Carol Hunter (April 19, 1946 – July 26, 2018) was an American guitarist and vocalist notable for her work with

Neil Diamond Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He has had ten No. 1 singles on the Hot 100 and Adul ...

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and others. Hunter was also one of the first prominent female instrumentalists in rock music.

Biography and musical history

Hunter was a self-taught guitarist who began learning the instrument in her teens after receiving her first guitar at age 13. She shortly added 12-string and bass guitar, eventually being admitted to the prestigious

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...

in New York City. Hunter was a teenager playing in New York clubs, allowing her the opportunity to jam with numerous prominent musicians including

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

at The Scene club. Her first recordings were with the folk singer/guitarist

, and she also worked as an arranger with singer

. Hunter was recorded as part of the ''

Music From Free Creek ''Music from Free Creek'' is an album from a series of 1969 "super session" recordings by Free Creek, a group composed of a number of internationally renowned musical artists of the time, including Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Keith Emerson, Buzz Feite ...

'' supersession album in 1969, appearing with

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and others. After leaving Juilliard, Hunter moved to Los Angeles and became a session guitarist before being hired by

as the lead guitarist for his live band from 1969 to 1971. Hunter's guitar and vocals were included on the Diamond record ''

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

'', recorded live in Los Angeles in 1970, and she contributed guitar and vocals to several subsequent studio recordings by Diamond in the 1970s. In 1971, Hunter chose to leave Diamond's band to pursue other projects and a solo recording, releasing ''The Next Voice You Hear'' on

Purple Records Purple Records was a record label established in 1971 by Deep Purple's management. Their releases were distributed by EMI and now by Universal Music Group after the EMI acquisition. The label was run until 1979. Until 1974 the label was used fo ...

in 1973. Hunter returned to her role as a studio guitarist and singer, including recording with

on the soundtrack for the movie ''

Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid ''Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid'' is a 1973 American Revisionist Western film directed by Sam Peckinpah, written by Rudy Wurlitzer, and starring James Coburn, Kris Kristofferson, Richard Jaeckel, Katy Jurado, Chill Wills, Barry Sullivan, Jason ...

''. Hunter reportedly turned down an offer from Dylan to be the lead guitarist for his

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, a role eventually filled by

Mick Ronson Michael Ronson (26 May 1946 – 29 April 1993) was an English musician, songwriter, arranger, and producer. He achieved critical and commercial success working with David Bowie as the guitarist of the Spiders from Mars. He was a session music ...

. Hunter is also the mother of model/actress/dancer/choreographer Dusty Paik. Paik announced the death of her mother on Facebook as a result of pneumonia and multiple sclerosis on July 26, 2018.

References

*Neil Diamond - His Life, His Music, His Passion by Laura Jackson, ECW Press 2005, *Janis Ian - Society's Child, Tarcher/Penguin 2008,
2001 Interview with Carol Hunter on The Neil Diamond Home PageCarol Hunter Credits on MSN MusicCarol Hunter Official MySpace pageBio of Dusty Paik
American women singer-songwriters American acoustic guitarists American women guitarists Singer-songwriters from New York (state) American artists American session musicians American bass guitarists Women bass guitarists American rock guitarists Lead guitarists Guitarists from New York (state) 1946 births 2018 deaths 21st-century American women {{US-guitarist-stub