the “Sweet Jane” introduction and his work with Becker on A Little Ain’t Enough on his site.