Little Al

Cashbox, Feb 23, 1957, p.39

Real name, Al Gunter, he performed as Little Al, and was the younger brother of Arthur Gunter. He had two releases on Excello Records with both of them penned by brother Arthur. The first single, released in 1956, credited the songs to A. Guno, a pen name for Arthur. Little Al was the second guitarist in the Arthur Gunner Trio, behind his brother, with cousin Junior on drums. However on the Little Al records for Excello, the roles were reversed with Arthur playing second guitar behind his younger brother. On the track "Little Lean Woman," Al can be heard encouraging his brother to play, saying "Play it, Arthur, play it" during the bridge. This trio was combined with two other local musicians by label executive Ernie Young in 1953 to form a short-lived combo called The Leap Frogs, that released a single 45 in 1953. Previously, Al had been a member of Gunter Brothers Quartet, which included the members of the trio along with another brother Larry. According to music historian Martin Hawkins, older brother Larry had taught his younger brothers how to play the guitar, but did not want to follow them from gospel into the blues.