REQUIRED LISTENING:
DANNY GATTON
Unfinished business.
Guitar freaks know who Danny Gatton is but sadly few others do. Rest assured, if you've never heard his music, he was
incredible and a legend in Washington (DC). Danny Gatton, along with friend and rival Roy Bucannan, purveyed a unique telecaster
style -- rich with double stops, mind blowing harmonics and awesome technique. Danny's ability to blow through Les Paul
styled Jazz ("Cherokee" and "Homage to Charlie Christian"), create crying haunting melodies ("Melancholy
Serenade" and "Sleepwalk"), and play out-of-this-world telecaster vamps ("Fingers on Fire"
and "Notcho Blues") defied conventional thinking about what a guitarist could do. He played with ferocity, tension
and a sense of humor. It's a shame that he never achieved the success that he so deserved. This disappointment led him to
take his own life (1994). What a shame. What a waste.
posted: August 2004. |
