Sad but interesting glimpse at a legend...

[Tedster]

The following comes courtesy of David Gross of Punmaster's Music Wire at www.punmaster.com:

 

Accumulated Stuff of a Music Legend Went on Block

 

Select an object from a shelf in his garage. It might be an antique

telephone, an old guitar, a neglected 60-cycle electric motor. It

might lack key components. It might coat your fingertips with dust.

Maybe it looks worthless.

 

For Danny Gatton, the man who once owned all these items now up for

sale, such objects brimmed with possibility. With a little work, that

old telephone might produce a dial tone. That old motor might spark

and whir.

 

After that, unseen marvels could unfurl like gift wrap. The motor's

hum, Gatton knew, would almost surely fall somewhere around a B or

B-flat, and the dial tone would be close to an F. Close enough,

anyway, to use it to tune that old guitar.

 

And if that guitar were back in business, the whole garage might be

filled with magic.

 

Ingenuity made Danny Gatton a guitar legend among fellow musicians.

When electric guitar pioneer Les Paul was asked who he'd like to have

perform at his 65th birthday bash, he requested Gatton. When Guitar

Player magazine wanted to put someone on its cover to celebrate

unsung guitar greats, it chose Gatton. When Fender introduced a line

of signature instruments, the guitar manufacturer produced a Danny

Gatton Model '53 Telecaster based on his own modifications -- the

priciest customized guitar in the company's catalogue at the time.

 

But Gatton's career ended when he killed himself in 1994 for reasons

that it seems only he will ever know. He left behind a wife, a

daughter and a 15-acre Charles County farm near Newburg.

 

He also left behind thousands of objects that he had collected

throughout his 49 years as a curator of the forlorn. Most of them

remain stuffed inside his enormous seven-bay garage, and many bear

the imprint of a restless tinkerer. All of them will be put up for

sale at a public auction May 19 to help support his family. An open

house for those interested in seeing what's for sale is scheduled for

Saturday.

 

This week auctioneers have been combing through Gatton's things,

trying to determine which have retained value -- or at least the

possibility of it. They believe that many of the items they're

uncovering might interest music collectors, antique junkies or car

fanatics -- because Gatton himself was all three. Future owners, they

hope, will be able to dust them off and uncork any magic that might

be left in them.

 

Outside the garage sits an old Texaco gas pump. Vintage signs hang on

the walls, both inside and out: Some advertise past concerts; some

are emblazoned with the logos of service stations or beer brands; one

once loomed above a sandwich stand and reads: "Buck Owens Hot Dogs."

A calendar hanging near an interior doorway is open to 1994.

 

Auctioneer Billy Fitzgerald is standing on a wooden stool to peer

into the top drawers of a filing cabinet. He dips a hand in and pulls

out boxes of guitar pickups -- devices that convert the vibrations of

strings into the electronic signals that become amplified notes.

Guitar enthusiasts might want these, he thinks. He's seen the Web

sites devoted to Gatton, and he knows the loyalty that Gatton's

blistering fret work inspired among the faithful. He even wonders out

loud whether the stool he's standing on might have some value.

 

"This is where he'd sit to do his pickin' and grinnin'," Fitzgerald

says. "People might be interested in that."

 

Whether the auction-goers count themselves among Gatton's fans or

not, collectors might want to check out the dusty boxes that sit near

the foot of the stool. They're full of old records -- 45s and 33s.

Flipping through the stacks, you can find Elvis Presley, Les Paul,

Charlie Christian. There are more records upstairs, as well as tapes

and compact discs.

 

Gatton's family is holding on to his most valued guitars, but a few

of his instruments will be up for sale. One is an old Silvertone with

a case that doubles as an amplifier -- an inexpensive model that

served as a starter guitar for a generation of players in the 1960s.

Another is a Stratocaster that Gatton apparently had partly

customized before he died.

 

Fitzgerald is discovering other musical paraphernalia buried among

the items in the garage. Under a table sits a dingy brown case that

when opened reveals a pearly Castle accordion tucked in red satin.

Under several boxes of tools is an old Carpenter organ. A large

Leslie amplifier hides under a blanket. A Fender amplifier sits on a

worktable that's cluttered with fan letters, backstage passes and car

magazines. Cabinets contain a variety of guitar pedals, banjo

pickups, microphone kits and guitar picks.

 

Several file cabinets in the garage overflow with hot rod magazines

dating to the 1960s -- the cars were a hobby that consumed much of

Gatton's time. Fans often linked his perceived ambivalence toward

musical fame to this hobby; he used to tell people that he didn't

like to tour extensively because he preferred to stay close to his

family and work in his garage.

 

"He was never satisfied with a thing as it was," said his widow, Jan

Gatton. "He had better ideas, and he liked to reconfigure everything."

 

The shell of a 1949 Mercury sits in one of the garage's bays,

unfinished. A marker board still displays a sketch of one of Gatton's

fantasy hot rods. Spare parts are scattered throughout the building.

There are old refrigerators, ancient gas and wood stoves and all

sorts of examples of 1950s American iconography: James Dean posters,

Marilyn Monroe collectible dolls, Coca-Cola signs and appliances.

 

"We were both very eclectic in our tastes," Jan Gatton said. "But

after a while, you run out of room."

 

Saturday's open house ran from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The estate auction

was held outside the house, starting at 9 a.m. May 19. The house is

10 miles south of La Plata at 11085 Lloyd Point Rd.

[rosespappy]

Tedster,

 

Sorry I didn't spot the post earlier. Was in Goodlettsville Tn. over the weekend. When you chronicle like this, you revisit the magic of one mans purpose for being. I've heard much in the way of opinion regarding the Boss' view on the taking of ones' own life, but so far he hasn't told me anything specifically himself. I do know that death is nothing to fear. It is the final breaking of the perverbial bread. The bread could not be fully given, until it was fully broken. Every time you recall this man, he gives again.....

 

God bless you brother for spending the time to tell us about another someone who deserves to be remembered.

 

Thanks! Rick

[Tedster]

Yep, I'm with you...regarding the Boss' view...I figure that's pretty much up to Him to decide...I mean, I can do all in my power to keep someone from doing that, if I have an inkling that it might be happening. Other than that, it's up to the Big Guy.

 

I just found out not too long ago that a drummer in one of my high school bands had offed himself. Hadn't seen him in years. Still feel awful about it, though.

 

Danny Gatton was an amazing talent. Why does it always seem like we don't fully appreciate the good ones 'til they're gone?

[rosespappy]

I think it's because we're all so wrapped up in who we are. I stood next to the bed of the only drummer I could call my own this winter while the nurse pulled the plug. We were told 5 minutes at best. His heart didn't quit for 45 minutes. We basically watched our comotose and physically wracked by diabetes pal drown slowly. I was supposed to have a song written for another friends wedding that was to take place at noon the next day. I was only missing the words. In the time it took for Phil to pass, I got the words. 12 hours to the minute later I sang them to a packed house waiting to celebrate the beginning of a young couples life. It changed me. Phil was one of those rare people that know where you're going before you do. He'd lead me into my own changes, sometimes before I knew they were coming. Like I said he changed me. If we're lucky, the Boss uses us in the same way. I don't think an existance of timeless grief awaits anyone used by the Boss to help move someone else in the direction he intended for them.

 

Some of these folks would have rejected our admiration anyway...

 

We'll all know those things someday!

[strat0124]

He is sadly missed. A good friend in Manassas (Southern Uprisin Band) has a Tele signed by Danny.....he didn't even know who he was until I told him. It's definitely a prize. Best wishes and good luck to his family.