Danny's brother was a Bell System technician in DC. I was cleaning out lockers (I was a Bell Atlantic tech, post-divestiture) at 45 L street prior to the building's destruction and found an 8455 meter with GATTON written across the inside flap.
Danny was completely overwhelming to any audience. He literally sucked the air out of the room. Honestly it's difficult to breathe when he's laying it down. There's never been anyone before him or since him that could do it better. A cold-blooded fretboard murderer if there's ever been one.
Washington, DC music critic Richard Harrington may have said it best, "Danny can play anybody's music. Nobody can play Danny's music." I was lucky enough to see Danny and Robert Gordon at "The Humbler" gig at Berkeley Square, which was the best show of my life.
That really is the best quote about the man, along with the "World's most famous unknown guitarist", or something to that effect. I play a Telecaster in large part because of Danny.
You saw that show? Damn. Lucky. Its just insane how many vids there are on RU-vid where he’s playin in some shitty dive bar like by the men’s room door or by the dart board and you can hear the bar crowd talking so loud and not giving one ounce of attention to the greatest guitarist ever to have lived. It’s like they’re so lucky and they don’t even know it cuz they’ve just been to a show of the greatest guitarist they’ve ever heard that they’ve never even heard of. Even if you asked them afterwards they would never know who you were talking about and you almost wanna strangle them for their dumb luck and then you remember how tragic Danny’s life was and you wanna cry.
@@existentialcwboycause most people are dumb as rocks and ignorant as can be. They think if it’s not a song by Hendrix or zeppelin or Skynyrd they do not think it’s worth listening to
I have a partial copy of this from a poorly made VHS recording off of public access TV - I always regretted not recording the whole thing. This is MUCH appreciated!
Simply the most brilliant guitarist to ever walk this earth. Just think what could have been if Danny hadn’t passed. To have this footage is gold though.
Danny was and still is the best !!! Luckily I was fortunate enough to meet him and have conversation with him as he was very approachable. He was gracious enough to sign my Tele pickguard. Great player and sadly missed.
danny gatton is the reason why i think that there is always something new to learn about guitar playing and music in general. my father introduced me to danny gatton when i was a young girl in the early 2000's. and almost 20 years later, this is still one of my fav things to watch. thank you so much for uploading this
Hi, if you have never heard Danny's "New York Stories" recording, I can not recommend it enough to you as an essential document of his vast talents. Plus the other musicians with him are simply amazing as is the music itself. The whole album is uploaded on here, and you might still be able to find a relatively inexpensive cd online. Take care. 😊
I think I've watched this 5 times over the past two months, with certain segments on repeat. What a fantastic document of Danny Gatton, and the great John Previti. The interviewer clearly knows his stuff, and keeps it moving just enough. I miss the days of smaller cable tv programming.
I brought my father-in-law who lives in Fairview Beach a Roy Buchanan album I've gotten a lot of enjoyment out of the last time my wife and I visited him. He mentioned Danny as another great guitar player he used to listen to, and also mentioned how Danny lived nearby in Maryland. I'm so glad my FIL turned me onto Danny because I'm absolutely in love with his style.
I am so blessed to have watched and listen to Danny play so many times. I have that issue of guitar player that he signed for me and one of the little picks that he gave me that you see tucked into the pick guard on the Tele. Danny didn’t play music he summoned it…
An acquaintance took a few guitar lessons from Danny. He said it was an hour of guitar techniques and playing, and another hour or more of talking about cars and engines. RIP, "The Humbler."
This is what true guitar God is.A master in every sense .I've been playing for over 30 years. So many tricks and techniques. And still today No One comes close.
Upon hearing Mr. Gatton's playing 10+ years ago, I didn't get it. I wasn't versed in the history of his many genres & influences. Now that I've researched this knowledge, I can state that, without doubt, he was a Master of the Tele, & a musical genius of the highest caliber! Lightyears ahead of his time! R.I.P.!
I am 68 years old and I have been around music all my life i loved the guitar sence I was 4 years old and I tought myself to play the guitar and I play just like him I practice every day.
All is welcome. You have no idea how hard it was to find this video, I had to find that performance of One for Lenny after I first saw it a few months back.
The song they briefly play beginning at 22:59 into the interview, is from one of the, imo,single greatest recordings Danny was part of.." New York Stories". The song is titled of course " One For Lenny".
In fact, it's probably more likely for great artists to suffer from depression than for the general public (Van Gogh, Munch, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and so many more) Danny Gatton..."The Humbler" - a true genius
If a person is a well founded Christian, they can deal with life, because we know the truth, and have something to look forward to. Even Apostle Paul had an affliction. Paul asked Our Lord three times to remove the affliction. Our Lord said, “No, My grace is sufficient for you.” When we are humble, that is when the Holy Spirit can do much inside our hearts.
@@thomaspick4123True depression is a neurological predisposition and is beyond explanation to anyone who has not experienced its devastation. God understands this…
The greatest guitar player of all time. He plays the song, he backs the other players and never overplays. He's EVH, Atkins, Beck all in one and a million miles ahead, well maybe 1 mile ahead of Chet!
@@HunterHendricksonMusic This is a rendition of 'Secret Love' once sung by Doris Day. A lot of people on here are praising him, rightly so but, here he loses the plot in my opinion ! the melody gets obscured in amongst all those notes. I know it's an alternative jazzy take, It sounds like self indulgence and the bass is intrusive at times..
Aaah ... the old leslies . Back when they were mostly still hand - built and mechanical , not electronic . First time I saw one was about '67 - '68 at a local armory dance . Leaned on the thing the rest of the night .
Saw him in Philly in maybe 1992, and Danny never played the same thing twice for the entire show. Recently got the chance to see Tommy Emmanuel, and he ALMOST did that. But I"ve never seen that from anyone else.
Danny is up on the "Mt Rushmore" of the greatest - I was born in Alexandria and grew up in Northern Virginia in the 70s and 80s. Danny Gatton's legend will never die.
At around 25:15 he hits a fast, repetitive, double-stop rockabilly riff that Al Anderson used to play once and a while with NRBQ. I wonder who created it. Later in the same jam song with the acoustic bass player, Gatton sneaks in the lead line (twice) of the old George Benson hardbop song “The Cooker.” Interviewer looks like Peter Fonda.
The single player who got me into country playing. Both him and Steve howe showed me that you can be a musical chameleon and play any genre you want. RIP Danny and condolences to his family. Depression is a wicked disease. For some reason his suicide really gets to me….He was a such a pure, kind, and extraordinary person. Thankful we have his music to enjoy and learn from.
Don't forget Roy Buchanan another master of the Telecaster and another suicide. Hung his self in a jail cell, or at least that's what the cops say. That's what they always say and of course nobody believes anything the cops say. I sure don't.
Danny Gatton was so amazing so missed and was shocked when I found out he lived less than 10 miles from me well after he left us ,man he was so awesome
I bought a fire fly telecaster former owner put the Joe Barden Gatton pick ups in it after all these yrs I see what every one is talking about R.I .P Danny .
Jeff Beck once said "all the wrong people are getting the big pieces of the pie" I wonder if he might have been referring to Danny? One of the best who ever lived. And so few people besides guitar players have ever heard of him.
@@dennisneo1608 Danny Gatton chose his own path in life. He paid the price for the choices he made. He knew as well as anybody else that the music business is not about music, but he continued to be who he was. The guy was so good he was scary, and maybe he was kind of intimidating. He even said that in the studio, they told him to "tone it down and play like you're 12" There were other virtuosos who were huge commercial successes, Les Paul, Jimmy Bryant, Chet Atkins, Roy Clark, Albert Lee, Brad Paisley Jerry Reed, too manly to list here. Maybe Danny just didn't want to play ball with the corporate. Edison died a multi millionaire, Tesla died broke with debt. Edison played ball with JP Morgan, Tesla followed his own vision. Our way of life venerates those who play ball and reviles the loners. If you choose that path, you pay that price. At least Danny left us some amazing records and video footage.
@@jpalberthoward9, an interviewer once asked the iconoclastic guitarist and songwriter Richard Thompson "so, how come you're not famous?". Thompson replied, "there are two possible answers to that question: the first is, maybe I don't want to be; and the second is, people might not really like what I do". I've seen Thompson play many times, but sadly never got to see Danny ---- I had tickets to see him on the tour to support "Cruisin' Deuces", but he canceled the tour, saying he didn't want to spend that much time on the road away from his family. Just a few months later, he was gone. My loss is nothing compared to loss suffered by his family, especially his daughter (I've lost family members to depression and the often-attendant drug abuse). I had read that Danny once told her he would support her in anything she wanted to do as long as it wasn't in music. Danny had a strong interest in biology and archeology, and I believe his daughter became a marine biologist.
@@goodun2974 Roy Buchanan was also quoted as saying " This whole star business scares the hell out of me" Keith Richards once said "Everybody wants to be a star, but nobody wants to do the work to become a musician." Or, as Albert King put it "Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die"
@@jpalberthoward9 , I really tried to like Roy Buchanan musically; I bought a half-dozen of his records but ended up giving them all away. Nobody in the record business seemed to know what to do with him; he had lots of then-unique techniques, and became influential to other players, but he couldn't seem to translate his skills to making good music consistently. Reportedly, if you heard him when he was young he could be terrific if he was having an inspired night (a co-worker saw him twice, said he was awesome one time but absolutely terrible at another show); but once he became an alcoholic it just hollowed him out. I saw him play a few months before he died and it was a sad affair. Buchanan fans often take sides against Danny Gatton and in favor of Roy ---- the two were once roommates ---- but I feel Danny left behind a better legacy recording-wise. In a more perfect world they'd still be alive, strong, better known and appreciated, and able to make a good living in music. BTW, I also remember that Jesse Ed Davis died within a few months of Roy; another great player tragically gone.
How is it that i know about ROY CLARK and not Danny Gatton...how? This man is amazing. Seriously. I've heard them all and this man lays it down in a way of his own.
@@williamgreenfield9991 yes, however he's not typically my preferred style of music. I can't deny however that he is an amazing guitar player. Love the Killswitch.
@@TheZguitarboy67 Thanks for your reply and please ignore the idiots who are screaming about stealing. I just discovered Buckethead a couple of weeks ago and have been listening to more of his stuff every day. He plays in quite a few different styles from face melting shredding to very original Prog rock to the most tender, heart wrenching, soul stirring balladry I believe I've ever heard. I've been a devotee of the electric guitar all my 71 years (since I saw Jimi live in '68 anyway). I love rock, jazz, prog, and acoustic guitarists. Never have I been so moved as by Buckethead. Thanks for posting this. Just got a good speaker for my computer so I'm checking out all these great videos of artists I barely know. Gatton IS amazing.
Danny was a musical genius who was reluctantly in the music business... in other words, he would just as soon have worked on old hot-rods or done something else, as play music. He stuck close to home, too, near his Maryland and Virginia roots. In some ways, he was like Wes Montgomery, another home-body who was a genius musician. If you wanted to see Wes, and this was for years on end, you had to go to Indianapolis, Indiana, because he rarely left or toured outside of that area. When he was "discovered" by Cannonball Adderley that changed.... but same with Danny. Which is why Danny was on the cover of that famous "Unknown Greats" Guitar Player magazine. I sure do miss him! I will never forget how shocked I was when we heard the news he was gone. Man, what a terrible loss... I sure am glad I got to see him live a couple of times before he checked out.
Sad about that guy....depression is hard.....i know first hand . He was a genius and i remember him well......a telecaster master akin to Roy Buchanan who ironically was a depressive and also took his life tragically
Danny and Django play different styles. But they have a lot in common. Complete masters of the fretboard. Uncanny ability to play any musical idea that came into their head. instantly and flawlessly no matter how complicated and they both got bored with the guitar They new it's limitations it was no longer a challenge. Playing the guitar for these 2 was as easy as walking or talking
