Wild Blues from the Border: Long John Hunter Guitar Lesson

BB King in the 50s to his contemporary black audience must have been like baby boomers seeing the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show. John Thurman Hunter had to be just one of many starstruck rural workers who bought a guitar and started a group immediately after seeing BB live. But his sensibility, and the records he made in the 50s and 60s in and around El Paso, are quite unique. The combination of his high voice, the biting tone and the deeply satisfying LOUDNESS of his axe, and the wild Mexican R&B band ended up being something that still sounds new and exciting-- you gotta check this out! His Alligator comeback records are well worth listening to as well. Hope you guys enjoy a look at three songs of John's: Midnight Stroll, El Paso Rock and Border Town Blues. I didn't get to it, but I'd love to do his first 45 on Duke recorded as "Long John", it's smokin and I THINK he's using a capo! I had the good fortune of seeing his own band in Springfield and also the Lone Star Shootout with Phillip Walker and Lonnie Brooks-- it was just great. Please share any LJH stories in the comments. Thanks also to Rice Cake (Sato Koichi) for playing rhythm guitar in this lesson-- a good friend, tour manager, sometimes-guitarist and the owner of Red House studio/live house/record store in Sakai City, Osaka, Japan. * Subscribe to my channel today for in-depth looks at the electric blues greats as well, deep dives into blues "nooks and crannies", performance videos and more to come. * Become a supporter at https://www.patreon.com/johnnyburgin to help keep these free weekly lessons coming. Or send a one time tip: Johnny-Burgin-1 at Venmo or rjohnnyband@gmail.com on Paypal-- thank you! * Check https://johnnyburgin.com/ for my international show schedule. I'd love it if you come to a show or pick up a CD or LP. It's always great to meet and chat with fellow blues guitar fans on the road. You can find my CDs and LPs on Spotify or other streaming platforms, online stores like Amazon/iTunes, https://johnnyburgin.bandcamp.com/ etc. * Stay up to date on social media: FB: Johnny Burgin Live: Instagram: johnnyburgin Twitter: https://twitter.com/burginjohnny *For updated show listings go to https://www.bandsintown.com/a/1226708... or join the email list: https://johnnyburgin.com/contact/ *Label: www.delmark.com -- America's oldest continuously operating blues and jazz label. *WIki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockin'... * Check out my sponsors: #ghsstrings www.ghs.com out of Battle Creek, MI and https://www.bluemoonharmonicas.com Thanks so much to all of you. #ghsstrings #delmarkrecords #texasblues #bluesguitar

Added 8 May 2026