Still listen to Danny's stuff every single day. No one ever came close to him. His technique, and mastery of it, not to mention the ability to play virtually any type of music, makes him truly untouchable. I've been playing for 49 years, and working on Danny's style/technique for the past 10 years. Still cannot get close to him. RIP Mr. Gatton.
He was amazing, I was fortunate to see him 3 times. He was the best. He played with great musicians. Locally when he played it was not posted till a few days before. However, many of the fans that showed up were Profesional musicians. They would cancel their shows to come to see Danny play. Although he did not sing with his voice but his guitar did the singing. Once again he was amazing and he left us too soon.
I saw Danny play at The Ace of Clubs in Nashville , just Danny , stand-up bass and drummer. Amazing guitar player. As far as someone who was a master of every style of guitar be it , jazz, blues, rockabilly or country Danny was a master of them all. I'm so glad I got to hear him play that night . He got sounds out of that Tele that are often imitated but never duplicated . Danny is greatly missed.
i was reading comments , about danny and i grew up in md and saw him many times and he always talked guitar after a show to us guitar nerds, for as long as you wanted , it was unreal we would be out in parking lot for over hour talking about gtr , never held back and made u feel very comfortable ,
Fortunate to grow up in the DC/Baltimore and know about Danny Gatton & Roy Buchanan all these years. Have some family in Southern MD where Danny lived in Newburg, many stories of seeing him in Waldorf and them honky tonk bars in Charles County.
Great first-hand insight into the infamous initial encounter of Gatton & Buchanan! Danny was a fine raconteur, as well as being the greatest guitar player of all time. Still sadly missed...
This interviewer drops the ball on the first question. Gatton shares that he started playing '54 and went PRO in '57? Wow, what a natural talent. I would love he dug deeper into that.
Incredible!!, he added an extra fret, a high D.."to bend in case he need it". Danny was simply too much. Do you know what God told him when Danny went to heaven?...-"Hey Danny that thing on the guitar...how did you did it)???"
It is painful and it really bothers me that Danny ended his life. I never met him but love everything about him from his playing to his personality from what I've seen in video interviews and concerts. How could such a wonderful and humble person end up doing that? I wish someone could have reached him before it happened. God bless his family!
It was an argument with his wife that pushed him over the edge. He had said that it was a sin that Roy Buchanan took his own life (maybe) and then he wound up doing the same thing.
"Chet Atkins is the greatest of course" I agree ! Danny Gatton your also the greatest! You and Chet are my heroes and my teachers forever in yours debt and forever your apprentice!
@HiFiVibe: Danny was not what you'd call an out-going guy, especially around unfamiliar people. He was very friendly around his pals, but maybe not all that much so around media types - even a sympathetic audience like this. I don't think he liked being on the road and away from home at all. He loved playing, but not the business or marketing aspect of music. He warms up a bit as this interview goes on.
Guys like Danny Gatton and Roy Buchanan played a very different style from the contemporary player in that they relied on the amp and the controls on the guitar vs. stomp boxes. Personally I prefer this tone because when you play hard and clean, you can show up, plug into anything and just play. I still have the Redneck Jazz Explosion in my old Ford.
@KD4PEACE Kim, I Benny still alive? I played a couple of times with Heavy Country at the Outside Inn in Rockville Md. and my wife Deborah sang with the Shades of Blue in Alexandria. We have fond memories of Benny. Thanks, John
Actually, the Stevie Ray thing is a little more complicated. He actually agreed to do the tour at first, but once rehearsals started, he realized there was going to be more of a "show", as it were. I guess everything was too choreographed for his taste, and in particular, they wanted him to do stuff that he wasn't comfortable/able to do. So I think he went to his manager and said "You gotta get me out of this", so the two of them colluded to get SRV fired from the gig.
@KD4PEACE: Kimi, Benny is new to me, but I am not from Nashville. He is a class act and a warm and genuine host. Is his show still on the air, either radio or TV?
Damn that sure is some 80's hairdo on the platinum blonde set piece and those white cowgirl boots.How in the world did they look in the mirror and say " I'm killin' it today"
Great story John W, do you have any live recording of Danny ? What year did you see him in Nashville ? And finally, f you know any bigtime Gatton collectors let me know; thanks.
he was a million times better than holdsworth.. holds worth didn't make music just atonal single string crap.. compare that to Gattons mastery of all techniques and styles of electric guitar
The reason why nobody (except guitarists, and a few others) not know who danny was... is because he was just a really good guitarist, and the material he chose to play was just blues and country based quick pickin. It's what you can here just going to a local bar in the midwest. Just nothing interesting about it... he was the best, but still. It just reminds me of shit that I heard a zillion times at local bars when I lived in michigan. Again, he is much better than any of those guys, but still. You're not going to become famous be being the best guitarist in what sounds like a bar band.
'The reason why nobody not know who danny was...' So lots of people do know who he is? Double negatives aside, I'm not really sure what your accusation against Gatton is. That he didn't write hit songs? That he didn't have his own style of playing? If it's the former, you are completely missing the point, if it's the latter that's simply untrue. The fact that he could play just about every style of guitar-based music imaginable and blend them together seamlessly with near-flawless technique is one reason why he's no highly regarded. That and his sense of feel; the emotion he put into his music. Stating that Gatton 'just' played blues and country therefore he's boring is a strange argument. It's the way he approached these genres that matters. And as Eric Mendelman has already pointed out, you've totally failed to mention Gatton's jazz playing which was hugely important to his musical vocabulary.
