Danny Gatton and Roy Buchanan were both true masters of the Telecaster. I’ve listened to them for years and never fail to be amazed and inspired by their wonderful playing.
Danny was one of the greats , I just wished he would have lived long enough for the UA-cam craze because I'm pretty sure he would be able to stay close to home , provide a living and still work on the hot rods he had as his first love.
They wosrt part is when we see him playing sometimes we give up.please don't give up. That is best part. Never give up. When you see a better playing. I was going to give up.his videos inspired me to keep going.
Had the pleasure of seeing Danny live a number of times in the DC area at small clubs and some larger ones as well. Most of my friends were musicians themselves including a few who had modicums of success. First time I saw him was at a place in upper Georgetown DC, called the keg around 71 or 72. He and the bass player / drummer were with Liz Meyer and Friends. My friends who had a gig as the house band at another establishment about a mile up Wisconsin avenue all went in on a Monday night to see the group basically to see Gatton. We squeezed in some of the last seats right before their first set and there was one seat left right beside me and guess who took it? Emmylou! A piece had been written about her in the Washington Post style section a few weeks before so I knew who she was and I was already aware of her music. My friends and I were totally blown away when the band started playing. One of the songs which particularly blew us away was something he played frequently called Black slacks. The drummer bass player and Danny formed a group called Danny and the fat boys which I saw every opportunity I could doing rockabilly. They totally kicked ass and we're so amazing to see. Whenever I saw him, I would walk out of the show totally understanding what I had just witnessed was otherworldly in the talent and experience I just had. He was like the Americana Hendrix... No exaggeration For quite a while he was to go to for guitar work in the area and he actually did redo the guts of the Mustang Bass I had customized. For those that don't already know 15-year-old Danny gatton playing in a Holiday inn in Nashville was actually the inspiration for the love and spoonful song Nashville cats according to John Sebastian.
I was on tour in Germany in 1994 when I heard 88 Elmira St. and Cruisin' Dueces for the first time. Changed my world! I came home and bought up everything I could get my hands on. Just months later, he was gone. I never got to see him live. The dude was an encyclopedia of American music!
Hi Zac, thank you for remembering Danny. I too bought the Guitar Player issue with him on the cover (Phantom of the Opera style ;) here in Germany. I tried to master "Nitpickin''" and failed miserably, of course. But he remained a huge influence on my playing, even though I'm primarily a singer-songwriter. Looking back now, it's pretty clear that the industry didn’t know what to make of him and I guess that he couldn’t cope with the business of music either. And that's nothing to be ashamed of. Thank you for the video!
Sometimes we think about quitting guitar when we see all these great players. He s videos did save me.i though I'll never play guitar again but after watching all his vids I thought I would give up on guitar he is my only inspiration to keep going. After playing for 30 years he's the only reason I still play guitar. Trying to find out
some of the things from his lessons I thought were impossible I've actually been able to learn. over the span of months instead of days which I'm used to. His teachings are very advanced. For the average mortal, takes months/years to just figure out how to nail down something he explains so easily in under 5 minutes.
Another great "local" Tele player is Scotty Anderson out of the Cincinnati, OH area. Plays like nobody else. You can see some videos of him on UA-cam. I have seen him live a couple of times and it is jaw dropping how good he is. He can inspire people to try to play or to just give up!
@ Art Prince: I discovered Scotty Anderson in the mid-late 1980s, around the same I first heard Danny play. It was that GP issue on the greatest "unknown" players in the world, and Danny Gatton and Scotty Anderson were both in it. I got the chance to hear Danny first, since his sound page (remember those?) record was in that issue, him doing a jaw-dropping version of "Nit Pickin'" - which completely blew me out of my socks when I heard it. I remember just driving around in my car, listening to it over and over again on the stereo, wondering whether I should go and throw my guitar in the river or something! Scotty I got to hear when I ordered his LP "Sleight of Hand," and he blew me away, too. Scotty's style is utterly unique and almost inexplicable. I could never play like Danny Gatton, but I understood as a guitar player what he was doing and - at least in principle - how. I could even play some of his stuff - a bit of it - at one time. But Scotty? Even after studying his playing and his Hot Licks instructional video, it is still tough to unravel. And as far as I have heard, no one else - anywhere - sounds like him or can do what he does on his Telecaster. A good pal of mine (who is probably the foremost DG fan around, or close to it) and I have seen Scotty live, and he is just as impressive in person as on recordings. A very nice and soft-spoken cat, too. Scotty makes his living at the intersection of a lot of styles of guitar and of music, from old-time country to bluegrass to hot-rod Telecaster shred, to jazz standards, bebop and western swing to rock and roll. However, he could absolutely play straight-ahead mainstream bebop/modern jazz guitar if he wished. His chops are absolutely out of this world. There are so few guitarists who can keep up with the best jazz saxophonists and horn players - let alone surpass them - but Scotty can do it, and not even appear to break a sweat. Anyway, yeah, as you can tell... I'm a big fan of his. I've seen/heard a lot of the cream of the crop as far as Hot Tele players are concerned, in person as well as on recordings, i.e. Albert Lee, Brent Mason, Vince Gill, Danny Gatton, Jimmy Bryant, Phil Baugh, Ricky Skaggs, etc. - but as great as all of them are, not one of them could play what Scotty plays. He's in his own solar system, musically-speaking, maybe his own galaxy.
@@GeorgiaBoy1961 Yeah, I think Scotty A is unique. I have a DVD of his performance with Bob Saxton, who played with Chet Atkins for years. You can see some songs from that gig on UA-cam. It was from a Central Ohio Fingerstyle Guitar Club gathering in 2005 that I was at. Got to sit near the small stage, near the front. Maybe 150 people there, mostly Chet style enthusiasts. The club has hosted a lot of amazing players through the years but Scotty is at the top, along with gypsy jazz great Joscho Stephan (sp?). I went down to Cincinnati area a few years ago to see Scotty play again at a small venue and he still has it. Just an amazing player and seems to be a Very humble nice guy. Would love to get him back to Columbus again sometime but he rarely leaves his home area.
@@artprince9163 - Hi Art... thanks for writing. I'll certainly check, but if it is the one I remember, I think that I have seen the clip you mention with Scotty and Bob Saxton. Yeah, I feel your pain regarding get Scotty to leave his home area and stomping grounds. I've been wishing for years that he'd come north and do some gigs in the Chicago area, but so far no dice. He's worth the drive, though!
I’m glad I’m not the only person who knows who Scotty is I saw him live several years ago near Cincinnati and he can play pretty much anything a great tele player for sure and should be noticed far more than he is personally he is the best guitarist alive today period along with Danny and Roy my three favorite players but Danny is king to me my guitar hero!
Hi Georgia boy my sentiments on Scotty a world class tele master that’s virtually unknown which is a shame I’ve asked fil a couple times to showcase Scotty with no luck but the world needs to know his live performance of working without a net doing straight up jazz is incredible still one of my favorite dvds Danny is my favorite always but Scotty in some ways is better than Danny if that’s possible we’ll I hope fil showcase scottys immense talent worlds best guitarist today by far no one even comes close including joe bonamassa Scotty is light years ahead of joe
Yup Zac, I did the same thing when I got Unfinished Business. That cassette stayed in my VW tape deck for weeks. Melancholy Serenade!!! I remember Guitar Player had a soft plastic 45 called Nit Pickin' of Danny Gatton along with a great article on him. I was working in Montauk Long Island as a life guard and befriended some local older guitar hotshots who played in some of the local bands. They hipped me to EJ Tones and some of his bootlegs and I gave them a cassette i made of Nit Pickin' and I will never forget one of the guys said "Well he played everything I know in the first four bars!!!" I remember I was working at Austin Community College when a coworker and music lover broke the news to me that Danny had died. Sad day.....but yes, he left a glorious and inspiring legacy for us all. Thanks for the post brother!
Growing up in Baltimore and being in proximity to the DC area we were fortunate to see Danny fairly regularly. I was even more fortunate to get to know him, he worked on my guitars, refretted a Strat of mine, and used the neck on my '53 Tele as the mule for his signature model. He was also a fellow carhead. So I've got that going for me. But aside from his extraordinary playing, he was a joyful, funny guy in his music and in his general demeanor, which may have shrouded his darker demons, and is why his death was so shocking and tragic. I have known others who succumbed to the same fate, and it is simply a mystery never to be solved. But as you say, I am deeply grateful to have the music that he left us, we are all greater as musicians and as listeners to hold on to what he did. It must give some solace to his family, to cherish that. All I can say is now when I listen to him there is that relentless joy, his mastery of the instrument, his cleverness, the humor, with that tinge of sadness in the background. So fortunate. Thank you for your tribute.
Hi from England, I love Danny Gatton and his music. It's surprises me when I mention his name to other British guitar players, that very few have heard of him over here. I'm 74 and I've followed him from almost the beginning. It was through his influence that I play teles.
I asked an American friend to pick up a copy of 88 Elmira Street for me when she was visiting NY in the early 1990s. She found it in a specialist blues shop and said the shop owner was surprised that someone in England had heard of Danny Gatton. If it wasn't for the pre-WWW listservs I suppose I never would have.
I had the pleasure of seeing Danny Gatton and the Fat Boys play live. I had a friend who played acoustic guitar in Danny’s band at the time. They played at “Sam’s Crab House “ in Clinton, Maryland. It was a little restaurant/bar. I feel kinda privileged to have seen him play live and it’s a memory I’ll never forget.
I feel very fortunate to have seen him at Caravan of Dreams in Fort Worth, Texas about 6 months or so before he died. It was a truly amazing show and one that I will never forget. I can still hear his Leslie spinning up.
@@MrWhitmire What an amazing venue it was. So many great artist performed there. I don't think I've ever seen shows in a place with acoustics that good.
@@tjrd12 So true! Albert King, Gatemouth Brown, James Cotton, Maynard Ferguson, Stephane Grappelli, Fabulous Thunderbirds, Juke Jumpers, Albert Collins and I lost track of how many times I saw Bugs Henderson and Roomful of Blues there. You’re right: fantastic acoustics and so classy with great service. But The New Bluebird was pretty cool, too.
Nice video Zac. I also learned about Danny from that Guitar Player issue here in the UK, but one of them (same one?) had one of those thin floppy 7" records with the perforated edge, and Danny's playing a number called "Nit Picking", he sounds like three guitarists at once! I remember too that there were rumours about this guy who tuned his guitar to the fluorescent lights, and he said "yeah, they buzz in Eb"! Never be another Danny.👍
In the 80's and 90's I worked at Sterling Sound (mastering studio) I got to hear that early stuff you mentioned because the guys at the studio where that stuff was recorded (Bias, I think?) had all their stuff mastered at Sterling Sound back then. His playing completely knocked me out, right from the start!!! None of my friends knew who he was until he started showing up in magazines, like you mentioned. It felt like I knew a secret or something! lol I was so happy for him when he got the deal on Elektra!
Thanks Zac, really enjoyed that episode. I've had a Danny Gatton Telecaster since 2004 and it is an incredible guitar. I love the album Relentless with Joey DeFrancesco....the CD stayed in my car for months when I first got it.....such an exciting album - trading licks with one of the few musicians on the planet who could push him to another level!!
Some people give up once they they see the videos. Please don't give up its not that hard you can make him proud. I'm just think you can do it . Please keep playing
key is patience. instead of expecting to learn it within a week or two. months/years is a more practical measurement of how long it can take to learn just a fraction of his chops lol.
Im just reading Unfinished Business now. What a monster guitarist. Definitely going to seek out the Danny Gatton rhythm guitar video. He and Roy B both my favs.
I couldn't agree more Zac, Danny was simply incredible! I loved his instructional videos - I really think they are some of the best I've seen to this day. He was a true master and wonderful teacher too.
Thanks for the video, zac. To me, he was always bigger than life. I got to see him a few times in Austin and he was fantastic. It was mesmerizing watching him play. Another great Tele player.
When incomes a great talent he was the greatest talent I've ever heard I relegation got all his videos he was the best I had to have tele I got 2 telecaster guitars sometimes there is a person to get you back in to playing again he saved me I was out not playing anymore sometimes we have to find a person to keep playing danny is the person that keeps me going ❤
Was mid 80’s....me and my small gang were running around DC one weekday nite taking advantage of the 18 legal age beer drinking. It was either the Club Soda or an Irish place I can’t remember but no one was out....we went downstairs and there was this guy playing a beat up blackguard using a beer bottle as a slide sweating like crazy and just jamming by himself to an empty bar....Danny Gatton.....he was just getting his freak on-full rock out smiling the whole time. We had a seat, sent him a beer....watched a few tunes and stupidly went off into the nite after 20-30 minutes. I remember his tone was just like a big, loud cranked arch top t bone walker thing honestly.....surreal experience.....thanks for the video Zac.🍻
Zac! Thank you so much for recommending these videos, I'm watching and loving them. Do you think you could make a video with the most essential videos every guitarist should see? I remember watching a great lesson from Brian May, for instance, and I feel those old vids have been forgotten very unfortunately. I know there must be many, but maybe the essential videos for you. That would be awesome! Again, thank you so very much for contributing to my guitar playing!!
Who here remembers the “Humbler “ mixtape for the keeping musicans awake. He and Robert Gordon doing rockabilly is insanely great live, those LR BAGGs blade pickups? Unless I am forgetting, it don’t matter no how, that mixtape was amazing…glad it made onto CD….both he and Roy Buchanan were from around that Baltimore area, I think, and if so there’s never been such beautiful sounds as that pair guys, Gatton could play his way out train wreck with blazing fast fixes,as though he meant to do it, while Roy played some of the prettiest electric blues instrumentals that I have ever heard. Thanks for Gatton, Zac..pleasant memories on my way to go to bed….now I have a night night cd, and it ain’t the humbler . I only listen to it once in a while, because it’s infectiously wiggly that I can’t sleep for at least 8: hours after listening to it from end to end one time…humbled
I bought The Humbler in Austin back in May 1997, the day of the Jarrell Tornado- we were playing it in the brewery/diner while the tornado let rip outside. After the hurricane that evening, I saw Jesse "Guitar" Taylor- I had been planning on seeing Alvin Crow but his show was cancelled- it was quite a day. Danny had an old ES 295 and he had wondered if it was the one that had been owned by Scotty Moore.
If you can ask John Jorgenson about the Hellecasters playing with Danny in NYC. My wife and I tried to fly in from Buffalo but airport closed because of terrible weather. Danny told me later "unfair, 3 against 1". Funny dry humour. Wish I was there but I saw Danny many times in Toronto and drove to D.C. Awesome nice guy🎸🇺🇲
I'm from the DC/MD area. There's a guy around here that plays like Danny. One night Danny was at his gig and he asked Danny how he sounded. Danny replied "you played the **** out of me tonight". What a character!
The great Danny Gatton; incredible player and funny too. Gone too soon. When he came out I went immediately and bought one of Joe Barden’s early pickup sets that I had for a long time. I ended up selling them because although good I believe they didn’t give me the midrange of a vintage Tele. To me they sounded a little sterile; even Joe Barden communicated with me when I reviewed them to get my honest feedback with open ears; incredible! When he got signed to Elektra it was the bomb. Before then I bought his albums directly from his beloved mother Norma. I remember getting a full letter from her handwritten in red ink. I believe I have it stored someplace. I also have three of his instructional videos; an independent one that you can find on UA-cam called Licks and Tricks plus the two Hot Licks releases. He got me using the thick Jazz picks plus the pick and fingers technique I still use to this day. His first guitar I believe was a dual P-90 Gibson ES-350; a gift from his parents when he was 13 and he kept it all his life. He dug P-90 Gibsons too; he also had a nice ES-295 like Scotty Moore’s. He also used Les Paul in the early days.
Great video about Danny Gatton. I did first hear about Danny with a old Guitarplayer magazine. Kenny Weeler wonder if there was anybody who could outplay him. This Guitarplayer magazine came out with a plastic record with ''Nitpicking'' It was a brutal lightningfast guitarplaying on this. Not only fast singel lines, but cords and pulloff's. He also had these B3 organ comping lesslie style. Wonderful sound and comping. None with these different styles in one tune.
My 2, wait no 3 'favrit' videos of Danny Gatton are when he plays jazz: 1) Holiday Inn, Arlington VA; and, 2) Freedom Plaza Jazz Festival, Washington DC and of course, 3) Relentless with Joey DeFracesco.
I was very lucky to get to see Danny play many times with Robert Gordon. They played all the classic rockabilly songs. It was a perfect setting for Danny. For a lot of the gigs they had producer/guitarist Lance Quinn playing second electric guitar. Lance is a true guitar ace and he was happy to provide support for Danny. It was incredible. I'm so glad I got to see them.
@@AskZac They were both playing Telecasters with Vibrolux Reverbs. Right next to each other on the same side of the stage. I saw him play a couple times Robert Gordon without Lance and that's when Danny was using the LP Custom w the Dingus box.
Thanks Zac. A nice tribute to a great player. It is amazing what Danny could play. A song like “In My Room” almost redefines what the electric guitar can do.
I remember first hearing Danny Gatton. College radio station played a track, and I had to pull the car over to listen to it and a couple of other songs until they said who it was. Thanks for another great episode! Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving!
Sounds like we both discovered Danny by the same route. After hearing about him for so long, the first time I actually got to listen to him flat-out blew me away. That "Strictly Rhythm Guitar" video is such a knockout -- watching him play that groove he learned from Bill Black's Combo made me imagine a much younger Danny Gatton hovering over his turntable, doing the needle-drop until he got every bit of that thing just right.
Zac. Very nice. One of my favorite players. The ride that always gets me going is the third one on Sun Medley with Delbert McClinton from Cruisin Deuces.. IMO that is the best picture of his playing - right on the ledge but pulling it off in the end!
Danny was a great player. The time I heard Danny live the high end was brutal but Lord could he play. Not sure if he was losing the top end of his hearing or it was the Bardens. I have a white guard Esquire that can get really piercing. Danny and Jeff Beck both loved working on cars.
i had the same issue with his tones on the Elektra records. still, a staggeringly good player, and like Zac mentioned, his versatility was second to none!
Zak .. something I gave notice these last 30 /40 years .. Recording sessions are not what they are . Talking with my Cousin Mike . He was telling me when they record. Its each piece is done separate then its mastered together .. where is the feeling in this new music ? Where is the personal touch !! I have noticed that music has lost that feeling it once had. I remember groups getting together and getting it Done , Why the change in Recording .. There was an old boy outta Ky . His last name was King first name I cannot remember .. his Barn had the acoustics to Die for . And they recorded in that barn country music .his mic was an old 1940s style mike and everything was recorded on old style recording equptment and Reel to Reel .. then it was transfured over .. the feel the Emotion was there in the music. And It Sold Why the change ! They have taken the fun outta it.
@@AskZac zak thats what Im asking you my Friend Why . It needs to go back to giving music and lyrics meaning and Soul . Even George said the new way .Il say isnt any good . But when George did he stopped loving her .. what they do work in that for 18 hours after the tapping cause he was wacked outta his Gord . LoL .but then alotta'em were back in the day a time or two .
Hi Zac, excellent video per usual. To add my two cents to what you and other commenters here have said about his gear: Aside from Bardens, an aspect that sometimes gets overlooked is Gatton’s influence on Tele aftermarket parts. I’m in the middle of assembling a T-style guitar, and so many of the hardware choices I’m making are things I first noted in those guitar magazines you cite in your video: heavy-knurled knobs, notched bridge plate, compensated saddles, a tone pot/capacitor combo that can get pseudo-wah sounds and so on. He’s a bit like EVH in that regard: Both sort of unwittingly encouraged scores of guitarists to hot rod their guitars and inspired niche businesses in the process. Bardens still kind of sound like crap in my hands but hope springs eternal ha ha.
In my opinion Danny Gatton was the greatest electric guitar player ever. I’m fortunate that I got to see him live at Winter NAMM in 1994. Seems like he was gone not too much later. What a shame-in interviews he seemed like a pretty well-adjusted, positive guy.
Hi Zac, first off I really dig your content. Like you, I love Fenders ( Gibson’s too ). Anyway your show has gotten me into the Fender amps you talk about and use. I’m currently buying a beautiful Martin GPC 28E in Sunburst, after this endeavor my next one will be a nice Fender tube amp ( the model undecided but any suggestion would be takin highly. ) PS - I had a Nissan 200SX too 🤣 Mine was two tone, dark metallic brown & gold. It had a leather interior and a 5 speed transmission. I beat the living shit out of that car and it kept on going! Great car back in the day! Anyway, thanks and please keep doing what you’re doing! 🤙
I was in England, read the 1989 Guitar Player article ,phoned the magazine ,to find out where to buy the video ,they gave me Norma Gatton's phone number ,she sent me the licks and tricks video ,on tape .She said there was "another man in England who has it too" ,then i custom ordered the Gatton tele from Fender with 6100 frets ,it came with a one piece body ,serial no 121.Over here you could buy Unfinished Business on vinyl.
roll your volume down in-between songs. You can do some shielding inside the cavities, other wise you might need to get some hum-cancelling pickups. If it is really bad and you are getting complaints from your bandmates and sound guy.
I lived in D.C. in late 70’s and early 80’s. I’d go down to his M Street club on a Friday night and listen to the best guitarist on the planet. Try to find the “Redneck Jazz” album.
Gatton was another one like Arlen Roth, Richard Thompson, John Jorgenson that kind of have the opposite effect on me. Instead of seeing where I can get with practice I see what ill never be ever to be. I want to put the instrument down. I don't but i consider for a few minutes. He was a master for sure
I remember, pre- internet, like he was just kind of "whispered about" like a unicorn, lol. He was a myth before he was semi- famous. Again, those were the days!
I found a Danny Gatton album at a used record store. I have a Copper Tele body, a Mighty Mite neck and a set of GFS vintage spec twin blade pickups. I'm going to build a poor man's DG Tele.
Went to college at American University in the early 80s, and kick myself for never going to see him and Roy Buchanan when they were playing in the area. I didn't really know about them until the 90s.
No question, Gatton was one of the greatest guitarists of all time. There was nothing that he couldn't' do and he did it all - that was the problem. He never settled into any recognizable genre or style. He also never wrote or recorded any hit singles. I know, it seems crass to mention these things in the face of his remarkable, unique talent, however, that's how you establish yourself in show business. You have to be musically accessible and recognizable. Great musicianship is fine for sessions and such, but making it as a popular artist requires discipline and a strategic, selective choice of material. Of course, none of this takes anything away from how much pleasure he has given to so many, including me. Zeus bless him.
@ Glicksman1: I know that Danny really missed the old days of the 1960s and before, what he would have called the golden age of American music, a time when radio wasn't so hidebound by program managers and play lists and genre focus. DJs had some latitude to play stuff they dug, and not just what was on the top forty or whatever. Commercial success in music, especially popular music, depends on the things you mention. Whereas back in 1960s, an artist playing instrumental only music could survive and even thrive - in today's music world, if you don't sing, you can forget getting airplay on country, rock and pop stations. You also have to have a carefully crafted visual image, preferrably young and photogenic, and have a clearly-defined style or niche in which you can be marketed and sold. You know that Danny didn't go in for any of that stuff. He'd have rolled his eyes and gone back to his hot-rods. So it is a very tragic thing. You have these enormously gifted artists - guys like Danny and Scotty Anderson - who languish in relative obscurity while guys who can't even shine their shoes, music-wise, become huge stars and make boatloads of money and so forth. It's a lot like being a world-class jazz musician. Some of those cats are world-class musicians on their chosen instruments and they are anonymous outside of the jazz world, and they play for small audiences in clubs - maybe a festival or the like once in a while. And even if you are OK with that life, it is a real grind now because there are not near as many opportunities to play live for decent bread as they were 30, 40 or more years ago.
@@Glicksman1 - Fair, unfair - what do those things mean, anyway? Anyone dumb-enough to expect life to "be fair" is soon to be disappointed, and I am sure Danny was wise-enough to know that. More, I'm just lamenting the fact that things didn't go his way more often. He was a good guy and if maybe he'd gotten a break or two more along the way than he did, he'd still be with us.
@@GeorgiaBoy1961 Well, I think I know what the difference between fair and unfair is, however, I agree with you, fairness doesn't occur very often. Danny Gatton was so spectacularly talented that he just couldn't settle into one thing, he played everything so well. Unfortunately, that's not the road to stardom or commercial success. We agree about everything you said about Danny. Both he and Roy Buchanan got raw deals and came to tragic ends because of it. At least we have a lot of recordings to listen to in awe.
I am pretty late to discovering Danny’s work, and I’m curious - he seemed to be a Les Paul guy earlier on, and then really got on to the Telecaster train - does anyone know the story of how/why?
@ Nimble: Telecasters are extremely versatile guitars, and you can do almost anything with them - but they are stern taskmasters in certain ways. The scale length, string tension, etc. Once you make friends with them, however, you can blast off for just about any musical destination you like... and you know that's what Danny did. I recall reading someplace that he got one in order to play country and country-influenced music like the early rock-a-billy stuff. Also don't forget Roy Buchanan's influence, and Roy was a Tele player. So was Jimmy Bryant, and Danny spent some serious time wood-shedding with his music (Jimmy Bryant and Speedy West). Don't forget playing loud in live situations, too. You're going to want a solid or semi-solid guitar so that feed-back isn't too much of an issue. Telecasters over-drive so well with Barden pickups, too. That's a classic combination right there.
I'd love to be able to say Gatton was an influence on me, but I'm afraid I'm just not that diligent or good of a picker. The best I can be is an admirer. And a big part of what I admire is just how many stylistic and melodic ideas he could come up with so quickly. If you ever get to see Guthrie Govan live, he's the same way. You *think* you're following the logic of the solo, and suddenly it switches to an entirely new path and sensibility, and then before you've fully registered the logic of *that* path, they're on to a new one.
I remember some guitar message board where they were debating who the best player was. Someone commented, "Danny Gatton was the best 10 guitar players I ever saw." That has become my standard answer when people ask me who's the best.
A little Danny Gatton tone trick... He didn't like New Strings, so he told me , he'd take cigarette ashes and simply smear them into in the strings to hinder the excessive bright ringing from new strings. There you have it..
Gatton was one of the greatest to ever strap on a telecaster. I sure wish there was a good copy of his ACL performance on video. What I’ve seen is pretty lousy quality video and audio. If anybody has a good link please pass it on. Speaking of Gatton’s guitar strings why don’t they make Gatton Beer Coated strings! 😆Gatton hated new string tone and poured beer on his to make them sound dead.
“I put it in the cassette deck and it stayed in there for weeks.” Man, I remember that so well. Why I dig the the show so much!
Thank you, Keith. I need to take a walk
Danny Gatton and Roy Buchanan were both true masters of the Telecaster. I’ve listened to them for years and never fail to be amazed and inspired by their wonderful playing.
Danny was one of the greats , I just wished he would have lived long enough for the UA-cam craze because I'm pretty sure he would be able to stay close to home , provide a living and still work on the hot rods he had as his first love.
They should put his hands in a museum!
They wosrt part is when we see him playing sometimes we give up.please don't give up. That is best part. Never give up. When you see a better playing. I was going to give up.his videos inspired me to keep going.
Living near Washington, DC, Danny is a legend among Tele players: both rock and country guys/gals.
Had the pleasure of seeing Danny live a number of times in the DC area at small clubs and some larger ones as well. Most of my friends were musicians themselves including a few who had modicums of success. First time I saw him was at a place in upper Georgetown DC, called the keg around 71 or 72. He and the bass player / drummer were with Liz Meyer and Friends. My friends who had a gig as the house band at another establishment about a mile up Wisconsin avenue all went in on a Monday night to see the group basically to see Gatton. We squeezed in some of the last seats right before their first set and there was one seat left right beside me and guess who took it? Emmylou! A piece had been written about her in the Washington Post style section a few weeks before so I knew who she was and I was already aware of her music. My friends and I were totally blown away when the band started playing. One of the songs which particularly blew us away was something he played frequently called Black slacks. The drummer bass player and Danny formed a group called Danny and the fat boys which I saw every opportunity I could doing rockabilly. They totally kicked ass and we're so amazing to see. Whenever I saw him, I would walk out of the show totally understanding what I had just witnessed was otherworldly in the talent and experience I just had. He was like the Americana Hendrix... No exaggeration
For quite a while he was to go to for guitar work in the area and he actually did redo the guts of the Mustang Bass I had customized.
For those that don't already know 15-year-old Danny gatton playing in a Holiday inn in Nashville was actually the inspiration for the love and spoonful song Nashville cats according to John Sebastian.
I was on tour in Germany in 1994 when I heard 88 Elmira St. and Cruisin' Dueces for the first time. Changed my world! I came home and bought up everything I could get my hands on. Just months later, he was gone. I never got to see him live. The dude was an encyclopedia of American music!
I remember Gatton every time I pick up a guitar. He's my all-time favourite.
Danny was so generous to explain his technique in that Rhythm Guitar vid. Many players wouldn’t be so open with others.
Hi Zac, thank you for remembering Danny. I too bought the Guitar Player issue with him on the cover (Phantom of the Opera style ;) here in Germany. I tried to master "Nitpickin''" and failed miserably, of course. But he remained a huge influence on my playing, even though I'm primarily a singer-songwriter. Looking back now, it's pretty clear that the industry didn’t know what to make of him and I guess that he couldn’t cope with the business of music either. And that's nothing to be ashamed of. Thank you for the video!
The one record that really blew me away was New York Stories!! Wow, almost 30 years ago.
Danny Gatton is my favorite his videos are why I keep playing a telecaster and building them
Sometimes we think about quitting guitar when we see all these great players. He s videos did save me.i though I'll never play guitar again but after watching all his vids I thought I would give up on guitar he is my only inspiration to keep going. After playing for 30 years he's the only reason I still play guitar. Trying to find out
some of the things from his lessons I thought were impossible I've actually been able to learn. over the span of months instead of days which I'm used to. His teachings are very advanced. For the average mortal, takes months/years to just figure out how to nail down something he explains so easily in under 5 minutes.
I gave this a thumbs up before even watching. Danny was the greatest!
man, I get goosebumps off people just talking about Danny, love hearing how he touched others too.
I just bought, from eBay, a sealed copy of Danny Gatton - 2: Strictly Rhythm Guitar. Can’t wait to listen/watch/learn. Thanks for recommending it.
It's hard to explain about guitar but its a part or your body when you grow up with it. I've been playing for over 30 years but he made me come back.
Another great "local" Tele player is Scotty Anderson out of the Cincinnati, OH area. Plays like nobody else. You can see some videos of him on UA-cam. I have seen him live a couple of times and it is jaw dropping how good he is. He can inspire people to try to play or to just give up!
@ Art Prince: I discovered Scotty Anderson in the mid-late 1980s, around the same I first heard Danny play. It was that GP issue on the greatest "unknown" players in the world, and Danny Gatton and Scotty Anderson were both in it. I got the chance to hear Danny first, since his sound page (remember those?) record was in that issue, him doing a jaw-dropping version of "Nit Pickin'" - which completely blew me out of my socks when I heard it. I remember just driving around in my car, listening to it over and over again on the stereo, wondering whether I should go and throw my guitar in the river or something! Scotty I got to hear when I ordered his LP "Sleight of Hand," and he blew me away, too.
Scotty's style is utterly unique and almost inexplicable. I could never play like Danny Gatton, but I understood as a guitar player what he was doing and - at least in principle - how. I could even play some of his stuff - a bit of it - at one time. But Scotty? Even after studying his playing and his Hot Licks instructional video, it is still tough to unravel. And as far as I have heard, no one else - anywhere - sounds like him or can do what he does on his Telecaster. A good pal of mine (who is probably the foremost DG fan around, or close to it) and I have seen Scotty live, and he is just as impressive in person as on recordings. A very nice and soft-spoken cat, too.
Scotty makes his living at the intersection of a lot of styles of guitar and of music, from old-time country to bluegrass to hot-rod Telecaster shred, to jazz standards, bebop and western swing to rock and roll. However, he could absolutely play straight-ahead mainstream bebop/modern jazz guitar if he wished. His chops are absolutely out of this world. There are so few guitarists who can keep up with the best jazz saxophonists and horn players - let alone surpass them - but Scotty can do it, and not even appear to break a sweat.
Anyway, yeah, as you can tell... I'm a big fan of his. I've seen/heard a lot of the cream of the crop as far as Hot Tele players are concerned, in person as well as on recordings, i.e. Albert Lee, Brent Mason, Vince Gill, Danny Gatton, Jimmy Bryant, Phil Baugh, Ricky Skaggs, etc. - but as great as all of them are, not one of them could play what Scotty plays. He's in his own solar system, musically-speaking, maybe his own galaxy.
@@GeorgiaBoy1961
Yeah, I think Scotty A is unique. I have a DVD of his performance with Bob Saxton, who played with Chet Atkins for years. You can see some songs from that gig on UA-cam. It was from a Central Ohio Fingerstyle Guitar Club gathering in 2005 that I was at. Got to sit near the small stage, near the front. Maybe 150 people there, mostly Chet style enthusiasts. The club has hosted a lot of amazing players through the years but Scotty is at the top, along with gypsy jazz great Joscho Stephan (sp?). I went down to Cincinnati area a few years ago to see Scotty play again at a small venue and he still has it. Just an amazing player and seems to be a Very humble nice guy. Would love to get him back to Columbus again sometime but he rarely leaves his home area.
@@artprince9163 - Hi Art... thanks for writing. I'll certainly check, but if it is the one I remember, I think that I have seen the clip you mention with Scotty and Bob Saxton. Yeah, I feel your pain regarding get Scotty to leave his home area and stomping grounds. I've been wishing for years that he'd come north and do some gigs in the Chicago area, but so far no dice. He's worth the drive, though!
I’m glad I’m not the only person who knows who Scotty is I saw him live several years ago near Cincinnati and he can play pretty much anything a great tele player for sure and should be noticed far more than he is personally he is the best guitarist alive today period along with Danny and Roy my three favorite players but Danny is king to me my guitar hero!
Hi Georgia boy my sentiments on Scotty a world class tele master that’s virtually unknown which is a shame I’ve asked fil a couple times to showcase Scotty with no luck but the world needs to know his live performance of working without a net doing straight up jazz is incredible still one of my favorite dvds Danny is my favorite always but Scotty in some ways is better than Danny if that’s possible we’ll I hope fil showcase scottys immense talent worlds best guitarist today by far no one even comes close including joe bonamassa Scotty is light years ahead of joe
Yup Zac, I did the same thing when I got Unfinished Business. That cassette stayed in my VW tape deck for weeks. Melancholy Serenade!!! I remember Guitar Player had a soft plastic 45 called Nit Pickin' of Danny Gatton along with a great article on him. I was working in Montauk Long Island as a life guard and befriended some local older guitar hotshots who played in some of the local bands. They hipped me to EJ Tones and some of his bootlegs and I gave them a cassette i made of Nit Pickin' and I will never forget one of the guys said "Well he played everything I know in the first four bars!!!" I remember I was working at Austin Community College when a coworker and music lover broke the news to me that Danny had died. Sad day.....but yes, he left a glorious and inspiring legacy for us all. Thanks for the post brother!
Thanks for commenting on Danny Gatton...his electric approach set so many standards.
Growing up in Baltimore and being in proximity to the DC area we were fortunate to see Danny fairly regularly. I was even more fortunate to get to know him, he worked on my guitars, refretted a Strat of mine, and used the neck on my '53 Tele as the mule for his signature model. He was also a fellow carhead. So I've got that going for me. But aside from his extraordinary playing, he was a joyful, funny guy in his music and in his general demeanor, which may have shrouded his darker demons, and is why his death was so shocking and tragic. I have known others who succumbed to the same fate, and it is simply a mystery never to be solved. But as you say, I am deeply grateful to have the music that he left us, we are all greater as musicians and as listeners to hold on to what he did. It must give some solace to his family, to cherish that. All I can say is now when I listen to him there is that relentless joy, his mastery of the instrument, his cleverness, the humor, with that tinge of sadness in the background. So fortunate. Thank you for your tribute.
“The Humbler” blew me away!
I have a few copies of New York Stories which is awesome too.
Hi from England, I love Danny Gatton and his music. It's surprises me when I mention his name to other British guitar players, that very few have heard of him over here. I'm 74 and I've followed him from almost the beginning. It was through his influence that I play teles.
I asked an American friend to pick up a copy of 88 Elmira Street for me when she was visiting NY in the early 1990s. She found it in a specialist blues shop and said the shop owner was surprised that someone in England had heard of Danny Gatton. If it wasn't for the pre-WWW listservs I suppose I never would have.
Danny G was so good!! I watched several of his video's as a young man. He blew me away.
I had the pleasure of seeing Danny Gatton and the Fat Boys play live. I had a friend who played acoustic guitar in Danny’s band at the time. They played at “Sam’s Crab House “ in Clinton, Maryland. It was a little restaurant/bar. I feel kinda privileged to have seen him play live and it’s a memory I’ll never forget.
I feel very fortunate to have seen him at Caravan of Dreams in Fort Worth, Texas about 6 months or so before he died.
It was a truly amazing show and one that I will never forget. I can still hear his Leslie spinning up.
I was at that show. Just amazing. The loss of Danny and the CoD are both tragic. So many great shows there.
@@MrWhitmire What an amazing venue it was. So many great artist performed there.
I don't think I've ever seen shows in a place with acoustics that good.
@@tjrd12 So true! Albert King, Gatemouth Brown, James Cotton, Maynard Ferguson, Stephane Grappelli, Fabulous Thunderbirds, Juke Jumpers, Albert Collins and I lost track of how many times I saw Bugs Henderson and Roomful of Blues there. You’re right: fantastic acoustics and so classy with great service. But The New Bluebird was pretty cool, too.
Nice video Zac. I also learned about Danny from that Guitar Player issue here in the UK, but one of them (same one?) had one of those thin floppy 7" records with the perforated edge, and Danny's playing a number called "Nit Picking", he sounds like three guitarists at once! I remember too that there were rumours about this guy who tuned his guitar to the fluorescent lights, and he said "yeah, they buzz in Eb"! Never be another Danny.👍
In the 80's and 90's I worked at Sterling Sound (mastering studio) I got to hear that early stuff you mentioned because the guys at the studio where that stuff was recorded (Bias, I think?) had all their stuff mastered at Sterling Sound back then. His playing completely knocked me out, right from the start!!! None of my friends knew who he was until he started showing up in magazines, like you mentioned. It felt like I knew a secret or something! lol I was so happy for him when he got the deal on Elektra!
Thanks Zac, really enjoyed that episode. I've had a Danny Gatton Telecaster since 2004 and it is an incredible guitar. I love the album Relentless with Joey DeFrancesco....the CD stayed in my car for months when I first got it.....such an exciting album - trading licks with one of the few musicians on the planet who could push him to another level!!
Some people give up once they they see the videos. Please don't give up its not that hard you can make him proud. I'm just think you can do it . Please keep playing
key is patience. instead of expecting to learn it within a week or two. months/years is a more practical measurement of how long it can take to learn just a fraction of his chops lol.
Thank you for this. Would love to hear a detailed dive into the evolution of Danny’s playing.
Im just reading Unfinished Business now. What a monster guitarist. Definitely going to seek out the Danny Gatton rhythm guitar video. He and Roy B both my favs.
I couldn't agree more Zac, Danny was simply incredible! I loved his instructional videos - I really think they are some of the best I've seen to this day. He was a true master and wonderful teacher too.
Couldn't agree more!
A friend of mine was executive producer for that record
Some of It recorded right here in Woodstock NY
Thanks for the video, zac. To me, he was always bigger than life. I got to see him a few times in Austin and he was fantastic. It was mesmerizing watching him play. Another great Tele player.
When incomes a great talent he was the greatest talent I've ever heard I relegation got all his videos he was the best I had to have tele I got 2 telecaster guitars sometimes there is a person to get you back in to playing again he saved me I was out not playing anymore sometimes we have to find a person to keep playing danny is the person that keeps me going ❤
Was mid 80’s....me and my small gang were running around DC one weekday nite taking advantage of the 18 legal age beer drinking. It was either the Club Soda or an Irish place I can’t remember but no one was out....we went downstairs and there was this guy playing a beat up blackguard using a beer bottle as a slide sweating like crazy and just jamming by himself to an empty bar....Danny Gatton.....he was just getting his freak on-full rock out smiling the whole time. We had a seat, sent him a beer....watched a few tunes and stupidly went off into the nite after 20-30 minutes. I remember his tone was just like a big, loud cranked arch top t bone walker thing honestly.....surreal experience.....thanks for the video Zac.🍻
Zac! Thank you so much for recommending these videos, I'm watching and loving them. Do you think you could make a video with the most essential videos every guitarist should see? I remember watching a great lesson from Brian May, for instance, and I feel those old vids have been forgotten very unfortunately. I know there must be many, but maybe the essential videos for you. That would be awesome! Again, thank you so very much for contributing to my guitar playing!!
DG - my favourite guitar player by far. Pure joy.
Arlen Roth signed my Gold brown abalone tele pickguard "dedicated to my good friend, Danny Gatton.....signed Arlen Roth"
Who here remembers the “Humbler “ mixtape for the keeping musicans awake. He and Robert Gordon doing rockabilly is insanely great live, those LR BAGGs blade pickups? Unless I am forgetting, it don’t matter no how, that mixtape was amazing…glad it made onto CD….both he and Roy Buchanan were from around that Baltimore area, I think, and if so there’s never been such beautiful sounds as that pair guys, Gatton could play his way out train wreck with blazing fast fixes,as though he meant to do it, while Roy played some of the prettiest electric blues instrumentals that I have ever heard. Thanks for Gatton, Zac..pleasant memories on my way to go to bed….now I have a night night cd, and it ain’t the humbler . I only listen to it once in a while, because it’s infectiously wiggly that I can’t sleep for at least 8: hours after listening to it from end to end one time…humbled
I bought The Humbler in Austin back in May 1997, the day of the Jarrell Tornado- we were playing it in the brewery/diner while the tornado let rip outside. After the hurricane that evening, I saw Jesse "Guitar" Taylor- I had been planning on seeing Alvin Crow but his show was cancelled- it was quite a day. Danny had an old ES 295 and he had wondered if it was the one that had been owned by Scotty Moore.
Wow!! You ain't kidding. Beautiful.
Brilliant show Zac. Thanks
If you can ask John Jorgenson about the Hellecasters playing with Danny in NYC. My wife and I tried to fly in from Buffalo but airport closed because of terrible weather. Danny told me later "unfair, 3 against 1". Funny dry humour. Wish I was there but I saw Danny many times in Toronto and drove to D.C. Awesome nice guy🎸🇺🇲
I'm from the DC/MD area. There's a guy around here that plays like Danny. One night Danny was at his gig and he asked Danny how he sounded. Danny replied "you played the **** out of me tonight". What a character!
The great Danny Gatton; incredible player and funny too. Gone too soon. When he came out I went immediately and bought one of Joe Barden’s early pickup sets that I had for a long time. I ended up selling them because although good I believe they didn’t give me the midrange of a vintage Tele. To me they sounded a little sterile; even Joe Barden communicated with me when I reviewed them to get my honest feedback with open ears; incredible!
When he got signed to Elektra it was the bomb. Before then I bought his albums directly from his beloved mother Norma. I remember getting a full letter from her handwritten in red ink. I believe I have it stored someplace. I also have three of his instructional videos; an independent one that you can find on UA-cam called Licks and Tricks plus the two Hot Licks releases. He got me using the thick Jazz picks plus the pick and fingers technique I still use to this day.
His first guitar I believe was a dual P-90 Gibson ES-350; a gift from his parents when he was 13 and he kept it all his life. He dug P-90 Gibsons too; he also had a nice ES-295 like Scotty Moore’s. He also used Les Paul in the early days.
Great tribute Zac. The first time i heard him was on Austin City Limits. He was one of the best and a big influence on so many players.
When I heard Gatton play Harlem Nocturne I was in awe the guy could play anything a lot of players say that but he did it
Great video about Danny Gatton. I did first hear about Danny with a old Guitarplayer magazine. Kenny Weeler wonder if there was anybody who could outplay him. This Guitarplayer magazine came out with a plastic record with ''Nitpicking'' It was a brutal lightningfast guitarplaying on this. Not only fast singel lines, but cords and pulloff's. He also had these B3 organ comping lesslie style. Wonderful sound and comping. None with these different styles in one tune.
My 2, wait no 3 'favrit' videos of Danny Gatton are when he plays jazz:
1) Holiday Inn, Arlington VA; and,
2) Freedom Plaza Jazz Festival, Washington DC
and of course,
3) Relentless with Joey DeFracesco.
Here we go - now Gatton was one of my heroes. Rest in peace, DG!
Excellent! Thank you Zac...RIP Danny
Thank you Zac, I ordered the video (on DVD, not available for download here in Germany) after your recommendation. Another great episode, man!
He was such a Tele master. What a awesome player. Great show Zac.
I got me the Barden pickups on my Tele because of Danny. Of course I can't make sing like he could but I do enjoy them!
I was very lucky to get to see Danny play many times with Robert Gordon. They played all the classic rockabilly songs. It was a perfect setting for Danny. For a lot of the gigs they had producer/guitarist Lance Quinn playing second electric guitar. Lance is a true guitar ace and he was happy to provide support for Danny. It was incredible. I'm so glad I got to see them.
Truly jealous!
@@AskZac They were both playing Telecasters with Vibrolux Reverbs. Right next to each other on the same side of the stage. I saw him play a couple times Robert Gordon without Lance and that's when Danny was using the LP Custom w the Dingus box.
Thanks Zac. A nice tribute to a great player. It is amazing what Danny could play. A song like “In My Room” almost redefines what the electric guitar can do.
That song floors me.
I remember first hearing Danny Gatton. College radio station played a track, and I had to pull the car over to listen to it and a couple of other songs until they said who it was. Thanks for another great episode! Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving!
Sounds like we both discovered Danny by the same route. After hearing about him for so long, the first time I actually got to listen to him flat-out blew me away. That "Strictly Rhythm Guitar" video is such a knockout -- watching him play that groove he learned from Bill Black's Combo made me imagine a much younger Danny Gatton hovering over his turntable, doing the needle-drop until he got every bit of that thing just right.
I LOVE his fiery recordings with Robt Gordon!
Zac. Very nice. One of my favorite players. The ride that always gets me going is the third one on Sun Medley with Delbert McClinton from Cruisin Deuces.. IMO that is the best picture of his playing - right on the ledge but pulling it off in the end!
Agreed
Check out the American Music Shop with him Albert Lee & Vince Gill around 93! It was actually the best episode they had!
Yes
That "Liza Jane" is otherworldly!
@@Dan-tp3py That was a killer show!
The Master of the Telecaster.
Right on, finally. Thank you.
Mike Stern bought one of Danny’s teles. His main tele for years. Alas, it was stolen. Mike Stern a great tele player in my opinion. Great videos, Zac.
Another great episode! Danny influenced so many players, well done!
Danny was a wonderful player 💫
God bless Danny Gatton!
Awesome, thx for sharing. ☮🎸
My favorite face-melting Gatton tour-de-force is Blues Newburg. Yowsa!
Danny was a great player. The time I heard Danny live the high end was brutal but Lord could he play. Not sure if he was losing the top end of his hearing or it was the Bardens. I have a white guard Esquire that can get really piercing.
Danny and Jeff Beck both loved working on cars.
i had the same issue with his tones on the Elektra records. still, a staggeringly good player, and like Zac mentioned, his versatility was second to none!
Zak .. something I gave notice these last 30 /40 years .. Recording sessions are not what they are .
Talking with my Cousin Mike .
He was telling me when they record. Its each piece is done separate then its mastered together .. where is the feeling in this new music ? Where is the personal touch !! I have noticed that music has lost that feeling it once had.
I remember groups getting together and getting it Done ,
Why the change in Recording ..
There was an old boy outta Ky . His last name was King first name I cannot remember .. his Barn had the acoustics to Die for . And they recorded in that barn country music .his mic was an old 1940s style mike and everything was recorded on old style recording equptment and Reel to Reel .. then it was transfured over .. the feel the Emotion was there in the music. And It Sold
Why the change ! They have taken the fun outta it.
Agreed. Why?
@@AskZac zak thats what Im asking you my Friend Why . It needs to go back to giving music and lyrics meaning and Soul . Even George said the new way .Il say isnt any good .
But when George did he stopped loving her .. what they do work in that for 18 hours after the tapping cause he was wacked outta his Gord . LoL .but then alotta'em were back in the day a time or two .
Hi Zac, excellent video per usual. To add my two cents to what you and other commenters here have said about his gear: Aside from Bardens, an aspect that sometimes gets overlooked is Gatton’s influence on Tele aftermarket parts. I’m in the middle of assembling a T-style guitar, and so many of the hardware choices I’m making are things I first noted in those guitar magazines you cite in your video: heavy-knurled knobs, notched bridge plate, compensated saddles, a tone pot/capacitor combo that can get pseudo-wah sounds and so on. He’s a bit like EVH in that regard: Both sort of unwittingly encouraged scores of guitarists to hot rod their guitars and inspired niche businesses in the process. Bardens still kind of sound like crap in my hands but hope springs eternal ha ha.
You are right
In my opinion Danny Gatton was the greatest electric guitar player ever. I’m fortunate that I got to see him live at Winter NAMM in 1994. Seems like he was gone not too much later. What a shame-in interviews he seemed like a pretty well-adjusted, positive guy.
Awesome video for an awesome guitar player! Thank you for this Sir :)
My pleasure!
Thanks! Happy Thanksgiving Zac! Have a blessed day!
Thank you too!
Hi Zac, first off I really dig your content. Like you, I love Fenders ( Gibson’s too ). Anyway your show has gotten me into the Fender amps you talk about and use. I’m currently buying a beautiful Martin GPC 28E in Sunburst, after this endeavor my next one will be a nice Fender tube amp ( the model undecided but any suggestion would be takin highly. )
PS - I had a Nissan 200SX too 🤣
Mine was two tone, dark metallic brown & gold. It had a leather interior and a 5 speed transmission. I beat the living shit out of that car and it kept on going! Great car back in the day!
Anyway, thanks and please keep doing what you’re doing! 🤙
I was in England, read the 1989 Guitar Player article ,phoned the magazine ,to find out where to buy the video ,they gave me Norma Gatton's phone number ,she sent me the licks and tricks video ,on tape .She said there was "another man in England who has it too" ,then i custom ordered the Gatton tele from Fender with 6100 frets ,it came with a one piece body ,serial no 121.Over here you could buy Unfinished Business on vinyl.
NICE!!!
Zac your videos are the best! Do you have any tips for 60 cycle hum and buzz from a Tele?
roll your volume down in-between songs. You can do some shielding inside the cavities, other wise you might need to get some hum-cancelling pickups. If it is really bad and you are getting complaints from your bandmates and sound guy.
The Humbler!
I carry a CD of Relentless around in the car for anytime I think I'm getting somewhere on the instrument. :-)
That’s a great albym!
“album”!
Zac, Very enjoyable. Your encyclopedic knowledge is astounding... :) Happy Thanksgiving!
Same to you!
I lived in D.C. in late 70’s and early 80’s. I’d go down to his M Street club on a Friday night and listen to the best guitarist on the planet.
Try to find the “Redneck Jazz” album.
Gatton was another one like Arlen Roth, Richard Thompson, John Jorgenson that kind of have the opposite effect on me. Instead of seeing where I can get with practice I see what ill never be ever to be. I want to put the instrument down. I don't but i consider for a few minutes. He was a master for sure
Richard Thompson is one of the best musicians around. An incredible songwriter, vocalist, guitar player...he can do it all.
@@MontyCantsin5 yeah he is
I remember, pre- internet, like he was just kind of "whispered about" like a unicorn, lol. He was a myth before he was semi- famous. Again, those were the days!
I found a Danny Gatton album at a used record store. I have a Copper Tele body, a Mighty Mite neck and a set of GFS vintage spec twin blade pickups. I'm going to build a poor man's DG Tele.
Went to college at American University in the early 80s, and kick myself for never going to see him and Roy Buchanan when they were playing in the area. I didn't really know about them until the 90s.
that sux dude.... Kick Me Hard NRBQ 🤣
AMU was a great radio station too.
Immortal DG
No question, Gatton was one of the greatest guitarists of all time. There was nothing that he couldn't' do and he did it all - that was the problem. He never settled into any recognizable genre or style. He also never wrote or recorded any hit singles.
I know, it seems crass to mention these things in the face of his remarkable, unique talent, however, that's how you establish yourself in show business. You have to be musically accessible and recognizable. Great musicianship is fine for sessions and such, but making it as a popular artist requires discipline and a strategic, selective choice of material.
Of course, none of this takes anything away from how much pleasure he has given to so many, including me. Zeus bless him.
@ Glicksman1: I know that Danny really missed the old days of the 1960s and before, what he would have called the golden age of American music, a time when radio wasn't so hidebound by program managers and play lists and genre focus. DJs had some latitude to play stuff they dug, and not just what was on the top forty or whatever. Commercial success in music, especially popular music, depends on the things you mention.
Whereas back in 1960s, an artist playing instrumental only music could survive and even thrive - in today's music world, if you don't sing, you can forget getting airplay on country, rock and pop stations. You also have to have a carefully crafted visual image, preferrably young and photogenic, and have a clearly-defined style or niche in which you can be marketed and sold. You know that Danny didn't go in for any of that stuff. He'd have rolled his eyes and gone back to his hot-rods.
So it is a very tragic thing. You have these enormously gifted artists - guys like Danny and Scotty Anderson - who languish in relative obscurity while guys who can't even shine their shoes, music-wise, become huge stars and make boatloads of money and so forth. It's a lot like being a world-class jazz musician. Some of those cats are world-class musicians on their chosen instruments and they are anonymous outside of the jazz world, and they play for small audiences in clubs - maybe a festival or the like once in a while. And even if you are OK with that life, it is a real grind now because there are not near as many opportunities to play live for decent bread as they were 30, 40 or more years ago.
@@GeorgiaBoy1961 I'm not sure I understand you. You mean that things are unfair?
Yeah man, he was doing more of his own style jazz covers and mostly he didn't sing
@@Glicksman1 - Fair, unfair - what do those things mean, anyway? Anyone dumb-enough to expect life to "be fair" is soon to be disappointed, and I am sure Danny was wise-enough to know that. More, I'm just lamenting the fact that things didn't go his way more often. He was a good guy and if maybe he'd gotten a break or two more along the way than he did, he'd still be with us.
@@GeorgiaBoy1961 Well, I think I know what the difference between fair and unfair is, however, I agree with you, fairness doesn't occur very often. Danny Gatton was so spectacularly talented that he just couldn't settle into one thing, he played everything so well. Unfortunately, that's not the road to stardom or commercial success.
We agree about everything you said about Danny. Both he and Roy Buchanan got raw deals and came to tragic ends because of it. At least we have a lot of recordings to listen to in awe.
Great stuff on my guitar hero.
Hi, my brother was Dan's drummer and close friend. Any way of getting in touch with you?
go to my site askzac.com
I am pretty late to discovering Danny’s work, and I’m curious - he seemed to be a Les Paul guy earlier on, and then really got on to the Telecaster train - does anyone know the story of how/why?
@ Nimble: Telecasters are extremely versatile guitars, and you can do almost anything with them - but they are stern taskmasters in certain ways. The scale length, string tension, etc. Once you make friends with them, however, you can blast off for just about any musical destination you like... and you know that's what Danny did. I recall reading someplace that he got one in order to play country and country-influenced music like the early rock-a-billy stuff. Also don't forget Roy Buchanan's influence, and Roy was a Tele player. So was Jimmy Bryant, and Danny spent some serious time wood-shedding with his music (Jimmy Bryant and Speedy West). Don't forget playing loud in live situations, too. You're going to want a solid or semi-solid guitar so that feed-back isn't too much of an issue. Telecasters over-drive so well with Barden pickups, too. That's a classic combination right there.
Buchanan influence, he also played more blues
Roy B caused him to move to the Tele.
I'd love to be able to say Gatton was an influence on me, but I'm afraid I'm just not that diligent or good of a picker. The best I can be is an admirer. And a big part of what I admire is just how many stylistic and melodic ideas he could come up with so quickly. If you ever get to see Guthrie Govan live, he's the same way. You *think* you're following the logic of the solo, and suddenly it switches to an entirely new path and sensibility, and then before you've fully registered the logic of *that* path, they're on to a new one.
The truth is when we see a great guitar player sometimes we will just give up on guitar. We think we are going to stop playing. Keep playing guitar
Nice. Go back and listen to Up From the Skies” by Hendrix.
I remember some guitar message board where they were debating who the best player was. Someone commented, "Danny Gatton was the best 10 guitar players I ever saw." That has become my standard answer when people ask me who's the best.
Ha!
How do y'all feel about Bardens?
The neck is killer, the bridge is too bright for me.
A little Danny Gatton tone trick... He didn't like New Strings, so he told me , he'd take cigarette ashes and simply smear them into in the strings to hinder the excessive bright ringing from new strings. There you have it..
Fantastic!
Zak
I need your Honest opinion .. look up American wounded worrior Song By Mike Shipley .. and give me you opinion .. here please .
Gatton was one of the greatest to ever strap on a telecaster. I sure wish there was a good copy of his ACL performance on video. What I’ve seen is pretty lousy quality video and audio. If anybody has a good link please pass it on.
Speaking of Gatton’s guitar strings why don’t they make Gatton Beer Coated strings! 😆Gatton hated new string tone and poured beer on his to make them sound dead.