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Danny Gatton


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I've been listening to Danny Gatton recently and I have a few thoughts:

 

One aspect of his approach that I really like is that he often gets to the point through short compositions. He pretty much stays away from the long, drawn out, 10-20 minute solofests that so many guitarists' guitarist seem to favor.

 

I'm not sure of his rig, but I believe he's probably just going through pedal or two and a Fender amp. I can only image how cool it must have been to walk in anywhere with a simple rig and do your "thang" completely.

Yum, Yum! Eat em up!
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I believe he mostly played a Tele or Gibson hollowbody directly into a cranked Super Reverb.

 

As to short compositions.....he was able to say more in a few minutes than most players say in a lifetime!

 

Which CD's are you listening to? My favorites are "88 Elmira St." and "The Humbler", but they are all great. I also have a few bootlegs that are pretty good.

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Yeah, that's a great 'site.

 

And I've thoroughly enjoyed the Hell right outta some live Gatton bootlegs, too! Better than his famous Austin City Limits television appearance, which by comparison seems (for him) a little stiff and uncomfortably forced.

Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do?

 

~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~

_ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _

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I had a gift card that I needed to use before it expired, so I got the Anthology. I didn't have any of his CD's before this, just a few MP3's, so I thought I would try to get a collection. I was listing to it driving home last night. I looked down and I was doing about 90.
Yum, Yum! Eat em up!
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I'm not sure what's on Anthology, but I highly recommend "The Humbler" if you want to hear Danny in his most raw, rockabilly form. This is a soundboard recoding of a show he did with Robert Gordon. The legend is that during the warm-up, the soundman was so blown away that he scrambled for a cassette recorder to document the performance. The tape was passed around music circles for years, with guitarist Amos Garrett dubbing it "The Humbler". It was finally officially released several years ago. Be sure to wait at the end through the long pause for "Fingers on Fire" the soundcheck duet with drummer Shannon Ford that was the cause for all the excitement and the reason the show is available today.
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Be careful if you google "The Humbler".

 

You will find, (*ahem*), a device, that when used as directed, that will put the male of the species in a somewhat compromised position.

 

I learned that the hard way, looking for that very CD, currently out of print.

Peace,

 

Paul

 

----------------------

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Along with the similarly talented, though less stylistically varied, Roy Buchanan, one of the great lost players of the last quarter century.

At risk of sounding 2 OT, a lesson perhaps N why musicians outside the general public awareness need the acknowledgement & support of their peers.

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Originally posted by I & I mjrn:

At risk of sounding 2 OT, a lesson perhaps N why musicians outside the general public awareness need the acknowledgement & support of their peers.

Oh, good. I was meaning to ask about that. I'd never heard of DG before last year or so, which is not surprising because I haven't owned a radio in about 15 years.

 

I was wondering how mainstream he was and now you've pretty much answered that for me. :thu:

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Originally posted by I & I mjrn:

Along with the similarly talented, though less stylistically varied, Roy Buchanan, one of the great lost players of the last quarter century.

At risk of sounding 2 OT, a lesson perhaps N why musicians outside the general public awareness need the acknowledgement & support of their peers.

It's interesting how both Gatton and Buchanan were players gigging withing a similar range around DC, both played Teles and Fender amps, both used a lot of show-stopping head-cutting up-staging showmanship, both had a similar steely cutting tone, both drew much from the same pools of stylistic inspiration, albeit with different proportions of their similar influences coming through their own respective outputs (i.e., Roy was more blues 'n' rock 'n' roll, while Danny was more jazz, rockabilly, and even country), they both wrestled with a measure of success that they deemed marginal...

 

Sadly, they both met with lonely, tragic ends, as well.

Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do?

 

~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~

_ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _

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There was a fabricated rivalry between Roy and Danny that never really existed. I used to be a big fan of Roy's, but these days when I listen to him I find that his tone is grating, the supporting musicians aren't very strong and the song selection is weak.

 

I disagree with Caevan's comment above that Danny and Roy had similar tone. I think that while Danny got a lot of bite out of his Tele, it was never as piercing as Roy tended to be. Also,Danny always gravitated towards other great players (Shannon Ford, John Previti, Joey DeFrancesco, etc) and , as previously mentioned, always served the song with great arrangemnets.

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Oh, I agree with you there; I guess it's more that they both still sound like guys with Teles and Fender amps, which leaves a lot of room for different tones that still have a little in common. I didn't so much mean that they sounded alike; just that the Tele's pedal-steel tonal vibe comes through with both of them. Not a surprise, though, hugh!

Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do?

 

~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~

_ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _

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Both were great but I liked RB better plus he's

the only guy that I knew that could solo up high

on his pickups...

 

 

http://www.rockzirkus.de/lexikon/bilder/b/buchanan/buchanan1.jpg

 

http://www.getreadytorock.com/features_ones/roy_buchanan1.jpg

The story of life is quicker then the blink of an eye, the story of love is hello, goodbye.
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Originally posted by Kramer Ferrington III.:

Originally posted by I & I mjrn:

At risk of sounding 2 OT, a lesson perhaps N why musicians outside the general public awareness need the acknowledgement & support of their peers.

Oh, good. I was meaning to ask about that. I'd never heard of DG before last year or so, which is not surprising because I haven't owned a radio in about 15 years.

 

I was wondering how mainstream he was and now you've pretty much answered that for me. :thu:

Vince,

 

I have heard Gatton on the radio once, twice, maybe three times at the most. I urge you to seek out any recordings you can by him. His best studio work IMO is "88 Elmira St" which has some great neo-rockabilly-jazz-swingish stuff as well as his takes on the theme from The Simpsons and Brian Wilson's "In My Room".

 

Dennis

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