"The Hunter" is a blues song first recorded by Albert King

Albert King

Albert King was an American blues guitarist and singer, and a major influence in the world of blues guitar playing.-Career:...

 in 1967. The song has been recorded by various other performers, including Ike and Tina Turner, who had a 1969 hit with the song in the R&B and Pop music charts.

Original song

"The Hunter" was written by Stax Records

Stax Records

Stax Records is an American record label, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee.Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the name Stax Records was adopted in 1961. The label was a major factor in the creation of the Southern soul and Memphis soul music styles, also releasing gospel, funk, jazz, and...

' house band, Booker T. and the MGs, and Carl Wells. The song is a mid-tempo twenty-four bar blues in the key of A. Backing Albert King (vocal and guitar) are: Booker T. Jones

Booker T. Jones

Booker T. Jones is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, record producer and arranger, best known as the frontman of the band Booker T. and the MGs. He has also worked in the studios with many well-known artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, earning him a Grammy Award for lifetime...

 (organ), Steve Cropper

Steve Cropper

Steve Cropper , also known as Steve "The Colonel" Cropper, is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T...

 (rhythm guitar), Donald "Duck" Dunn (bass), Al Jackson, Jr. (drums) plus members of The Memphis Horns

The Memphis Horns

The Memphis Horns are an American horn section made famous by their many appearances on Stax Records. They have been called "arguably the greatest soul horn section ever." Originally a sextet, the Memphis Horns gradually slimmed down to a duo, Wayne Jackson on trumpet and Andrew Love on tenor...

, Wayne Jackson (trumpet), Andrew Love (tenor saxophone), and Joe Arnold (baritone sax).
"The Hunter" was first released on Albert King's 1967 album, Born Under a Bad Sign

Born Under a Bad Sign

-Album reissues:In 1998 Sundazed Records reissued the album with two additional bonus tracks, namely the rare mono single sides "Funk-Shun" and "Overall Junction", both written by Albert King...

, which "became one of the most popular and influential blues albums of the late '60s". In 1969, it was released as a single (with "As the Years Go Passing By

As The Years Go Passing By

"As the Years Go Passing By" is a song credited to have been written by ”Deadric Malone″ . Other sources claim that the song was penned by Peppermint Harris for Fenton Robinson, who first recorded it in 1959...

" on Atlantic 2604), but did not reach the charts. The song later appeared on various Albert King compilation albums.

Ike and Tina Turner version

Ike and Tina Turner recorded "The Hunter" in 1969 and, although it was over six minutes long, the song became a hit. It reached #37 in the Billboard R&B chart and #93 in the Billboard Pop Singles chart (Blue Thumb 102). The song was included on their 1969 album, also titled The Hunter, which reached #176 in the Billboard album chart (Blue Thumb BTS-11).

Other versions

Early versions of "The Hunter" include those by Blue Cheer

Blue Cheer

Blue Cheer was an American psychedelic blues-rock band that initially performed and recorded in the late 1960s and early 1970s and was sporadically active until 2009...

 (Outsideinside

Outsideinside

Outsideinside is Blue Cheer's second LP, released by Philips Records in August 1968. Its tracks were recorded both outdoors and indoors - hence the title of the album. The record's tracks feature contributions from all members, along with two covers: "Satisfaction" by The Rolling Stones and "The...

1968) and Free

Free (band)

Free were an English rock band, formed in London in 1968, best known for their 1970 signature song "All Right Now". They disbanded in 1973 and lead singer Paul Rodgers went on to become a frontman of the band Bad Company along with Simon Kirke on drums; lead guitarist Paul Kossoff died from a...

 (Tons of Sobs

Tons of Sobs

Tons of Sobs is the debut album by English blues rock band Free, released on 14 March 1969. While the album failed to chart in the UK and reached #197 in the US, Free are still cited as one of the definitive bands of the British blues boom of the late 1960s even though this is the only album of...

1968). Canned Heat

Canned Heat

Canned Heat is a blues-rock/boogie rock band that formed in Los Angeles, California in 1965. The group has been noted for its own interpretations of blues material as well as for efforts to promote the interest in this type of music and its original artists...

 recorded a demo version in 1967, but re-recorded it as "Amphetamine Annie" (an early anti-drug song) using the same music (Boogie with Canned Heat

Boogie with Canned Heat

Boogie with Canned Heat is the second album by Canned Heat, released in 1968. Unlike their debut, it features mostly original material. It included the top 10 hit "On the Road Again," one of their best known songs. "Amphetamine Annie," a warning about the dangers of amphetamine abuse, also...

1968). Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...

 used some of the lyrics from "The Hunter" during the "How Many More Times

How Many More Times

"How Many More Times" is the ninth and final track on English rock band Led Zeppelin's 1969 debut album Led Zeppelin. The song is credited in the album liner to Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham, but is listed by ASCAP as written by all four members of the band.-Album version:At eight...

" medley on their 1969 multi-platinum debut album Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin (album)

Led Zeppelin is the debut album of the English rock band Led Zeppelin. It was recorded in October 1968 at Olympic Studios in London and released on Atlantic Records on 12 January 1969 in the United States and 31 March 1969 in the United Kingdom. The album featured integral contributions from each...

.

Later recordings include versions by Danzig

Danzig (band)

Danzig is an American heavy metal band, formed in 1987 in Lodi, New Jersey. The band serves as a musical outlet for the singer/songwriter Glenn Danzig. Danzig can be seen as the third stage in Glenn Danzig's musical career, preceded by the horror punk bands The Misfits and Samhain...

 (Danzig

Danzig (album)

Danzig is the 1988 debut album of the American heavy metal band Danzig, led by Glenn Danzig who was formerly the songwriter and vocalist of the Misfits and Samhain....

1988), Paul Rodgers

Paul Rodgers

Paul Bernard Rodgers is an English rock singer-songwriter, best known for his success in the 1970s as a member of Free and Bad Company. After stints in two less successful bands in the 1980s and early 1990s, The Firm and The Law, he became a solo artist. He has recently toured and recorded with...

 (Muddy Water Blues: A Tribute to Muddy Waters

Muddy Water Blues: A Tribute to Muddy Waters

Muddy Water Blues: A Tribute To Muddy Waters is the second solo album by Paul Rodgers of Free and Bad Company fame.Although attributed solely to Paul Rodgers, this album features many other artists including Brian May, Buddy Guy, David Gilmour, Jeff Beck, Neal Schon, Gary Moore, Brian Setzer,...

1993), Doyle Bramhall

Doyle Bramhall

Doyle Bramhall was an American singer-songwriter and drummer, closely associated with the music of Austin.-Biography:...

 (Bird's Nest on the Ground 1994), and Gov't Mule

Gov't Mule

Gov't Mule is a Southern rock jam band formed in 1994 as an Allman Brothers Band side project by Warren Haynes and Allen Woody.The band released their debut album Gov't Mule in 1995...

 (Live... With a Little Help from Our Friends 1999).