Danny Gatton story - by Barry Houlehen
The story of Danny Gatton is not your typical guitar-slinger tale: no supergroups, no hit records and no world tours; only a small recognition of his virtuosity very late in his career, and then mostly by peers and critics but not by the music industry or public at large. Danny got an F in charisma, lacking every star trapping imaginable: he was short and pudgy, he nursed his beer and cigarette like he was sitting in a bar after work and stared down at his boots when he had to talk about himself. Yet in some ways Gatton was one of the greatest guitarists. His talent spoke for itself: a stunning ability to fuse jazz, rockabilly, country, blues and rock into an alternately twangy, explosive, and shimmering style uniquely his own. He usually played a 1953 Telecaster. His most common nickname was “The Humbler”, owing to his ability to “humble” or out-play anyone willing to go up against him in “head cutting” jam sessions.
Danny Gatton was born in Washington DC. Before World War II, his father (Daniel W. Gatton Sr.) was a rhythm guitarist in a band called the Royalists. Danny was born on September 4, 1945. By then, his father had given up the guitar as a living, but there was still music to be heard in the house. It was his uncle who introduced the six-year-old Danny Gatton to the music of perhaps his greatest influence, Les Paul. Paul, along with Charlie Christian and the first generation of rockabilly pickers, formed the core of Danny Gatton’s listening. At 14, and with the help of a clever fake I.D., Gatton began playing in Washington clubs with several bands and quickly built a solid reputation as an outstanding young guitarist. Looking to finally make a name for himself outside his familiar Washington surroundings, Gatton moved to Nashville in in the late 1967 and worked as a session musician. By June 1968 he was back in Washington. He got married, did body work and he went back to playing the bars around D.C. a few nights a week.
Then in the early '70s (after a respite from performing, during which period he managed a guitar shop in suburban Maryland) Gatton formed “Danny and the Fat Boys”. The group’s reputation grew quickly as he dazzled audiences with Fender Telecaster wizardry, marked by his beer-bottle slide guitar technique.In 1975 Gatton and the Fat Boys recorded an album (American Music) for Billy Hancock’s Alladdin label. The Fat Boys, soon after the release of “American Music”, broke up. He returned to music with a group called “Redneck Jazz Explosion” (Buddy Emmons played pedal steel guitar). They hit the local spots
around D.C. and made a few ventures beyond; the band was documented on a 1978 release (Redneck Jazz). The group dissolved when Gatton cut his hand badly, severing some tendons. In the early '80s he played with Roger Miller and Robert Gordon.
Finally, in 1987, he released a solo album (“Unfinished Business”) and drew the attention of Elektra Records, who signed him. Thus began Danny Gatton?s brief flirt with fame: Guitar Player magazine in 1989 named him “World?s Greatest Unknown Guitar Player” and in 1991, he released the critically acclaimed and Grammy-nominated album “88 Elmira St.”. Despite its popularity with guitar enthusiasts, the album didn?t sell well, nor did Gatton?s 1993 followup, Cruisin? Deuces". Though he seemed on the road to success, he was dropped by Elektra and in 1994 the guitar world lost a great talent when Danny Gatton died by his own hand (On October 4, 1994, Gatton locked himself in his garage in Newburg, Maryland and shot himself. He left behind no explanation but people around Danny have suggested that he had gone in and out of depression for many years).