On June 3, one of the great rock and roll singer/songwriters will turn 71. He shares his birthday with my little boy Jack (more on that later).
And Ian Hunter is still out there doing it. His two most recent works, Man Overboard and Shrunken Heads, are prime examples of graceful and not-so-geriatric rock and roll.
Despite the strength of those albums, Hunter's peak period remains with Mott the Hoople, where he set a very high standard indeed. One of his many gems is the poignant and heartbreaking, "I Wish I Was Your Mother," here given a latter-day treatment with a sublime string section.
As someone who has often longed for familial community after my mother (and later my father) died, this hits me where I live each and every time I hear it.
And especially right now.
I think this is the most heartbreaking song of all time. Even Springsteen hasn't written something that makes me feel the way this one does.
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