Here is an exercise I do on my Wasbburn acoustic every morning.
All kidding aside, Steve Via said if he had to pick one guitarist that came the closest to the greatest ever to walk the earth, it would be Danny Gatton.
I have a Gatton instructional video and Danny says he was playing a Les Paul until he met Roy Buchanan. Roy not only got him hooked on a Tele but shown him the best kind of pick to use.
Here's another side of Danny:
I read that he liked playing venues like this. No fan adulation, just people listening to him stretching out.
Here's yet another side, in a different context:
Billastro
Thanks Billastro. Good playing. I found a Les Paul quote. "Danny came in here and humbled us. Danny can play what we play better, faster and more precisely than the rest of us".
This morning while enjoying my coffee I began to think about why Danny Gatton never became a big success.
His playing is very complicated and technically advanced . He dubbed his style as Redneck Jazz.
Joe Bonamassa, Les Paul, Billy Gibbons, Roy Buchanan and others praised him and all the licks and using his fingers WITH his pick as incredible technique. Danny once made the cover of Guitar Player magazine as the world's greatest unknown guitarist. Danny's fan base nationally was mostly musicians.
So why did Danny basically not get beyond the Washington, D. C. area club scene?
When I listen to Danny Gatton, it's like listening to Steve Vai. After an hour or so I get tired of it. The technical brilliance becomes a demonstration of tricky guitar exercises. The raw emotion and moving of the soul by the notes and energy I never tire of from people such as Duane Allman, Dickey Betts, Derek Trucks, David Gilmore, the blues greats etc doesn't happen inside me with players such as Danny Gatton or Steve Vai or Chet Akins or somewhat Eddie Van Halen. Don't get me wrong. Those guys are jaw dropping good. But only in spurts for me. But I never tire of say You Don't Love Me by the ABB on Fillmore East. It moves me inside every time and has been for 49 years.
Nobody knows why Danny Gatton locked himself in his garage in 1994 and put a pistol to his head at age 49. Close friends speculated he suffered from depression for many years.
Kurt Cobain also shot himself at age 27 in 1994, same year as Gatton. Just as he became a multimillionaire and a multiplatinum album on the chart. Depression is a wicked thing.
Danny mentioned Roy Buchanan as a good friend. Roy apparently was a Les Paul player like Danny was and it was Roy who convinced Danny to switch to a Telecaster and showed Danny what kind of pick to use and the tricks to making a Telecaster produce such a myriad of sounds, notes and tones.
Roy apparently committed suicide too in a Fairfax jail cell in 1988 at age 48. Roy's family and friends said Roy had conquered his heavy drinking habit and would never kill himself. But suicide was ruled by the County of Fairfax Virginia.
Roy and Danny both masters of the Telecaster.
I will have to check him out, I don't know anything about him.
The Relentless CD he did w/Joey DeFrancesco is a banger - music that hilites the Mad talent of both players
Danny is also on a CD I haven’t listened to in much too long, which will change this wknd - he sits in on the live portion of New Potato Caboose’s Promising Traveler
Fender31. The link at the top of this thread is a good Danny playing video. He called his style "redneck jazz"
Here is a promo for Danny Gatton with Albert Lee, Les Paul, Vince Gill and others praising him.
[Edited on 4/18/2020 by blackey]
[Edited on 4/18/2020 by blackey]
When I listen to Danny Gatton, it's like listening to Steve Vai. After an hour or so I get tired of it. The technical brilliance becomes a demonstration of tricky guitar exercises. The raw emotion and moving of the soul by the notes and energy I never tire of from people such as Duane Allman, Dickey Betts, Derek Trucks, David Gilmore, the blues greats etc doesn't happen inside me with players such as Danny Gatton or Steve Vai or Chet Akins or somewhat Eddie Van Halen. Don't get me wrong. Those guys are jaw dropping good. But only in spurts for me. But I never tire of say You Don't Love Me by the ABB on Fillmore East. It moves me inside every time and has been for 49 years.
I watched the video, was blown away by it from a technical standpoint only, and was going to comment. Then I saw the quote above by blackey. That sums up my feelings EXACTLY. A thousand notes a minute was never something that got me off.............
Too bad to hear that the poor man put a gun to his head.
After many years, I finally found a used copy of the 2-CD Rhino
Gatton anthology, `Hot Rod Guitar'. I was elated. Incredibly, I
haven't listened to it yet!
Fans should read this!
