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'{{short description|Record producer and musician}} {{About||the football player|Ivy Joe Hunter|the blues singer and pianist (1914-1974)|Ivory Joe Hunter}} {{BLP sources|date=June 2011}} {{Infobox musical artist | honorific_prefix = | name = Ivy Jo Hunter | birth_name = George Ivy Hunter | alias = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1940|8|28}} | birth_place = [[Detroit, Michigan]], U.S. | origin = | death_date = | death_place = | genre = [[R&B]] | occupation = Songwriter, record producer, singer | instrument = | years_active = | label = | associated_acts = | website = }} '''George Ivy Hunter''' (born August 28, 1940),<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RG_LAwAAQBAJ&q=%22george+ivy+hunter%22&pg=PT243|title= Graham Betts, ''Motown Encyclopedia'', AC Publishing, 2014|isbn= 9781311441546|access-date=30 November 2014|last1= Betts|first1= Graham|date= 2 June 2014}}</ref> known as '''Ivy Jo Hunter''', is an American former [[R&B]] [[songwriter]], [[record producer]] and singer, most associated with his work for [[Motown]] in the 1960s.<ref name=allmusic>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/ivy-hunter-p88710/biography|title=Ivy Hunter|last=Hamilton|first=Andrew|publisher=[[Allmusic]]|access-date=20 August 2011}}</ref> ==Life and career== Raised in [[Detroit]], Michigan, Hunter was trained in orchestral music — primarily trumpet and keyboards. After a stint in the [[United States Army]], Hunter began performing as a singer in the proto-soul venues around Detroit, where he became friends with songwriter [[Henry Cosby|Hank Cosby]]. Cosby introduced him to Motown's first [[A&R]] man, [[William "Mickey" Stevenson]]. He played keyboards on Motown sessions before Stevenson began working with him as a songwriter. He became a principal in the Motown Records house band and began to write some of the most significant hits of the early Motown years,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://repertoire.bmi.com/writer.asp?page=1&blnWriter=True&blnPublisher=True&blnArtist=True&fromrow=1&torow=25&affiliation=ASCAP&cae=14605809&keyID=164138&keyname=HUNTER+IVY&querytype=WriterID|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160112170236/http://repertoire.bmi.com/writer.asp?page=1&blnWriter=True&blnPublisher=True&blnArtist=True&fromrow=1&torow=25&affiliation=ASCAP&cae=14605809&keyID=164138&keyname=HUNTER+IVY&querytype=WriterID|url-status=dead|archive-date=12 January 2016|title=Ivy Hunter songwriting credits|publisher=Repertoire.bmi.com|access-date=30 November 2014}}</ref> as The [[The Spinners (American R&B group)|Spinners]]' "[[Truly Yours (The Spinners song)|Truly Yours]]" and "Sweet Thing", [[The Temptations]]' "[[All I Need (The Temptations song)|Sorry Is a Sorry Word]]", [[The Isley Brothers]]' "[[Behind a Painted Smile]]" and "My Love Is Your Love (Forever)", and "[[Ask the Lonely]]" and "[[Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever]]" for the [[Four Tops]]. With [[Marvin Gaye]] and Stevenson, he cowrote the [[Martha and the Vandellas]] hit "[[Dancing in the Street]]" which, in the fall of 1964, provided an American counterpart to the [[British Invasion]]. Hunter also produced and wrote songs for Motown artists like [[The Velvelettes]] (their single "That's a Funny Way"), [[The Contours]] (their 1964 hit, "[[Can You Jerk Like Me]]"), [[The Marvelettes]] (their hits "Danger Heartbreak Dead Ahead" and "[[I'll Keep Holding On]]"), [[Gladys Knight & the Pips]] (the album track "The Stranger") and Gaye, for whom he produced the Top 40 hit single "[[You (Marvin Gaye song)|You]]" in 1968.<ref name=allmusic/> He continued to write, produce, serve as session musician and perform throughout the 1960s. As a vocalist he recorded a great deal of material with Motown during the 1960s, including demos of his own compositions, but nothing was released until 1970. In 1970, Motown issued an Ivy Jo single on their soon to be discontinued [[V.I.P. Records|VIP]] label entitled "I Remember When (Dedicated to Beverly)". The following year another single on VIP was issued entitled "I'd Still Love You". An album was also planned with the title ''Ivy Jo is in this Bag'', but was shelved. Shortly after this he left Motown.<ref name=allmusic/> In 1970, he contributed to [[Funkadelic]]'s "Mommy, What's A Funkadelic?" on that band's eponymous first album. He also co-produced an album for Wee Gee (William Howard), the former lead singer of [[The Dramatics]], which included the mega-hit "Hold On (To Your Dream)", which has become a favorite in graduation ceremonies.<ref name=allmusic/> In 2009, he took part in celebrations to mark Motown's 50th anniversary.<ref>[http://www.amusicexperience.com/home/view.php?id=235] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425060527/http://www.amusicexperience.com/home/view.php?id=235 |date=April 25, 2012 }}</ref> Hunter should not be confused with either blues singer and pianist [[Ivory Joe Hunter]] (1914&ndash;1974), or Motown pianist [[Joe Hunter (musician)|Joe Hunter]] who was leader of the label's houseband [[The Funk Brothers]] from 1959 to 1964. ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20140829084039/http://www.soul-source.co.uk/_/soul-news/the-ivy-jo-hunter-story-by-rob-moss-r2789 Rob Moss, "The Ivy Jo Hunter Story"] {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Ivy Jo}} [[Category:1940 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Motown artists]] [[Category:Record producers from Michigan]] [[Category:Songwriters from Michigan]] [[Category:American soul musicians]] [[Category:American session musicians]] [[Category:Musicians from Detroit]]'