All the pros in Nashville and elsewhere called this man " The Humbler " for good reason. Amazing musician, and one of the greatest guitar players to ever walk this earth.
Danny was a musical genius, almost too good for his own liking. He played a variety of musical styles, mastered them, and morphed them all into one. He may be gone but never will be forgotten.
The tragedy of Danny was that his genius couldn't be pigeon-holed into a genre which would have allowed him to be marketed to a larger audience. Was he country? Was he western swing? How about rockabilly and roots rock? Want some blues or jazz? DG has that covered. Among his contemporaries and friends still living, Scotty Anderson has somewhat the same problem. The other tragic thing is that popular music in this country isn't very hospitable to instrumental music; if you don't sing and write original music, it is very tough to get ahead in the more popular genres. It's almost like the world wasn't ready for his talent - or wasn't big-enough for it.
@@GeorgiaBoy1961you hit the nail on the head Danny just did not fit the guitar God profile he didn,t do the look at me I'm a guitar God poses. He walked on stage looking and dressing like he,d come to fix the roof. And you could search the whole wide world and never find anybody who looks less like a guitar virtuoso than Danny
In my humble opinion, Danny was one of the greatest guitarists who ever lived. He got to play and pass away without the BALL AND CHAIN of STARDOM, but he will always be a star in the minds of fellow guitarists.
+babidaboopy I saw Richie Blackmore do it at a club called "The Main Act" in Lynn,Ma in 1979,but with a Heineken.I was sitting at a table right in front of the stage,and he picked up my beer and played the slide solo to "The Gates of Babylon".
Check-out the Lynryd Skynrd 3 hr documentary and you will see Steve Gaines playing bottleneck with a empty bottle while Ronnie Van Zandt smiles unbelievingly suprised.
Maybe if everyone had just left Danny alone he'd still be alive today. He really didn't want the attention and the obligations of being signed to a label and having to tour to promote recordings and all the rest of it. He was just an average guy with an extraordinary gift.
Saw Danny live at the Blue Note in NYC, sat in the front row with my jaw hitting the floor! Danny could play anything that came to mind, with ease. Best I ever saw.
I got to see Danny open for The Kentucky Headhunters somewhere around the time of this story. What a gift it was to see him. Was heartbroken to know that he was so far down he couldn't see forward anymore. RIP, Danny -- you are still loved.
Every clip of him playing guitar, was a jaw dropper. Just an old fashioned guy, in a world that expected more, than the simple life. I think old Danny had it right.
I have watched this more than once, and I cannot watch that scene with Gatton and his daughter in that vintage car without starting to choke up. I cannot grasp, and do not want to grasp, the darkness he must have been consumed by to be able to take his own life, when he was so loved by so many.
It's tough for me too - I have a young daughter myself and it tears me up knowing his daughter lost her father in the way that she did - no daughter deserves that kind of shitty abandonment. And I love Gatton's playing, but God damn - c'mon man...
I saw him at the Floodzone in Richmond, VA a couple of years after this interview. I was blown away, incredible show, really cool humble guy and incredible guitarist!
There is an odd parallel between this mini documentary and Roy Buchanan's 1971 PBS documentary.Both players repelled success while inspiring others to fame and fortune in the music business. I'm thankful for getting to meet Roy and Danny and talking guitars with them.
+James Bordner are you an idiot? Joe isn't he pays low prices for vintage guitars with is contacts and he doesn't need celebrity providence because he gives that to any guitar he collects and plays.
We have lost many of the greatest guitar players with so much music left in them. I wish all the greats would of lived a long life. Can you imagine how much more incredible music and performances there would have been? Plus for those of us who never got the chance to see them live would have the opportunity to do so.
Diego O' Land not everyone knows the roots and history my friend but there are some of us that know I thank my pops for showing me real music!! Rip Danny and thank u pops
88 Elmira Street. It doesn't get any better. More than 20 years gone and I think about him often. The gigs he missed and the power-shifts he never threw. I was honored to have known the man and even lent him my El Camino a time or three. To make comparisons between artists and attempt to grade musicanship and craft is kind of moot. He had a way of getting into a piece, well you just had to be there, sitting in the room to fully comprehend or appreciate. RIP Danny.
Edward Jonez i recorded austin city limits that night for albert collins,but the second i heard mr. gatton start pickin' i was an instant fan. it was terrible that we lost him so young.
Danny Gatton Jim Kimo West is the best guitar player I ever work with. He can do all kind of music. You are outstanding as well. The world need more outstanding musically athletic genius. Keep on moving. You got it!!!!
The most interesting thing about Danny is he really didn't care about his talent, he loved to play music when he was young and he knew it was easier than a 9 to 5 job. But he just didn't care enough to throw himself completely into it until he got older. Once he did that, and saw how the business truly operated, he decided to check out. It wasn't his family That drove him to take his own life, it was an amalgam of everything that was bad about the music business and life in general. Very sad situation, he was a one of a kind type of musician/ human/ soul.
Wow! It is Bill. Used to pack myself in the Sunset Grill to see Bill. Squished up against the back bar, looking the wrong way. When I'm gone, I'll pay the cover and look for DC All Stars Danny, Bill, Root, Steady Rollin', Bogart and Scott Ambrose to kick it off! Not wishing death on those still with us, just workin' on my lineup card!
When I heard that he had died I cried....I never got to see him live but as a lifetime guitar player and someone who knew alot about obscure players Danny was at the top of my list...he was without a doubt one of the greatest players to ever pick up the instrument... period.....🎸🎸
I was working at Washburn, now US Music Corp. when a few fellow set up guys were taking about Danny dying. Understandably they were pretty devastated. I had no idea who Danny was then but I sure do now. RIP master.
He is a musician's musician. Never meant for mainstream radio or the average music fan who thinks a song is missing something if it doesn't have lyrics. Melodic riffs reference his guitar idols in manic moments of deliberate frenzy or more laid back moments of pure guitar ecstasy.
what a guy....I am a lifelong Jeff Beck fan and stumbled on this video....I bet Jeff knows who he is and respects him. This is whats amazing about youtube. Jeff Beck is a hot rod guy also.
I never forget the night I saw Danny at the Ritz in NYC. OMG.,. I went home and nearly gave up playing my guitar.. Period. :-) Luickily I never did.. RIP DANNY.
Many years ago Guitar Player magazine had a floppy vinyl pullout that month of Danny and it sounded just as good as any digital recording today. It was in his fingers.
Brian, perfectly said! Absolutely my thoughts 100% and I have owned all the major models of several guitar manufacturers in my past 37 years of playing.
Some humans are born with a special talent. This man was one of them. I love all good guitar playing but this man had something really special. Never had the chance to see him live, just know him from his recordings. Compare him to who ever you want but you can make the argument that he stands alone. Some of his stuff is so out there it's hard to understand. Could stand onstage with anyone....anyone. Only guitar player I can think of to compare him to would probably be Roy Buchanon. Another monster. Would have loved to seen him play with SRV...he's quoted as saying it was on his to do list. He respected SRV. I also think if he was still around him and Warren Haynes would sound good together for some reason. Humble man, regular guy, grease head, tinkerer, gotta love him. Glad he left behind what he did :)
Danny was awesome for sure ..... but the master of this style... ~ ? .... It will ALWAYS be Roy Buchanan ..... Danny NEVER gave Roy the credit he deserved for influencing him, it's like Hendrix compared to Trower.... both great for sure .... but who blazed the trail? Who followed ? ~ *^*~ May both rest in peace
Adam Crane Guilford You could be right he may not have given Roy enough credit but I've heard him say he changed picks because of Roy. Dannys wife jan said they respected each other. But come on Gatton was like a one man fireworks finalle. The most awesome soloist in history. I need to educate the people at guitar world, guitar player, vintage guitar,and rolling stone. The people they rank ahead of gatton in the top 100 is a joke.
Wife with a good job. And he was looking to work 6 months out of the year, 3 months recording, take 3 months off, work on cars and "grow stuff". Man, he had it figured out. I can't help but think what the hell happened...
Human mind is infinitely complex. You can enter given parameters into a machine and expect given results. It doesn't work with humans. You put a wife, a good job, a daughter, and expect a happy man, but there are hidden parameters that will output unexpected results. Whatever caused his demise, he took it to the grave with him. Joe Bonamassa said he knew what happened but added that "it is not for public consumption".
Joe Bonamassa talks a lot of trash: in this case, I'm guessing he doesn't know shit. As for "hidden parameters:" Danny killed himself for the same reason most suicides do: his brain chemistry didn't allow him to be truly happy, and one day he had the worst five minutes of his life and did the deed before he felt better.
+James Bordner very true. when people call suiciders cowards, they have no clue. They have an illness, and just can't see a better future. Very sad. Family members should never feel guilty, but they suffer a lot.
Danny McCaffrey He had his daughter to live for too. There's those that say it wasn't suicide. Hell, everyone is satisfied Roy Buchanan hanged himself in the drunk tank or that journalist Webb shot himself in the head. Twice. As long as good ol' boy network medical examiners echo the official lies, then Roy hanged himself - despite the fact he hated cops, was upset over a woman, drunk and almost certainly mouthing off to bullying cops at the precinct. When Roy's brother collected the body, there wasn't an inch of it not covered in bruises, lumps and welts. The official cause of death SHOULD'VE been: Beaten to death for speaking his mind, then hanged and lies spread to cover it up. Hendrix was murdered too. The coroner said no human being could've consumed that much wine as was in his body. He also had fresh needle marks. His new manager, who often bragged about being an MI-6 agent, is said to have just taken out a large life insurance policy on him, less than a month earlier.
I loved this story, what a bloody legend! I totally relate to his comment about how he can copy other guitar styles but it always comes out sounding like Danny💕
If guitarists never tried anything other than Strat and Les Paul they would be very surprised how much you can get out of a telly that fills the gap between Strat and Les Paul. I would recommend that you try to own a Telly no matter what genre of music you now have to play and I think many will be surprised at what a great guitar it really is. I was completely in love with Telly's when I got my first and I could never find a better guitar that can replace the ordinary US standard Telly. I would describe my experience of Telly as a simple and straightforward guitar sounds half of Strat and half of Les Paul just better. When Telly's is such an iconic in its form, it is also the guitar that makes you think the United States when you see it just as you would if you saw a Ford A or a Harley Davison.
I’m mostly an archtop guy, but here in my sixth decade, just scored the new 2017 American Pro Tele ~ love, love, love it, think Cornell DuPree, running through Mesa Mark V 35, YEAH !!
He was just incredible. Nobody plays like him.. Every time I hear him play I just shake my head..There are a lot of great guitar players out there but he had such a unique and personal approach...super fluid stream of idea's really intricate and intense. The other guitar players that I alway think of is Jeff Beck and Frank Zappa.
For what it is worth, I'm a beginner guitar wise and in researching and saving up up for my first quality guitar, I was drawn to the Telecaster, mainly the 52 American Vintage model. I knew I could not afford a genuine vintage Telecaster or for that matter a custom shop reissue, so I settled on a post 2012 American 52 vintage Telecaster. I thought for the money I have a versatile, built like a tank, workhorse of a guitar. It was while I was getting into Telecaster players that I came across Danny Gatton, I soon realised he passed away in 1994, but was completely unaware as to the cause of his untimely death. There was something about Danny I was drawn to other than his playing. Then, after finding out he took his own life reportedly as of a consequence of suffering from depression, something clicked inside me. I have suffered from depression since I was 14 (I'm now 52) and tried to take my own life in January 2015. It is a truly awful illness that has impacted me for most of my adult life. Clearly my suicide attempt failed (I could not even do that right) and in trying to heal myself I took up the guitar for therapeutic reasons. I practice most days, and hope to one day to be able to play proficiently. I'm a nobody in the grand scheme of things, but if Danny Gatton can be an inspiration to me and other new Telecaster players, for personal and/or musical reasons, then he can live on in spirit especially in those of us who fight depression on a daily basis.
Thirty-five thumbs down? Whaaaat? There are a few in every crowd, but 35? His high skill, high aesthetic sensibilities, and low profile are really inspiring to me.
Has anyone worked out how to play the guitar part that can be heard at 1:05? Sounds amazing. I take it that section was recorded on Gatton's porch like the other clips of him playing at home and isn't from a studio track?
loved Danny since his Elmira Street album..sadly he is gone as is Jimi and SRV..I get by these days with Joe..Joe Bonamassa is my guitar god these days
Dontchya just love it!!?! Unquestionably one of the greatest guitar player to have ever lived, & all he wanted to do was take it easy, live & love with his family & friends & muck about with old cars. Pass on the shiny lights, skip the accolades & applumb.
This is a sad reflection because he's gone in such a bad way. What do you say to people with unusual talent? I've watched this before and it often goes badly wrong. It's even had me feeling grateful that I diidn't have any outstanding talent like Danny had. He did leave a mark, even here in the UK but small consolation for the loss of what seemed like such a nice guy. I'm sad Danny RIP
This genius was the country equivalent of a Hendrix.....Period! He could smoke Beck, Page, Clapton, Malmsteen, May, Bonamasa and anyone else out there, even after death.
Very true words indeed my friend, nobody can better this on electric guitar, the guitarists you mention in your comment are talented in their right..but this is another level, people say Hendrix this Clapton that, but they couldn't touch this man!
Danny Brew Oh man, he just kills me playin' slide with the foaming bottle of Bud. I never saw anyone do that before or since. What a genius this guy was. What a loss to the music world. Clapton, Page, and the other axemen around right now, tend to get nervous and uneasy when people ask them in public what their opinion of Gatton's playing ability as opposed their was. And I don't blame them, they should've been.
"...but the call of music... Once its in your blood, you can't stop."
Amen, Mr. Gatton.
All the pros in Nashville and elsewhere called this man " The Humbler " for good reason. Amazing musician, and one of the greatest guitar players to ever walk this earth.
Danny was a musical genius, almost too good for his own liking. He played a variety of musical styles, mastered them, and morphed them all into one. He may be gone but never will be forgotten.
The tragedy of Danny was that his genius couldn't be pigeon-holed into a genre which would have allowed him to be marketed to a larger audience. Was he country? Was he western swing? How about rockabilly and roots rock? Want some blues or jazz? DG has that covered. Among his contemporaries and friends still living, Scotty Anderson has somewhat the same problem. The other tragic thing is that popular music in this country isn't very hospitable to instrumental music; if you don't sing and write original music, it is very tough to get ahead in the more popular genres. It's almost like the world wasn't ready for his talent - or wasn't big-enough for it.
@@GeorgiaBoy1961you hit the nail on the head Danny just did not fit the guitar God profile he didn,t do the look at me I'm a guitar God poses. He walked on stage looking and dressing like he,d come to fix the roof. And you could search the whole wide world and never find anybody who looks less like a guitar virtuoso than Danny
Danny's three loves are: cars, guitar and Indian archaeology. A true American.
In my humble opinion, Danny was one of the greatest guitarists who ever lived. He got to play and pass away without the BALL AND CHAIN of STARDOM, but he will always be a star in the minds of fellow guitarists.
Myself included
Totally agree! Hands down the best guitarist who ever lived.
@@andymayneguitartuition922 get out of here pal
This should make me happy...but it just makes me sad.
RIP, Danny.
Same...
using a full and opened bottle of Budweiser to play slide on a telecaster. I've never seen something so American in my life
+babidaboopy I saw Richie Blackmore do it at a club called "The Main Act" in Lynn,Ma in 1979,but with a Heineken.I was sitting at a table right in front of the stage,and he picked up my beer and played the slide solo to "The Gates of Babylon".
Saw Jimmy Thackeray do that also...
Check-out the Lynryd Skynrd 3 hr documentary and you will see Steve Gaines playing bottleneck with a empty bottle while Ronnie Van Zandt smiles unbelievingly suprised.
Damm/ it’s really sad / the / reality of Danny/ one of the best ever//
I might follow his end//::::
@@willmartin1837 don't. There's nothing glorious about that. It's a waste. So don't.
Still one of the greatest to ever pick a guitar. To bad some of the young kids have no clue about what he did. RIP Danny
Maybe if everyone had just left Danny alone he'd still be alive today.
He really didn't want the attention and the obligations of being signed
to a label and having to tour to promote recordings and all the rest of it.
He was just an average guy with an extraordinary gift.
The saddest, most incorrect assumption about the music business is that the most talented will be successful.
Trolls are boring ...
Who ever assumed that?
Its also about how you define success
DIRTYBOB59 your bigotry is sad... but also dangerous... I pray God turns your heart before hate destroys it!
Really? That's shocking news ;-)
Saw Danny live at the Blue Note in NYC, sat in the front row with my jaw hitting the floor! Danny could play anything that came to mind, with ease. Best I ever saw.
I love to find guitarist like this, I am absolutely inspired to the core by people like this.
Danny, if you're listening... I do like your music and you do make me happy.
RIP Danny. Wish I could've been there for you man... you were a great player, and not forgotten.
I got to see Danny open for The Kentucky Headhunters somewhere around the time of this story. What a gift it was to see him. Was heartbroken to know that he was so far down he couldn't see forward anymore. RIP, Danny -- you are still loved.
One of the best. Such a huge loss when he left us. Glad he released such amazing music for us to enjoy.
Every clip of him playing guitar, was a jaw dropper. Just an old fashioned guy, in a world that expected more, than the simple life. I think old Danny had it right.
Awesome video! Thanks bunches so much for uploading it . . . .
I have watched this more than once, and I cannot watch that scene with Gatton and his daughter in that vintage car without starting to choke up. I cannot grasp, and do not want to grasp, the darkness he must have been consumed by to be able to take his own life, when he was so loved by so many.
VisionaryCompanion god damn it
He must have seen that original '53 Les Paul was worth $250K+, and he traded it for a wrecked Ford.
It's tough for me too - I have a young daughter myself and it tears me up knowing his daughter lost her father in the way that she did - no daughter deserves that kind of shitty abandonment. And I love Gatton's playing, but God damn - c'mon man...
@@silvermediastudio Danny died in 1994, and he market was different then - there wasn't eBay to work with yet.
RIP, Danny. What an immense talent.
I saw him at the Floodzone in Richmond, VA a couple of years after this interview. I was blown away, incredible show, really cool humble guy and incredible guitarist!
There is an odd parallel between this mini documentary and Roy Buchanan's 1971 PBS documentary.Both players repelled success while inspiring others to fame and fortune in the music business. I'm thankful for getting to meet Roy and Danny and talking guitars with them.
DogCatchersBand i think of Rory Gallagher too
Dudes had soul and pain and it came out in their music.
@@robinjohansson8812 oh Yeah.
Love Roy
Two guitar greats that'll be hard to beat - ever. Danny Gatton and Jerry Reed.
You're fucking right, period.
That 53 tele is worth more than the car today.
davec3487 Ha haaa, I was just thinking that, lol..."He got the better end of the deal"...the hell he did!
davec3487 dannys tele is priceless ....if it came up for sale today id say $250,000 opening bid ....
Danny's guitar would not bring a quarter million dollars, except maybe from Joe Bonamassa.
+James Bordner are you an idiot? Joe isn't he pays low prices for vintage guitars with is contacts and he doesn't need celebrity providence because he gives that to any guitar he collects and plays.
Pretty far from an idiot. As opposed to guitar collectors of all types.
We have lost many of the greatest guitar players with so much music left in them. I wish all the greats would of lived a long life. Can you imagine how much more incredible music and performances there would have been? Plus for those of us who never got the chance to see them live would have the opportunity to do so.
Great use of nat sound and strong visuals. Photographer and editor really made this story happen.
I'm a rocker and just assumed everyone knows of Danny because, well he's Danny Gatton for heaven's sake.
Growing up in the DC 'burbs, anyone but ANYone who had ANY contact with the music scene knew who Gatton was.
Diego O' Land not everyone knows the roots and history my friend but there are some of us that know I thank my pops for showing me real music!! Rip Danny and thank u pops
I consider myself fortunate to have seen Danny Gatton live (once with Albert Lee) several times. What a tremendous talent, and a really nice guy.
With Albert Lee? Lucky y'all didn't spontaneously combust.
@@muhrvis if u reverse their name its danny lee and albert gatton
Genius! What an under appreciated talent, was the best, and very few people know it, sad..,
I just noticed the other tele player is Bill Kirchen from Commander Cody fame, anther awsme tele picker and underrated player
Danny was a gift to humanity. One of the most unique and inventive guitar players. So incredibly inspiring.
88 Elmira Street. It doesn't get any better. More than 20 years gone and I think about him often. The gigs he missed and the power-shifts he never threw. I was honored to have known the man and even lent him my El Camino a time or three. To make comparisons between artists and attempt to grade musicanship and craft is kind of moot. He had a way of getting into a piece, well you just had to be there, sitting in the room to fully comprehend or appreciate. RIP Danny.
Edward Jonez Tell me more Gatton stories Ed; love to hear them thanks !!!
Edward Jonez i recorded austin city limits that night for albert collins,but the second i heard mr. gatton start pickin' i was an instant fan. it was terrible that we lost him so young.
+Edward Jonez My ears are still bleeding from being at his gigs, and yeah, he had a way of finding the music inside a song that few can comprehend.
Tim Ho
Brent Brown I'm not a HO.
Oh God, How I miss this man and his music!!!!
What a legend, amazing human , I find it sad that someone that unique chooses to leave us , please be nice to each other , ❤
What a beautiful soul and a terrible end. RIP Danny.
Danny Gatton
Jim Kimo West is the best guitar player I ever work with.
He can do all kind of music.
You are outstanding as well.
The world need more outstanding musically athletic genius.
Keep on moving. You got it!!!!
one of my faves..Danny is and will be amazing!
God rest his soul . A truly gifted man and an inspiration to millions
The most interesting thing about Danny is he really didn't care about his talent, he loved to play music when he was young and he knew it was easier than a 9 to 5 job. But he just didn't care enough to throw himself completely into it until he got older. Once he did that, and saw how the business truly operated, he decided to check out. It wasn't his family That drove him to take his own life, it was an amalgam of everything that was bad about the music business and life in general. Very sad situation, he was a one of a kind type of musician/ human/ soul.
Hey, that was Biil Kircher playing that other Telecaster. Danny was a true American treasure!!!
Wow! It is Bill. Used to pack myself in the Sunset Grill to see Bill. Squished up against the back bar, looking the wrong way. When I'm gone, I'll pay the cover and look for DC All Stars Danny, Bill, Root, Steady Rollin', Bogart and Scott Ambrose to kick it off! Not wishing death on those still with us, just workin' on my lineup card!
Thanks. I was wondering if that was him.
When I heard that he had died I cried....I never got to see him live but as a lifetime guitar player and someone who knew alot about obscure players Danny was at the top of my list...he was without a doubt one of the greatest players to ever pick up the instrument... period.....🎸🎸
I was working at Washburn, now US Music Corp. when a few fellow set up guys were taking about Danny dying. Understandably they were pretty devastated. I had no idea who Danny was then but I sure do now. RIP master.
i saw and interviewed him at the flood zone in richmond..unbelievably humble and a great guy..RIP
He is a musician's musician. Never meant for mainstream radio or the average music fan who thinks a song is missing something if it doesn't have lyrics. Melodic riffs reference his guitar idols in manic moments of deliberate frenzy or more laid back moments of pure guitar ecstasy.
Link Wray made great rock instrumentals.
I was lucky enough to have heard of him. I got to see him in Milwaukee at Summer Fest. Awesome.
he was master of the guitar and a great mechanic and may he hopefully be at peace,miss you much
what a guy....I am a lifelong Jeff Beck fan and stumbled on this video....I bet Jeff knows who he is and respects him. This is whats amazing about youtube. Jeff Beck is a hot rod guy also.
Love watching great Tele players.
I never forget the night I saw Danny at the Ritz in NYC. OMG.,. I went home and nearly gave up playing my guitar.. Period. :-) Luickily I never did.. RIP DANNY.
Danny Gatton was a force of nature.
R.I.P., Danny, you were such a great influence on Many People, I wish that you were still here, Cousin Figel
My dream life. Write music 6 months out of the year, build cars 3 months and 3 months off to enjoy a beautiful country house.
Love Danny! Love The Family! God Bless!
I went to a few of his shows at the Birchmere with a close bud. Gone but not forgotten.
This video is a treasure. Danny Gatton was the real deal.
Many years ago Guitar Player magazine had a floppy vinyl pullout that month of Danny and it sounded just as good as any digital recording today. It was in his fingers.
Brian, perfectly said! Absolutely my thoughts 100% and I have owned all the major models of several guitar manufacturers in my past 37 years of playing.
This man is a truly brilliant musician
A musical genius. God bless his soul.
I have only just heard about this guy. Wow what a player he was!
Danny was my favorite guitar player
Heartbreaking. We miss you Danny, you were the best.
Some humans are born with a special talent. This man was one of them. I love all good guitar playing but this man had something really special. Never had the chance to see him live, just know him from his recordings. Compare him to who ever you want but you can make the argument that he stands alone. Some of his stuff is so out there it's hard to understand. Could stand onstage with anyone....anyone. Only guitar player I can think of to compare him to would probably be Roy Buchanon. Another monster. Would have loved to seen him play with SRV...he's quoted as saying it was on his to do list. He respected SRV. I also think if he was still around him and Warren Haynes would sound good together for some reason. Humble man, regular guy, grease head, tinkerer, gotta love him. Glad he left behind what he did :)
Bob Cummings Roy wasn't even close to me; but i respect all opnions !!!
Bob Cummings .....Rory Gallagher .
What a fantastic technician. Truly a legend
It always makes me sad...so good.
RIP Danny, my Telemaster Sensei!
Danny was awesome for sure ..... but the master of this style... ~ ? ....
It will ALWAYS be Roy Buchanan ..... Danny NEVER gave Roy the credit he deserved for influencing him, it's like Hendrix compared to Trower.... both great for sure .... but who blazed the trail? Who followed ? ~ *^*~
May both rest in peace
Adam Guilford
Does it matter? Both were masters. Both gone too soon.
Adam Crane Guilford You could be right he may not have given Roy enough
credit but I've heard him say he changed picks because of Roy. Dannys wife jan said they respected each other. But come on Gatton was like a one man fireworks finalle. The most awesome soloist in history. I need to educate the people at guitar world, guitar player, vintage guitar,and rolling stone. The people they rank ahead of gatton in the top 100 is a joke.
TheGattonmaster "Top 100 list" is a joke...
465marko true dat
One of the best ever
I’m not complaining but JEEZ that treble vibrates my skull haha
Go, Danny, go! Don't worry, we know who you are. A monster of a guitarist...
Tony S ahhhh, he’s dead....
Wife with a good job. And he was looking to work 6 months out of the year, 3 months recording, take 3 months off, work on cars and "grow stuff".
Man, he had it figured out. I can't help but think what the hell happened...
And a beautiful young Daughter too..........
Human mind is infinitely complex. You can enter given parameters into a machine and expect given results. It doesn't work with humans. You put a wife, a good job, a daughter, and expect a happy man, but there are hidden parameters that will output unexpected results. Whatever caused his demise, he took it to the grave with him. Joe Bonamassa said he knew what happened but added that "it is not for public consumption".
Joe Bonamassa talks a lot of trash: in this case, I'm guessing he doesn't know shit. As for "hidden parameters:" Danny killed himself for the same reason most suicides do: his brain chemistry didn't allow him to be truly happy, and one day he had the worst five minutes of his life and did the deed before he felt better.
+James Bordner very true. when people call suiciders cowards, they have no clue. They have an illness, and just can't see a better future. Very sad. Family members should never feel guilty, but they suffer a lot.
Danny McCaffrey He had his daughter to live for too. There's those that say it wasn't suicide. Hell, everyone is satisfied Roy Buchanan hanged himself in the drunk tank or that journalist Webb shot himself in the head. Twice. As long as good ol' boy network medical examiners echo the official lies, then Roy hanged himself - despite the fact he hated cops, was upset over a woman, drunk and almost certainly mouthing off to bullying cops at the precinct. When Roy's brother collected the body, there wasn't an inch of it not covered in bruises, lumps and welts. The official cause of death SHOULD'VE been: Beaten to death for speaking his mind, then hanged and lies spread to cover it up. Hendrix was murdered too. The coroner said no human being could've consumed that much wine as was in his body. He also had fresh needle marks. His new manager, who often bragged about being an MI-6 agent, is said to have just taken out a large life insurance policy on him, less than a month earlier.
I loved this story, what a bloody legend! I totally relate to his comment about how he can copy other guitar styles but it always comes out sounding like Danny💕
You inspired me to buy a tele. RIP Danny..
I've always personally enjoyed the music of virtuosic artists than pop stars. Their real people. Danny Gatton proves that point brilliantly.
Danny was the best mechanic thats ever lived. He played the guitar as a hobby
If guitarists never tried anything other than Strat and Les Paul they would be very surprised how much you can get out of a telly that fills the gap between Strat and Les Paul. I would recommend that you try to own a Telly no matter what genre of music you now have to play and I think many will be surprised at what a great guitar it really is. I was completely in love with Telly's when I got my first and I could never find a better guitar that can replace the ordinary US standard Telly. I would describe my experience of Telly as a simple and straightforward guitar sounds half of Strat and half of Les Paul just better. When Telly's is such an iconic in its form, it is also the guitar that makes you think the United States when you see it just as you would if you saw a Ford A or a Harley Davison.
I’m mostly an archtop guy, but here in my sixth decade, just scored the new 2017 American Pro Tele ~ love, love, love it, think Cornell DuPree, running through Mesa Mark V 35, YEAH !!
Ed Bickert
Amazing player and a nice dude, such a shame he is gone.
I got to meet and talk to Danny Gatton. He was a real nice guy.
He was just incredible. Nobody plays like him.. Every time I hear him play I just shake my head..There are a lot of great guitar players out there but he had such a unique and personal approach...super fluid stream of idea's really intricate and intense. The other guitar players that I alway think of is Jeff Beck and Frank Zappa.
One of the greatest ever ! 🎶
For what it is worth, I'm a beginner guitar wise and in researching and saving up up for my first quality guitar, I was drawn to the Telecaster, mainly the 52 American Vintage model. I knew I could not afford a genuine vintage Telecaster or for that matter a custom shop reissue, so I settled on a post 2012 American 52 vintage Telecaster. I thought for the money I have a versatile, built like a tank, workhorse of a guitar. It was while I was getting into Telecaster players that I came across Danny Gatton, I soon realised he passed away in 1994, but was completely unaware as to the cause of his untimely death. There was something about Danny I was drawn to other than his playing. Then, after finding out he took his own life reportedly as of a consequence of suffering from depression, something clicked inside me. I have suffered from depression since I was 14 (I'm now 52) and tried to take my own life in January 2015. It is a truly awful illness that has impacted me for most of my adult life. Clearly my suicide attempt failed (I could not even do that right) and in trying to heal myself I took up the guitar for therapeutic reasons. I practice most days, and hope to one day to be able to play proficiently. I'm a nobody in the grand scheme of things, but if Danny Gatton can be an inspiration to me and other new Telecaster players, for personal and/or musical reasons, then he can live on in spirit especially in those of us who fight depression on a daily basis.
So very sad. What a great loss.
A Toast to the GREAT GATTON ON DANNY'S 70TH BIRTHDAY. NOBODY SOLO'S AND MANHANDLES AN ELECTRIC GUITAR LIKE DANNY.
Thirty-five thumbs down? Whaaaat? There are a few in every crowd, but 35? His high skill, high aesthetic sensibilities, and low profile are really inspiring to me.
Has anyone worked out how to play the guitar part that can be heard at 1:05? Sounds amazing.
I take it that section was recorded on Gatton's porch like the other clips of him playing at home and isn't from a studio track?
R.I.P ......GREAT GUITARIST SADLY MISSED
loved Danny since his Elmira Street album..sadly he is gone as is Jimi and SRV..I get by these days with Joe..Joe Bonamassa is my guitar god these days
Dontchya just love it!!?! Unquestionably one of the greatest guitar player to have ever lived, & all he wanted to do was take it easy, live & love with his family & friends & muck about with old cars. Pass on the shiny lights, skip the accolades & applumb.
He was right up there with the best that ever was or will ever be!😃
Does anyone know what is the piece called that Danny plays in the very beggining when walking twoards the car?
Great piece on Danny...
This is a sad reflection because he's gone in such a bad way. What do you say to people with unusual talent? I've watched this before and it often goes badly wrong. It's even had me feeling grateful that I diidn't have any outstanding talent like Danny had. He did leave a mark, even here in the UK but small consolation for the loss of what seemed like such a nice guy. I'm sad Danny RIP
Danny G' the guitar slayer !!
Man what a great musician. Wow, my my, he could play that Tele.
This genius was the country equivalent of a Hendrix.....Period! He could smoke Beck, Page, Clapton, Malmsteen, May, Bonamasa and anyone else out there, even after death.
Very true words indeed my friend, nobody can better this on electric guitar, the guitarists you mention in your comment are talented in their right..but this is another level, people say Hendrix this Clapton that, but they couldn't touch this man!
m. saint totally agree dude
Danny Brew
Oh man, he just kills me playin' slide with the foaming bottle of Bud. I never saw anyone do that before or since. What a genius this guy was. What a loss to the music world. Clapton, Page, and the other axemen around right now, tend to get nervous and uneasy when people ask them in public what their opinion of Gatton's playing ability as opposed their was. And I don't blame them, they should've been.
m. saint Nobody will ever touch Gattons skill
Danny Brew
Absolutely not.
Amazing player!
Check it out at 5:32 his belt buckle has a Charlie Christian pickup on it... Just like on the cover of Unfinished Business
You have an eagle eye. I had to watch that part twice again to spot it... Good Catch!.
People who don't know about or play guitars, don't know about him. And that is unfortunate, in my opinion. He was truly one of the greatest ever.
Wash DC lost two of the greatest when we lost Danny Gatton and Roy Buchannan!
I love my fender telle it's #1 and ya Danny can play I study his playing
God bless Danny Gatton . New documentary in the works