A towel, a glass bottle, and probably numerous other objects. Danny Gatton used them all to perform his stellar blues rock and rockabilly tunes from the 1960s through the 1990s. And if you don’t recognize his name, you’re not alone there. Gatton might just be the most underrated guitar virtuoso in the instrument’s history.
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The Legacy of Danny Gatton
Born on September 4, 1945, in Washington, D.C., Danny Gatton began playing the guitar when he was just a child. He boasted very unique methods of playing the guitar, which ranged from using objects along the fretboard to mixing both picks and fingertips into his playing style. Just listen to his music for yourself; he consistently blows the audience away, and he made it look ridiculously easy. At times, it sounds like multiple guitars are being played. But that’s not the case. It’s all coming straight from Gatton alone.
Gatton recorded and performed a number of records from 1975 to 1994. Quite a few posthumous releases have also hit the shelves, the most recent being New York Stories from 2009. He was a master at working with a wide range of genres. His most prominent genres were likely rockabilly and blues rock, but Gatton also produced work that touched on jazz, country rock, and beyond. He earned quite a few nicknames through the years, from “The Humbler” to “The Telemaster.” However, the most fitting was certainly “the world’s greatest unknown guitarist.”
Some out and proud admirers of Gatton who were heavily inspired by his guitar-playing ability include Joe Bonamassa, Buckethead, Vince Gill, Les Paul, Slash, Steve Vai, Lou Reed, and many more.
Sadly, Danny Gatton’s story doesn’t end happily. He passed away in 1994 at the age of 49 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. According to his friends and contemporaries, Gatton never talked about any intention to hurt himself. However, his label had dropped him due to his resistance to constant touring. He lost out on a seven-album deal with Elektra Records and only got through two records.
Perhaps the music industry was just too much. Gatton, who was admittedly shy, may have just kept his darker thoughts to himself. Either way, the tragedy of his loss is still felt in the rockabilly world today. And I do wish that more fans of rock music from that latter half of the 20th century would listen to his music. Maybe this article will help.
Photo by Ebet Roberts/Redferns
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