Danny Gatton Plays Besame Mucho.wmv 

Johnny Hiland, a man who counts Danny amongst his chief influences, is an up-and-comer to watch. Steve Vai, no less, who owns his label - says he is the complete package as a player and can "play anything." That's not hype... the guy is an absolute monster on guitar. And he can sing, too.

@@GeorgiaBoy1961 Could not agree more about Johnny Hiland. He's a fun entertainer too. Really engages his audience. Total package.

@@guppybill - Hey, I still miss Danny, but he's gone and nothing can bring him back. Why not appreciate an amazing talent like Johnny Hiland? Doing so takes nothing away from Danny's legacy, heck - maybe it even adds to it, given the influence DG had on Johnny's playing and style. I just think the world of Johnny; he's not only a monster of a player, but a great person, too. Fun to be around.

@@GeorgiaBoy1961 I totally agree. Really dig Johnny. I should have phrased it differently.

I would agree with that statement. And I know we shouldn’t compare guitarists but he was Head and shoulders above anyone else including the likes of Steve Vai an Joe Satriani

The humbler! Danny is the man!

I'll second that, gladly.

@@xtc1957 I'll third it!!!

@@itsCONTROVERSY *was

Travis,...this is so nail on head! No disrespect to SRV but an interviewer told him once that he was the best guitar player in the world,..and Stevie didn't bat an eye. I thought to myself,.."you ain't never heard Danny son." For Danny playing guitar came as natural and easy as breathing! His kind of genius will not be seen again,....ever!

The Carnegie Holiday Inn

That was Danny though. He was the greatest guitarist nobody ever heard of, and he didn't care. He wasn't too high and mighty to turn down a gig even at the Holiday Inn. Gatton is sort of my idol. Doesn't help that he's gone... Ironically, here I am in Arlington right next to where this was recorded over 30 years ago...

@@lashlarue7924 many a Sunday did I inhale my eggs Benedict and marvel that I was in the presence of the greatest guitar player I've ever heard playing g right in front of me in the garbage venue

Uncompromising artists are admirable in their own way, without question - but they sometimes limit themselves by being unwilling to bend a bit in their careers to take that next step. Once become a major star and have the clout that it brings, you can then do some of things Danny wanted to do all of the time. Danny wouldn't look at the music world through an A&R or producer's eyes, a label owner's eyes - the guys that are charged with producing and selling music to the fans - and that cost him the chance to grow his recognition and name. Not saying what he did was wrong, only that Danny should have known how the game was played when he stepped into the ring. Guys who play Carnegie Hall learn how the game is played, and they play it. Danny wouldn't do it. He'd rather work on old cars or do some welding or something, than play something he didn't believe in. I admire the heck out of Danny Gatton. His integrity, his refusal to compromise his principles.... just saying that kind of stance has career costs. And he paid them.

Those hands.

More likely, the reason he "left" was due to overwhelming medical problems that had no obvious cure.

"....a human juke box......." Spot ON. A better definition would be impossible to coin for DG's terrifying gift.

I saw that too

You know when the guys playing in Roy's band tell you about Danny this m*********** better be pretty damn good! He was and will always be godless this man

If you hear Wes Montgomery in Danny's playing, you're tone-deaf. On his best day, Danny wasn't man-enough to carry Wes' guitar case and amp.

Oh , he was man enough!!!!@

I had already bought tickets to see Danny play on the Cruisin' Deuces tour, but he canceled the tour, saying " I'm too damn old to be away from my family for months on the road". A few months later he was dead. We shan't see his likes again, but this should serve to remind us that we have other great players who are aging and might not be with us that much longer, and we should appreciate them and go see them play whenever we can. People like Richard Thompson, David Lindley, Ry Cooder, Steve Morse and Sonny Landreth, just to name a few of my favorites; no, they're not Danny Gatton, but these guys have their own unique thing going on as well. PS, my favorite Gatton record is "88 Elmira St."

Wes Montgomery - who would be my pick as the finest jazz guitarist of all time, bar none - was once asked in an interview about his practice habits. Wes cracked that every once in a while, he'd "open his guitar case and throw some meat in there." A humorous reference to what a monster the instrument actually is and how challenging it is to play it well, let alone at the level of a virtuoso.

The guitar, tuned in the normal manner, has a lot of fourths on it in easy reach. That's one reason why guitar-based or guitar-centric musical styles like country music have a lot of fourths in their songs. The prevalence of pentatonic scales adds to this as well. Danny playing twelfths is simply another way of playing fourths, but a fourth with an octave underneath. In the straight-ahead jazz world, fourths are found mostly in modal tunes, and of course some players use them in their solos and improvisations. Mainly, though, the straight-ahead jazz cats don't emphasize fourth intervals in their playing as much as rock, blues and country players do. Danny - being Danny - could get away with doing things that most folks can't do and still have it make sense musically. Mark of a real master - you know it is him within hearing a few notes.

Do you have his album (CD) entitled "New York Stories"? It is Danny in session with a bunch of straight-ahead jazz cats. It's a very nice album and sort of a departure for Danny, too, as he usually didn't run in those circles.

pedro antonio there is a bootleg ot there with buddy Emmons dmdanny gatton and lenny Breaux live it's at a place exalted the cellar door I think.. I have the bootleg...so so sound quality mind blowing playing especially buddy emmons..

Vern Gosdin - now there's a real country singer for you! In his prime, that guy was great - wish he was still with us.

Shawn lane is the other person who comes to mind when you think of freaks of nature on guitar. I have been thinking the same thing going through these Danny Gatton videos. Totally different style, but same kind of effect - they're wired differently - and better - than other guitarists.

Can't vouch for their veracity, but rumor has it that DG received a diagnosis of Lou Gehrig's Disease shortly before taking his own life. ALS is almost invariably fatal, and perhaps he didn't want to burden those around him.

Get real. Danny sounded OK on most of the cuts on that record, but all-time great? No way. His best tune was "One for Lenny," and none of the others on that album come up to that level. Danny Gatton was the ultimate bar-band musician who could fake any style and get by... but he was by no means a bona-fide jazz musician, let alone an all-time great one. Getting by in a style isn't the same as mastering it. Gatton was/is an all-time great in roots music - country, roots rock and rockabilly, but he wasn't/isn't up to par in jazz. He just isn't. None of his attempts to play straight-ahead jazz stand up in comparison to genuine jazz players. Even having a backing band of real working jazz cats, like he did on "New York Stories," can't hide the fact that he wasn't - and isn't - a real jazz player. Why do you think he called it "Redneck Jazz"? Answer: Because he knew as well as anyone it wasn't the real thing. Shaun Lane? Please. The guy had technique to burn but listening to him was about as exciting as watching paint dry. And Danny couldn't carry Joe Pass' guitar case, not when it came to jazz.