Hunter started working with John Jansen in 1987 and The Loner is one of his autobiographical songs which explains some of his lyrics and his music can be understood best when you grasp his background. As a stranger in a strange land, as on When I'm President, he informs us of his birthday, horoscope, family life, and youthful environs: all in the first verse! Hunter addresses his early years in Shrewsbury when he had no friends and he thinks it's one of the best songs he has ever written reminding him of something that Free would have done in the 1960s. It came quickly one morning and he got it down quick on an acoustic guitar since rockers such as this don't come that often. It came one morning and he wrote it out quickly on an acoustic guitar. Rockers are harder to come by. Ronson's fuzzed up, slow burning riff was one of the elements that got him interested in playing guitar again and working with Hunter because of strong songs such as this. Oddly a big heavy metal band in America asked for a rocker song and Hunter offered this tune but they never returned the call. The demo with Robbie Alter is a killer which kicked off the song. Alter was clouded with echo, he flashed a bit for his part, then with no echo there is his great solo.
As relating to personal relationships the song is about still being a loner and that's all right since that's life. There is a live version from 1989 as well.
The Loner
(Ian Hunter)
I was born
On the 3rd of June-hard labor-Gemini moon
I was raised In a country town-livin' dead were all puttin' me down
And my flesh and blood-my flesh and blood
Kicked me out - they never understood that..
That its alright-its alright- its alright to be a loner
Skin and bone, skin and bone, lean lookin' won't you let me take you home
How about is babe, how about , a little love 'til the money runs out
We'll give 'em hell babe, we'll give 'em hell
I ain't the kind that's gonna kiss and tell
I'm alright -you know I'm alright- its alright to be a loner
Its alright-its alright- its alright to be a loner
Turn out the lights-bring on the night- oh baby I'm a loner
I got my bags-I got my boots- I got ma wits about me-I got my roots
I gotta guitar-40 years old- I'm gonna play it til the stories been told
We'll knock 'em dead girl-we'll knock 'em dead
So when you think o' me remember what I said
Its alright girl-its alright girl- its alright to be a loner...
Its alright-you know its alright-its alright to be a loner
Tonights the night I'm gonna strap you in tight
oo baby, I'm the loner
Ian Hunter CD: "YUI Orta"
Sleeve and track listing
Lemon CD LEM 6.
Review
Ian teamed up with his old mate Mick Ronson once again to record this album in the middle of 1989. Ian and Mick had toured the USA and Europe in late 1988/early 1989, before the album was even recorded, and the result is a highly polished album - one of their best.
Highlights include the Stonsey Women's Intuition (if only Mick 'n' Keef were still this good!), the full-tilt rocker How Much More Can I Take, Big Time (Ian borrows his own riff from Once Bitten...), Tell It Like It Is (Mick borrowing the Get It On riff) and Mick's guitar showcase Sweet Dreamer which is breathtaking beautiful.
When the album was released, they toured the USA and Europe again to promote it. Intended in some ways as a comeback album for both men, the record company did little to promote it themselves, and it didn't sell in great numbers. They were dropped by the record company, and all plans for a follow-up were put on hold when Mick Ronson was diagnosed with liver cancer.
Unavailable for many years, this CD has finally been reissued on the Lemon label (a planned reissue on NMC having fallen through when NMC went bust). This reissue includes a couple of Ronno bonus tracks from 1971 - great for the completist but somewhat at odds with the rest of the album. The insert includes the lyrics from the original CD, but the sleeve notes are appallingly inaccurate - a shame really that Campbell Devine's notes for the aborted NMC release weren't used.
In 1995, Windsong issued an official release of their 15-Feb-89 concert, which had been recorded by the BBC for radio broadcast. This live album has since been reissued on Strange Fruit.
As is normal these days, there was material left over in the vaults, some of which is circulating amongst fans. This includes (Give Me Back My) Wings, which was demoed but never recorded, Ill Wind (now available on the Once Bitten Twice Shycompilation), More To Love Than Meets The Eye and Look Before You Leap, which IMO would have been a great single and features some beautiful guitar work from Mick Ronson
The album title is derived from "Why you... I ought to...", a phrase popularised by The Three Stooges.
Technical
The original CD
The reissued CD
Comments
Analysis of the reissued CD shows some compression being used; this has boosted overall loudness slightly (by some 2.2dB) without any noticeable affect on sound quality.
| The Loner | 4:48 | Originally issued on YUI Orta, also on the compilations The Journey and The Golden Age 1969-1997. |
| The Loner (live 15th February 1989) | 5:22 | This live version (recorded The Dominion, London England) was released on BBC Live in Concert. |
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