Take a listen again to Ian Hunter‘s Rant. It’s a tremendous album, still tough, real and lovable after all these years. It came out on April 21, 2001 when Ian was about to turn 62. At the time it was seen as an incredible comeback album for a mature artist. Little did we know then that we would still be enjoying new work from this same unsinkable rock traditionalist 23 years later.
“The album Rant was a masterpiece, equal to the best of Mott the Hoople,” says longtime Chicago rocker Dave Gans, adding “Ian Hunter transcends nostalgia.”
East Portland Blog stalwart Ron Swanson, remembers fondly Hunter’s Chicago appearance shortly after Rant’s release.
“I’m reminded of the publicity tour Ian did post the release of Rant, so 2001 or early 2002,” says Swanson. “It was in one of the Lincoln Ave bars, maybe Lounge Axe? Anyway, it was just Ian, his keyboard guy and James Mastro. They did maybe 7 songs. Those there were asking for the song Ripoff (I’ve seen him many times since and he’s never done that one live). He acknowledged the requests, but said that as he was in Chicago he wanted to do a different song and did Resurrection Mary. I came to appreciate that after the fact.” (Wikipedia page for Resurrection Mary legend)
Here’s an interview Gail Worley did with Ian Hunter late in the year 2000, when Rant was on the horizon, but not yet discussed.
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