A close friend and fellow serious musician showed me this video, and I knew nothing of Gatton's story until I'd already fallen in love at first hear with his playing. I was heartbroken to learn some of the details of his life and legacy.
That said, what a remarkable, undeniable gift to music and all who love it. He had the ultra-rare combination of applied intelligence, physical ability, creativity, and emotion, like a Jimi or a Django, that produces highest possible art with the guitar.
The best I've ever seen and heard, and the best I'll ever see and hear.
My God, what a great talent.
Descanse en paz, gran señor don Danny Gatton, ojalá la esté pasando mucho mejor donde está ahora que como lo pasó en esto que llaman "el valle de lágrimas".
They just make me laugh with their "best guitarist of all time".. ridiculous...Clapton, Iommi, Keith Richards... Wake up ignorants!! Danny Gatton IS the only one EVER.
People. Anyone that is seeing this video appreciates guitar work at its finest. Don't argue over whos is best - Jimi, etc. It is all great. It is all good. embrace it as the artists who created it wanted you to. R E L A X and enjot it all. Big and small. God bless. jmp4blues. :)
A great player is a great player and to no greater or lesser degree. Imho, what goes into to making a great musician is aural boredom. Beethoven, Mozhart et al would've spent years of late nights slaving over a harpischord trying to tickle their own ears in ways no one had hitherto tickled an ear. Gatton wouldn't be worth listening to if he couldn't tickle my ear in ways Hendrix never could, and vice versa.
Danny never fails to impress. It's difficult for those who've never played a Tele, much less one with Barden pickups, to grasp how demanding of precision and how unforgiving that setup is. Yet withing that framework he spins an artistry drawn from so many musical realms. He is to guitar what Michael Jordan was to basketball - in his own strata.
My dad knew danny, and has about 200 unheard reel to reel tapes of danny. also has rehearsals and the actual show of guiding light when danny was on it. and 6 ten inch reels of him in the studio. If anyone's interested, send him an E-mail at Jazzdaddy42@aol.com
I stopped in to listen to a guitar great that I love. I make the mistake of reading the comments. What is wrong with you people? Jimi was amazing Danny Gatton was amazing. There is no reason to compare who was best enjoy it, that's it. There is no right answer. Just trying to figure out what causes people to write such drivel here. I promise no one cares to here who thinks who was best, especially from a bunch of internet wanna bee's
@woodroof40 While I totally respect and understand where you're coming from, in my humble opinion though, if there ever was a time when Gatton could have taken the stage before Hendrix and played this, Jimi would have never opened his case. His arse had been handed to him already. Hendrix without all the effects (which were very cool), just didn't have these kinds of mad skills. Michael Hedges would have done the same thing. J.H. was a normal guitar player. Hedges and Gatton were super freaks.
@woodroof40 This is so true. No need to make comparisons among genius musicians that we love. We may resonate more or less to different musician's styles...that's individual. Roy Buchanan and SRV are my favorites of all, but that's me. All fans are different. The geniuses are all angels come to earth because God knows life is hard, and we need our musicians to smooth things out for us.
Those comparing Jimi Hendrix to Danny Gatton are comparing apples and oranges. They were totally different kinds of artists. Hendrix was flambouyant, sang and composed... a frontman and star. Danny hated celebrity; he was at his happiest playing in some little dive with his buddies, and fixing hot rods. He didn't sing or write original vocal material, but was compelled to play guitar. I'm just glad both of them lived long-enough to record and share their unqiue talents and gifts with us.
Re: "Gatton's music tells me nothing except what a great technician Gatton was. That's why he never became any more famous. It wasn't bad luck; it was that he had little to communicate other than his urge to be good at playing the guitar." Lexo30, Danny had plenty to communicate, you just aren't tuned in to it. A few songs aside, Hendrix does nothing for me; I find psychadelic music boring. Does that make it bad? No - but it means I don't hear it the same as you. The same applies to DG.
I bought Relentless with Joey DeFrancesco in the 90's, Gatton was still alive. He influenced my guitar playing so much even though I'm not a bluegrass type or whatever player. That chicken pick technique is so useful you see in this video.You can play finger picking or strum with the pick all the time. A lot of player's have to put the pick down or aside to finger pick. I alway's have the pick in my hand and can strum or individually finger pick. I love this technique!
the only reason I hate watching Gatton is because I can't even start to do anything he does ..a lot of other guitar players are copied every day but Danny is just beyond approach or reproach..you know how they say if u want to b a better player hang out with or listen to better players?...not with Danny...he makes me actually not want to play at all!
poppyseller1, exactly right. Danny could outplay Jimi, or maybe anyone.....but fame and success involve the other factors you mention. Jimi was the entire package and my favorite and my idol. I worship him/ Danny is for us guitar players. Nobidy can do what Danny does/did.....it's just beyond comprehension. I could practice 10 hours a day for the rest of my life and not come near how great he was at 18 tears old.....
The thing about Danny Gatton is that he understood the Telecaster like few players have ever done. I have to admit that I'm not a huge fan of his music, but he really grasped something about the essential nature of his particular model of guitar that the rest of us stumbly Tele players can learn from. So whereas this strikes me as great virtuosity but doesn't really move me emotionally, I still feel like I'm understanding the guitar better just by watching it.
Jimi was way more charismatic with his presentation, performance, songwriting, fashions, command of effects, and his colorful technical approach with mountains of more energy and experience to perform and compose for larger venues than Danny who was more club orientated. Danny having more akin with perhaps Jeff Beck and a thousand nashville pickers-- moreso than Jimi--technically was a greater telecastermaster than them both, but had no sense or desire of promotion on an international scale...
a million covers of this song by a million guitarists. this is is the only guy who can groove that hard while capturing the hazy somnambulence of the original
This Guy is a fucking GENIUS!!! Wow! How did I miss this one?? He's like an "EveryGuitarist". He literally plays like everyone I've ever heard. Fuckinaye?!?!?!
hey poppyseller, that's the whole problem with pop culture... hero worship. There are twenty guitarists, probably more, including Danny Gatton and Roy Buchanan, who I would prefer to watch or listen to, or aspire to play like, before Jimi Hendrix. Who can forget Stevie Ray Vaughan or Albert Collins, etc? But who gives a shit? I always get pissed when I see people doing comparisons and making it some kind of contest. Can't we be happy these people live(d) and make or made music?
@lillegman45: "I always get pissed when I see people doing comparisons and making it some kind of contest. Can't we be happy these people live(d) and make or made music?" Yes, that's it exactly. Well-said. Music is intensely personal, it isn't some athletic contest or race... but people sometimes treat it as such. We tend to say something is bad, when we ought to say that it isn't to our taste. We agree -- I'd much rather listen to Albert Collins or SVR than Hendrix, BTW.
love danny gatton shame he left us so early, check out british band kulu's debut video change of heart on youtube, there album no rider is also on i tunes great listen
Such an INCREDIBLE talent,, and his attitude was so cool....as good as he was....none of the publicity ever went to his head. A REAL HONEST ARTIST, that left us too early...like Roy Buchanan
Hey man...this is a message board - people post their opinions on shit all the time...It's not like I was bashing anyone.....YOU just imposed your opinion (and your apparent anger issues) onto me and everyone and anyone who happens to agree with me....i bet it felt real good to type that nasty little diatribe didn't it....seek help perhaps
HEY!!! WHY DONT WE ALL LISTEN TO DANNY!!! He's simply amazing...no no we dont need to talk about other players here cause this is a DANNY FUCKIN GATTON VIDEO!!!! 143 DG!!!!
I can't believe you actually put this up for all to see....you make the Birthers sound sane - oh and go fuck yourself for calling me an idiot....I'm up here engaging in pleasantries with other music lovers and you hit me with this shit? Pathetic fuckin loser....
ITS TIME TO GIVE UP THE GHOST OF HENDRIX , HE WAS GREAT FOR WHAT HE DID FOR A VERY SHORT TIME BUT HE WASNT KING OF THE FUCKING GUITAR WORLD....SORRY DUDE, HES JUST ONE OF A MILLION PLAYERS WHO MOVED THE PLAYING FORWARD BUT FAR FROM THE ONLY!
d.g. new how to play a 1000 tunes that spanned 50 years
@poppyseller1 The thing with Jimi is that he had the entire package going on like no one else ever had, or will ever again.....I'm talking guitar virtuoso/pioneer, magnificent singer (yes, he was), genius songwriter, hippie icon, genius lyricist, mesmerizing stage presence, sex appeal, and easily one of the greatest blues guitarists ever - could Danny Gatton outplay him? Yes, I think I could and did....but he couldn't touch Jimi in any of those other categories I just listed....Just sayin.....
@carcariden haha youre such an idiot. Jimi hendrix was pretty much a slave, the Mannings and other jewish families would import slave families from africa through the arabic connection way back when in america and he was nothing but the end of that lineage. He never got paid how he should have, they kept him doped up and imprisoned in a trailer, although you see images of "freedom" --he was forced to take groupies to an army cot in his managers basement after a gig. Some freedom icon huh?
@carcariden Just sayin... Really? Is that what all that was i read before you typed that? People who say 'just sayin' are the most annoying people on THE PLANET. Which is obvious from the entirety of your statement. Hendrix was hot shit on guitar, which is what mattered. Same with Gatton. Which is why they're both great. You, on the other hand suck.. because you promote the wrong things about music. Which, in the end, really has nothing to do with anything. I'm just sayin' fuck you!
@carcariden Just sayin... Really? Is that what all that was i read before you typed that? People who say 'just sayin' are the most annoying people on THE PLANET. Which is obvious from the entirety of your statement. Hendrix was hot shit on guitar, which is what mattered. Same with Gatton. Which is why they're both great. You, on the other hand, suck fucking ass.. because you promote the wrong things about music. Which, in the end, really has nothing to do with anything. I'm just sayin' fuck you!
@DAKMAIN Awww...poor little Gatton Fan got his little feelings hurt? You don't even know me and you stage a verbal attack like this? I love both Hendrix and Gatton equally...was just pointing out some objective and very true observations. You have anger issues my friend...no really, YOU DO; and you're a loser - picking fights you'll never actually have to fight....fuckin pathetic little bitch
@moderjoker lol...don't forget Gatton is with them...and Jimi is going, "Danny, come on man show me how you play that lick!" You wanna hear Jimi sing real pretty? Look up 'Suddenly November Morning' on here....the dude really could sing when he wanted to....
@moderjoker ur a joke. i never even said i liked his singing, i just stated the fact that he made a living largely off of singing. Ur also a brain dead idiot if you think enjoying someones singing is homosexual... anyway y dont u comment again and show how retarded you are.
@bimwopbarn Do you think "making a living" is a big deal? Hendrix is a legend (at playing the guitar). So get bent, i'm right, you're wrong. Your comment is so angry... you seem to really care about tender moments and intelligent remarks, while im just joking cause i don't really care about youtube reputation as much as you do, you gullible bitch. If you don't like the troll, don't feed him. End of story.
@carcariden the truth is theres no such thing as "out play" and if there is it doesnt mean much when we're talking about real music. Jimi played the music that only he could and that would influence nearly all electric guitarists and rock music after him. Yes many people can play more scales and be faster or more precise, but I think if ur making real great music from the heart no one can out play you, especially in jimi's case. and btw everything in ur comment is true
@carcariden I basically agree with you, except that Robert Wyatt tells the story of how Larry Coryell, who is at least as fast and virtuosic a player as Gatton was, once dared to take on Hendrix in a cutting contest. Coryell brought out his entire battery of incredible licks and left the audience stunned. Then Hendrix got up on stage and blew Coryell away with one note. Speed and licks are, in the end, less effective than emotional intensity, and that's what Gatton fatally lacked.
@coal4life No. We're talking about the late 60s. People in those days did not own portable video cameras that they could bring bring to random jam sessions. There is only the anecdotal evidence of Robert Wyatt, as reported in Charles Shaar Murray's book 'Crosstown Traffic'. (I can give you the page number if you want it.) Robert Wyatt is, I think, generally regarded as an honest man and a fairly reliable witness, or at any rate not a chronic liar.
@lexo30 Yeah. I was there in the 60s. Just thought that some film footage might have been converted to present day format. Been doing that myself trying to keep alot of film of concerts from turning to dust. I still have the 16mm camera and recording gear stashed away. And miles of film to work with. Thanx for the feedback. I'll see if I can find that book. Going to be hard to make time to read it but I'll get it done.
@coal4life Sorry, I mistook you for someone younger. :) It's a fantastic book about Hendrix's impact, significance and legacy. Still in print and one of the best rock books I know (and I've read *a lot*.)
@lexo30: Sorry, have to disagree with you - I've seen Larry Coryell several times, and while he has marvelous chops and is a jazz giant, he is no Danny Gatton in terms of technique... he'd agree, by the way. Also saw Danny live, and his playing was plenty intense when he wanted it to be. The giants of music are all individuals, and that applies not only to Hendrix but to Gatton. Hendrix would have been floored by DG, just as many others have been.
@GeorgiaBoy1961 Well, I never saw either Gatton or Hendrix live - Hendrix because he died before I was born, and Gatton because as far as I know he never toured to Ireland. I just know what I hear from the recordings. And what I hear is that Gatton was the faster player, but Hendrix was incomparably a greater musician.
@lexo30: Re: "Hendrix was an incomparably greater musician..." Well, that depends on what you value, and what your tastes are. I'd certainly rank Hendrix as vastly more influential than Gatton, but terming him greater is problematical, because there is no absolute standard in music. I much prefer SVR to Hendrix, for example, and I can't really listen to JH much without getting bored. Why? I dislike psychadelic music, even brilliantly-played. Hendrix' stuff is dated, too.
@GeorgiaBoy1961 It's an absolutely fair point which you make: you can't prove that one artist is better than another, in the way that you can prove that one scientist is better than another. I can only talk about what I think Hendrix did for music, and I can see that I don't persuade you. I don't think of Hendrix's music as belonging to 'psychedelic music' - I listen to Hendrix but hardly at all to early Pink Floyd, say. I would say that Hendrix made SRV possible.
@GeorgiaBoy1961 I don't think of Hendrix's stuff as being 'dated', any more than I think of the Beatles or Mozart or Haydn as being 'dated' - you can tell when their stuff was made, but what does that matter if you connect with it? I must admit that I can't listen to SRV at all. His stuff sounds to me like a weaker, less inspired, less courageous, less ambitious variation on Hendrix. To me, he's kind of like the greatest bar band guitarist ever, whereas Hendrix was much more. But-taste, etc.
@lexo30: We do agree that good music stands the test of time. Unquestionably, Hendrix made certain parts of SRV's style possible, but the same can be said of Jimi - who was hugely influenced by many previous players. Virtually no one springs forth without antecedents or influences... we all have 'em. As for Stevie Ray not being on the same artistic level as Jimi, listen to "Lenny" or "Rivera Paradise" sometime. Hendrix' music is dated; the psychedelic era was a flash in the pan. That's fact.
@GeorgiaBoy1961 'Hendrix' music is dated; the psychedelic era was a flash in the pan. That's fact.' Well, no, it's actually a judgment on your part, and while judgments are part of the whole process of talking about music, I think what you really mean is something like 'Hendrix's music is obsolete', which is basically meaningless. I think you need to explain what you mean by 'dated'.
@GeorgiaBoy1961 Hendrix's music, like the Beatles' best music, and like Bach's and Mozart's and Webern's and Coltrane's, talks to me about the universe. Gatton's music tells me nothing except what a great technician Gatton was. That's why he never became any more famous. It wasn't bad luck; it was that he had little to communicate other than his urge to be good at playing the guitar.
@GeorgiaBoy1961 I got to see Danny Gatton play a couple of times. I agree with the poster that said he made you want to not play at all. He was THAT good.
That's why they called him "the humbler". Because he humbled anyone that tried to match up against him.
@oldartstudent" Yep, a lot of guitar slingers wanted to throw their axes in the river after seeing/hearing DG play. There are a few folks who are at or even beyond DG's level technically, look up Scotty Anderson sometime here on YT and see if he doesn't blow you away. He and DG were good pals, BTW.
@carcariden Yeah. I was there in the 60s. Just thought that some film footage might have been converted to present day format. Been doing that myself trying to keep alot of film of concerts from turning to dust. I still have the 16mm camera and recording gear stashed away. And miles of film to work with. Thanx for the feedback. I'll see if I can find that book. Going to be hard to make time to read it but I'll get it done.
@carcariden So and so will always outplay so and so, who will be outplayed by so and so, who will be outplayed by so and so.......If you really want to get down to it you have to acknowledge that Gatton was 49 when he died, and Hendrix was only 27. Just imagine if Hendrix would have had that extra 22 years to build his skills like Gatton did....Your comparison is a little flawed in that respect....just sayin ;)
@MakeMusicIA Your comparison is a stretch too.Gatton was already playing bars in the 60s.We don't have recordings of him back then.But his skill impressed John Sebastian of the Lovin Spoonful enough to write "Nashville Cats".
@poppyseller1 Um - to say that Hendrix was 'just one of a million players who moved the playing forward but far from the only' is like saying that Einstein is just one of a million scientists who advanced our understanding of the universe. Yes, there have been other scientists, but Hendrix 'moved the playing forward' as far as anyone has ever done. He's up there with Charlie Christian (Newton) and Andres Segovia (Euclid), in terms of paradigm shifts in approaches to the guitar are concerned.
@lexo30: Yes, we get it that you love Hendrix, and that he was enormously influential in how electric players approach their instruments, but popular music is too big to be due to just one man, no matter how brilliant. And do not forget that if Hendrix hadn't "discovered" the techniques he's credited with - someone else would have. We're not talking "Einstein" here, to use your phrase. Feedback, manipulation of effects, distortion, etc. had all been done by others before JH.
@GeorgiaBoy1961 This may come as a surprise, but not only is Hendrix *not* my favourite musician ever, he's not even my favourite guitar player. We agree more than you think. Popular music is a whole tree of different influences cross-influencing each other, and Hendrix is only one figure. What we disagree about is the extent of his importance. Yeah, Link Wray had used fuzz and (actually) John Lennon, not George Harrison, had used feedback; but Hendrix made them into expressive devices.
@GeorgiaBoy1961 A whole bunch of not very interesting composers (and some great ones) had used counterpoint before Bach, but Bach made more complex, more dazzling and more moving counterpoint than any of his predecessors (and many of his successors). Practically all rock guitarists in the Hendrix era were either rhythm or lead; Hendrix could do both at the same time. No, I don't listen to him all the time. I probably listen to more Fripp, Fred Frith and Zappa than I listen to Hendrix.
@lexo30: (Continued from previous post) Link Wray used feedback before Hendrix, as did George Harrison; Chet Atkins and Les Paul experimented with tape delay and echo effects long before Jimi; lots of rock and blues pioneers played at extreme volume (Clapton, Albert King, Albert Collins, etc.) and used distortion creatively; T-Bone Walker played guitar behind his head when Jimi was still a baby; jazz players like Wes Montgomery and others were using advanced chord voicings before JH. And so on.
@GeorgiaBoy1961 As I suggested below, it's not so much about which musician does things first, but what a musician does with the things on offer. Sure, all the guys you mention did all those things before Hendrix. You omit Curtis Mayfield, a more appropriate comparison than Wes in terms of chordal playing. But none of them, before Hendrix, did all of those things.
@lexo30: You are correct, Mayfield was a big influence on Hendrix. Look, I'm about outta gas on this discussion - think as you like and I'll do the same. You haven't changed my mind, and I suspect the same is true on your end. Cheers.
@GeorgiaBoy1961 , true and especially Wes, you hear it all the time in JH's use of intervals. JH learned from those that came before him as those who cam after learned from him.
Oh hell yeah.I remember the club soda now although i dont even remember exactly where it was.Desperados too.That used to be in Georgetown. Then again i dont remember a lot of things from the 80s. D.C.used to have a kick ass music scene. Even way back Patsy Cline used to play there all the time.Roy Clark.Before my time.I think even Skip James moved there back in the 70s.Not sure whats going on there now.
Saw him mostly in the early eighties before i moved to NYC for a long time.Next time i saw him he was by chance and he was on Austin City limits. Got to have a great talk to Les Paul one time and prettty much all we talked about was Danny cause Les was Dannys idol. Next thing i really remember is hearing about him on the news but id rather remember the good stuff.Id say he was the greatest guitar player ive ever seen and i saw Segovia once.Long live redneck jazz.
I first heard Danny on a Guitar Player Magazine flexi-disk in '88 during my metalhead youth and rediscovered him 2yrs ago via yt. Since then I've been pleccy free and playing a tele it's amazing how it's opened my eyes! He was a monster guitarist and the best teacher I've never met. Amazing Talent!
@TheGubernot: Are you referring to that GP Soundpage, "Nit Pickin'"? Man alive, when I heard that - did it turn my head around! I'm still amazed more than twnety years later. And except for one very brief echo effect, there's no overdubs on that record - none. That's amazing. Danny's right-hand was awe-inspiring - but so was his creativity and musicality.
@GeorgiaBoy1961 Yes I am indeed :) It was so spontaneous sounding and fun in fact do you remember his exercises in the mag? I've used them for 23 years lol! His lack of pretension really rubbed off on me. It's funny today I was speaking to a Luthier who'd never heard him! Well by tonight he will have! Lol!
I used to go in the eighties.Saw him with Robert Gordon at the wax museum with Robert Gordon,once with Evan Johns(no slouch himself)out in maryland somewhere,Gallaghers once but the Gentry was really kind of Dannys house. It was his old neighborhood.S.W. D.C.
Danny asked me for a beer bottle once and i handed him a bud bottle knowing he always used a heinakin bottle.He was fired up playing and said no it had to be a heinakin bottle so i went around to where the bar was,bought one,chugged it on the way back and gave it to him. Talk about high maintenance.ha ha.Danny had a good sense of humor.Kind of on the dry side.Far as sleepwalk goes if anyone should have gotten a grammy for its rendition it should have been him.
Used to catch Danny everytime i could in D.C. back in the eighties.He would do jazz night at the gentry right around the corner from where he grew up. He would do the Danny and the fat boys thing friday and sat. and be back tuesday night playing hardcore jazz. Lost a lot of sleep but it was worth it.Everyone that was there at that time knew there was something special going on.
@redwashre Great stories you lucky guy!! what years did you see him? To me he was very explosive from 74-79, but 81-83 some great finger picking and , and 87-88 some brilliant Jazz are right there in their own way. Hopefully someday collectors with the real good rare stuff will share!!
Who else could pull off that solo? He was the master. Steve Vai did not say for nothing if there was something like best guitarist it would be Danny Gatton - period.
You guys arguing about who is the "best," behave yourselves... there is no "best," only what gets to you musically, and what doesn't. Besides, gattonmaster (wink, wink), everyone knows that there was Wes and then everyone else, as far as being the ultimate of what could be done with a guitar. Seriously, arguing about who's the "best" guitar player is like trying to determine the greatest baseball hitter of all time. Ain't gonna settle anything, and everyone will just get ticked off.
@GeorgiaBoy1961 Hi buddy ha ha lol; here we go again. No but your right buddy its all about the music. I'm only saying in my opinion the best playing on audio and viideo/dvd I've seen and heard of DG impresses me more than anything I've ever heard or seen by Lenny, Scotty, Wes, Johny Smith, Jimmy Bryant, and all the others BUT I really like ALL the great players.
He was the nicest and most approachable genius you can find. After his show at Graffiiti in Pittsburgh, he was out of smokes and I was out of beer, The bar was closed, but he fixed that, we traded smokes and beers for an hour. He also explained the mysterious story of the Custom Shop pinstripe Tele that got painted a horrible copper color (which he played that night). An incredibly humble, down to earth and friendly person
I saw Danny play several times. The last time, at a run-down dump of a bar in P.G. County, MD, shortly before he committed suicide. He looked like it was the last place on earth he wanted to be. I want everyone to know that he was a great guy, approachable and down-to-earth. It's a real shame what happened. It reminds me of something I read from Lonny Mack about being a traveling musician: You've got to love it, because if you don't, it'll kill you.
@bro689: Sure wish Danny had reached out for some help, because it still hurts that he took his own life the way he did. Lonnie Mack is indeed right, that the road can mow you down. It's a harsh life out there, and you'd better be into it 100% or it will lay you low. I used to gig all the time myself, and the musician's life isn't an easy one - despite the music (good and bad), fun times and the kicks. It had to hurt Danny seeing guys with little of his talent sour past him on the charts.
@doucet68 yea, i learned the shadow's version when i was 4...most players progress past 4 chords a 8 notes..go fuck off too buddy..damn, is everyone on here an imbecile tween?
@MrLocostSeven Oh without a doubt; not even close. You can take any players career and only 2 guys are in Gattons class; Lenny Breau and Scotty Anderson. Danny was the most spectacular improvised soloist of all time and it isn't even close...; I should know...
@gattonmaster you should know your mouth didn't get round from eating bananas..STFU moron, danny was great but so are thousands of others not including you..femboy, you probably play a fag gibson and think yer cool like slash..lolol..loser..Lenny breau..wtf?..go smoke more crack and stay of youtube idiot..Scotty anderson sucked cocks too
@Parkwoodparkenfarker when will people like you understand even though jimi was awesome an cool and a fantastic composer as well as a pioneer hes not the best player in history...
@Timmonsec THANK YOU. So many people say he is the best. And most who say that are not even guitar players. I agree that he did a lot of changes for rock and I am glad he was a guitar player. But you know who his favorite guitarist was?... Billy Gibbons. ZZ Top was around when he was, too. And Billy was a much cleaner and more musical player. Anyway. I agree. Jimi = awesome. Jimi does not = the best.
@Parkwoodparkenfarker Several are better than Jimi ; Gatton, Breau, Scotty Anderson, Wes Montgomery, Johny Smith, Jimmy Bryant; and others. Jimi used to be my heroe and his imagination and all around musician talent are excellent but for just lead guitar there are many better.
there really arnt "better" players, i like jimi, dimebag darrel, bb king, and pretty much any other famous guitarists and the truth of it all is they are ALL great at their own style, and it really just depends what YOU like to determine who you think is better
if so then yea, i dont get it either its pretty obvious that theres not much to compare style wise when they play COMPLETELY different genre's and were influenced by different styles and guitarists
1:25 to 1:35 is some of the best guitar you will ever hear :)
bmparatrooper 19 hours ago
did Danny ever play at whitey's?
ghostship851 2 days ago
A close friend and fellow serious musician showed me this video, and I knew nothing of Gatton's story until I'd already fallen in love at first hear with his playing. I was heartbroken to learn some of the details of his life and legacy.
That said, what a remarkable, undeniable gift to music and all who love it. He had the ultra-rare combination of applied intelligence, physical ability, creativity, and emotion, like a Jimi or a Django, that produces highest possible art with the guitar.
Poe22222 4 weeks ago
@Poe22222 well said..Gatton was a complete master guitar player, so enjoyable to listen/watch...
KhalDrogo76 2 weeks ago
Great Video!
lstyles 1 month ago
The best I've ever seen and heard, and the best I'll ever see and hear.
My God, what a great talent.
Descanse en paz, gran señor don Danny Gatton, ojalá la esté pasando mucho mejor donde está ahora que como lo pasó en esto que llaman "el valle de lágrimas".
Complicaadd0rock 1 month ago
Danny is certainly one of the best...RIP
sailorsgh 1 month ago
1:19 - 1:30 mind=blown
boot180 1 month ago
Check out Johnny Hiland..... another Master Player.
petosa007 2 months ago
The guy can bend guitar strings with simple amazement.........period.
8495200 2 months ago
They just make me laugh with their "best guitarist of all time".. ridiculous...Clapton, Iommi, Keith Richards... Wake up ignorants!! Danny Gatton IS the only one EVER.
RomainChapus 2 months ago
It's incredible what he could do. Not my thing, but as a guitar player, he was so stinking impressive.
joshie4330 3 months ago
Was lucky to see him in Charlottesville, VA in 91 or 92. Killer.
boatbutter 3 months ago
People. Anyone that is seeing this video appreciates guitar work at its finest. Don't argue over whos is best - Jimi, etc. It is all great. It is all good. embrace it as the artists who created it wanted you to. R E L A X and enjot it all. Big and small. God bless. jmp4blues. :)
1jmp1958 3 months ago
A great player is a great player and to no greater or lesser degree. Imho, what goes into to making a great musician is aural boredom. Beethoven, Mozhart et al would've spent years of late nights slaving over a harpischord trying to tickle their own ears in ways no one had hitherto tickled an ear. Gatton wouldn't be worth listening to if he couldn't tickle my ear in ways Hendrix never could, and vice versa.
iamnotanumberiamaman 3 months ago
Jimi was not the player Gatton was, that's just how I feel!
Crackers2549 3 months ago in playlist More videos from robertkittila 2
He could outplay 10 guitarists at the same time.
jplent 4 months ago
Wow!...... Magnifico requintista, mis respetos, pero la melodia la hizo mierda!!!!.....
santhoyo 4 months ago
RIP Danny
BusterTV1 4 months ago 2
This is fucking phenomenal.
douchechillum 5 months ago 6
Danny left us much, much too soon. He was a great musician, and, he is greatly missed. RIP, Danny.
southroncross 5 months ago
Danny never fails to impress. It's difficult for those who've never played a Tele, much less one with Barden pickups, to grasp how demanding of precision and how unforgiving that setup is. Yet withing that framework he spins an artistry drawn from so many musical realms. He is to guitar what Michael Jordan was to basketball - in his own strata.
mrplavick9 5 months ago
@mrplavick9 then who's lebron james?
samjohannes 4 months ago
@samjohannes Yngwie? :p
mrplavick9 4 months ago
My dad knew danny, and has about 200 unheard reel to reel tapes of danny. also has rehearsals and the actual show of guiding light when danny was on it. and 6 ten inch reels of him in the studio. If anyone's interested, send him an E-mail at Jazzdaddy42@aol.com
Kennydono 6 months ago
I stopped in to listen to a guitar great that I love. I make the mistake of reading the comments. What is wrong with you people? Jimi was amazing Danny Gatton was amazing. There is no reason to compare who was best enjoy it, that's it. There is no right answer. Just trying to figure out what causes people to write such drivel here. I promise no one cares to here who thinks who was best, especially from a bunch of internet wanna bee's
woodroof40 6 months ago 19
@woodroof40 While I totally respect and understand where you're coming from, in my humble opinion though, if there ever was a time when Gatton could have taken the stage before Hendrix and played this, Jimi would have never opened his case. His arse had been handed to him already. Hendrix without all the effects (which were very cool), just didn't have these kinds of mad skills. Michael Hedges would have done the same thing. J.H. was a normal guitar player. Hedges and Gatton were super freaks.
steentompkins 3 months ago 2
@woodroof40 This is so true. No need to make comparisons among genius musicians that we love. We may resonate more or less to different musician's styles...that's individual. Roy Buchanan and SRV are my favorites of all, but that's me. All fans are different. The geniuses are all angels come to earth because God knows life is hard, and we need our musicians to smooth things out for us.
karennorwegian 1 month ago
good sound
sugimoto1478 6 months ago
great video amazing solo
telemaster1953 6 months ago
Those comparing Jimi Hendrix to Danny Gatton are comparing apples and oranges. They were totally different kinds of artists. Hendrix was flambouyant, sang and composed... a frontman and star. Danny hated celebrity; he was at his happiest playing in some little dive with his buddies, and fixing hot rods. He didn't sing or write original vocal material, but was compelled to play guitar. I'm just glad both of them lived long-enough to record and share their unqiue talents and gifts with us.
GeorgiaBoy1961 6 months ago
Re: "Gatton's music tells me nothing except what a great technician Gatton was. That's why he never became any more famous. It wasn't bad luck; it was that he had little to communicate other than his urge to be good at playing the guitar." Lexo30, Danny had plenty to communicate, you just aren't tuned in to it. A few songs aside, Hendrix does nothing for me; I find psychadelic music boring. Does that make it bad? No - but it means I don't hear it the same as you. The same applies to DG.
GeorgiaBoy1961 6 months ago
I bought Relentless with Joey DeFrancesco in the 90's, Gatton was still alive. He influenced my guitar playing so much even though I'm not a bluegrass type or whatever player. That chicken pick technique is so useful you see in this video.You can play finger picking or strum with the pick all the time. A lot of player's have to put the pick down or aside to finger pick. I alway's have the pick in my hand and can strum or individually finger pick. I love this technique!
kevyk135 6 months ago
the only reason I hate watching Gatton is because I can't even start to do anything he does ..a lot of other guitar players are copied every day but Danny is just beyond approach or reproach..you know how they say if u want to b a better player hang out with or listen to better players?...not with Danny...he makes me actually not want to play at all!
larrybillguitar 6 months ago
Gatton is a lot like Roy Buchanan, virtuoso, no real image or profile, telecaster, both committed suicide.
On this track, he overplays here a bit and the melody gets a bit lost now and again. Setzer's version is the definitive one I've heard.
Gonzoidzz 6 months ago
gershwin quote at 45 sec?
dlevita 6 months ago
poppyseller1, exactly right. Danny could outplay Jimi, or maybe anyone.....but fame and success involve the other factors you mention. Jimi was the entire package and my favorite and my idol. I worship him/ Danny is for us guitar players. Nobidy can do what Danny does/did.....it's just beyond comprehension. I could practice 10 hours a day for the rest of my life and not come near how great he was at 18 tears old.....
1967ax 7 months ago
The thing about Danny Gatton is that he understood the Telecaster like few players have ever done. I have to admit that I'm not a huge fan of his music, but he really grasped something about the essential nature of his particular model of guitar that the rest of us stumbly Tele players can learn from. So whereas this strikes me as great virtuosity but doesn't really move me emotionally, I still feel like I'm understanding the guitar better just by watching it.
lexo30 7 months ago
This is the real thing, guys.
Guitarwolfluke 7 months ago
Jimi could sing. His voice wasn't always great but sometimes it was and it suits his music very well.
hesmon 7 months ago
I still don't understand why..
tim78704 7 months ago
Jimi was way more charismatic with his presentation, performance, songwriting, fashions, command of effects, and his colorful technical approach with mountains of more energy and experience to perform and compose for larger venues than Danny who was more club orientated. Danny having more akin with perhaps Jeff Beck and a thousand nashville pickers-- moreso than Jimi--technically was a greater telecastermaster than them both, but had no sense or desire of promotion on an international scale...
UrantiaMansion 8 months ago
Oh this is tasty. I was hungry but now I'm full :-)
esgimasd 8 months ago
they need to "get bent" dude
bpin916 8 months ago
@bpin916 get bent, dude
moderjoker 8 months ago
The two people below me need to get a room.Haha
fenderstratplayer14 8 months ago
a million covers of this song by a million guitarists. this is is the only guy who can groove that hard while capturing the hazy somnambulence of the original
JPGberg 8 months ago
This Guy is a fucking GENIUS!!! Wow! How did I miss this one?? He's like an "EveryGuitarist". He literally plays like everyone I've ever heard. Fuckinaye?!?!?!
hartistry1957 8 months ago
WoW greeeeeeeat!
negmone 8 months ago
37 people are fast asleep
warpold 8 months ago
Danny makes that tele look like a 1/4 size kids guitar. What a monster, physically and artistically.
srvgravesdime 9 months ago
awesome job.
SoleiCapri 9 months ago
...the humbler indeed.
semiprecioustones 9 months ago
hey poppyseller, that's the whole problem with pop culture... hero worship. There are twenty guitarists, probably more, including Danny Gatton and Roy Buchanan, who I would prefer to watch or listen to, or aspire to play like, before Jimi Hendrix. Who can forget Stevie Ray Vaughan or Albert Collins, etc? But who gives a shit? I always get pissed when I see people doing comparisons and making it some kind of contest. Can't we be happy these people live(d) and make or made music?
lillegman45 9 months ago
@lillegman45: "I always get pissed when I see people doing comparisons and making it some kind of contest. Can't we be happy these people live(d) and make or made music?" Yes, that's it exactly. Well-said. Music is intensely personal, it isn't some athletic contest or race... but people sometimes treat it as such. We tend to say something is bad, when we ought to say that it isn't to our taste. We agree -- I'd much rather listen to Albert Collins or SVR than Hendrix, BTW.
GeorgiaBoy1961 6 months ago
who is this?!
carpetmonk 9 months ago
@carpetmonk The late great Danny Gatton.
jacknarcotta 9 months ago
@jacknarcotta he was great.. i always end up back at my roots
carpetmonk 9 months ago
Hey if you read the title, it says SOLO. Look for the melody& solo if that's what you want.
RK
robertkittila 9 months ago 3
Phenomenal dexterity, no one could touch him. BUT this doesn't sound much like Santo and Johnny's sleepwalk until near the end of the solo.
aucksmix 9 months ago
i just walked over to my telecaster after watching half of this haha
DakotaPlaysGuitar 9 months ago
this is unreal... Danny Gatton will always bemissed
DakotaPlaysGuitar 9 months ago
love danny gatton shame he left us so early, check out british band kulu's debut video change of heart on youtube, there album no rider is also on i tunes great listen
takeitbackfloyd 9 months ago
OMG
eselnagual 10 months ago
Such an INCREDIBLE talent,, and his attitude was so cool....as good as he was....none of the publicity ever went to his head. A REAL HONEST ARTIST, that left us too early...like Roy Buchanan
MrMonteCarloRacing 10 months ago
Sop whining and ROCK!!!
luvsilly60 10 months ago
Hey man...this is a message board - people post their opinions on shit all the time...It's not like I was bashing anyone.....YOU just imposed your opinion (and your apparent anger issues) onto me and everyone and anyone who happens to agree with me....i bet it felt real good to type that nasty little diatribe didn't it....seek help perhaps
carcariden 10 months ago
Many have tried to copy danny but never came close and never will even after death :)
memmnock 10 months ago
HEY!!! WHY DONT WE ALL LISTEN TO DANNY!!! He's simply amazing...no no we dont need to talk about other players here cause this is a DANNY FUCKIN GATTON VIDEO!!!! 143 DG!!!!
MiGrandeCazzo 10 months ago
Jimi could NOT solo like Gatton. Gatton can tear up Jazz. Check out his album with Joey Defrancesco.
randylikesdrums 10 months ago
yeah jimi hendrix is a lamer at soloing, good compositionist though
gen6k 10 months ago
I can't believe you actually put this up for all to see....you make the Birthers sound sane - oh and go fuck yourself for calling me an idiot....I'm up here engaging in pleasantries with other music lovers and you hit me with this shit? Pathetic fuckin loser....
carcariden 11 months ago
and yeah...I meant to say HE could outplay Jimi...not frickin me
carcariden 11 months ago
@jblaze23rod
ITS TIME TO GIVE UP THE GHOST OF HENDRIX , HE WAS GREAT FOR WHAT HE DID FOR A VERY SHORT TIME BUT HE WASNT KING OF THE FUCKING GUITAR WORLD....SORRY DUDE, HES JUST ONE OF A MILLION PLAYERS WHO MOVED THE PLAYING FORWARD BUT FAR FROM THE ONLY!
d.g. new how to play a 1000 tunes that spanned 50 years
poppyseller1 11 months ago
@poppyseller1 The thing with Jimi is that he had the entire package going on like no one else ever had, or will ever again.....I'm talking guitar virtuoso/pioneer, magnificent singer (yes, he was), genius songwriter, hippie icon, genius lyricist, mesmerizing stage presence, sex appeal, and easily one of the greatest blues guitarists ever - could Danny Gatton outplay him? Yes, I think I could and did....but he couldn't touch Jimi in any of those other categories I just listed....Just sayin.....
carcariden 11 months ago 7
@carcariden haha youre such an idiot. Jimi hendrix was pretty much a slave, the Mannings and other jewish families would import slave families from africa through the arabic connection way back when in america and he was nothing but the end of that lineage. He never got paid how he should have, they kept him doped up and imprisoned in a trailer, although you see images of "freedom" --he was forced to take groupies to an army cot in his managers basement after a gig. Some freedom icon huh?
RSwordIAAA 11 months ago
@carcariden Just sayin... Really? Is that what all that was i read before you typed that? People who say 'just sayin' are the most annoying people on THE PLANET. Which is obvious from the entirety of your statement. Hendrix was hot shit on guitar, which is what mattered. Same with Gatton. Which is why they're both great. You, on the other hand suck.. because you promote the wrong things about music. Which, in the end, really has nothing to do with anything. I'm just sayin' fuck you!
DAKMAIN 9 months ago
@carcariden Just sayin... Really? Is that what all that was i read before you typed that? People who say 'just sayin' are the most annoying people on THE PLANET. Which is obvious from the entirety of your statement. Hendrix was hot shit on guitar, which is what mattered. Same with Gatton. Which is why they're both great. You, on the other hand, suck fucking ass.. because you promote the wrong things about music. Which, in the end, really has nothing to do with anything. I'm just sayin' fuck you!
DAKMAIN 9 months ago
@DAKMAIN Awww...poor little Gatton Fan got his little feelings hurt? You don't even know me and you stage a verbal attack like this? I love both Hendrix and Gatton equally...was just pointing out some objective and very true observations. You have anger issues my friend...no really, YOU DO; and you're a loser - picking fights you'll never actually have to fight....fuckin pathetic little bitch
carcariden 9 months ago
@carcariden Why don't you go to another show and compare the bands shoe strings.
DAKMAIN 9 months ago
@DAKMAIN Jesus..you again? You're like a fly buzzing around my head. Why so emotional? Life got you down?
carcariden 9 months ago
@carcariden Jimi couldn't sing to save his life, sorry.
moderjoker 8 months ago
@moderjoker so tell me....how could he have improved his singing....can you imagine him singing in any other way?
carcariden 8 months ago
@carcariden expressing more things with his voice... like a good blues singer would do. I love Jimi too, but i don't like his singing.
moderjoker 8 months ago
@carcariden actually, you know what? i don't know. All i know is jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison are playing together. In heaven.
moderjoker 8 months ago
@moderjoker lol...don't forget Gatton is with them...and Jimi is going, "Danny, come on man show me how you play that lick!" You wanna hear Jimi sing real pretty? Look up 'Suddenly November Morning' on here....the dude really could sing when he wanted to....
carcariden 8 months ago
@moderjoker truly retarded comment. Not only could he sing to save his life he made a living largely off of his singing
bimwopbarn 8 months ago
@bimwopbarn You like his singing because you're homosexual. I'm not, so i don't. Get bent, dude. Playing the guitar is the business here.
moderjoker 8 months ago
@moderjoker ur a joke. i never even said i liked his singing, i just stated the fact that he made a living largely off of singing. Ur also a brain dead idiot if you think enjoying someones singing is homosexual... anyway y dont u comment again and show how retarded you are.
bimwopbarn 8 months ago
@bimwopbarn Do you think "making a living" is a big deal? Hendrix is a legend (at playing the guitar). So get bent, i'm right, you're wrong. Your comment is so angry... you seem to really care about tender moments and intelligent remarks, while im just joking cause i don't really care about youtube reputation as much as you do, you gullible bitch. If you don't like the troll, don't feed him. End of story.
moderjoker 8 months ago
@moderjoker alright u just called urself a troll im done here
bimwopbarn 8 months ago
@carcariden the truth is theres no such thing as "out play" and if there is it doesnt mean much when we're talking about real music. Jimi played the music that only he could and that would influence nearly all electric guitarists and rock music after him. Yes many people can play more scales and be faster or more precise, but I think if ur making real great music from the heart no one can out play you, especially in jimi's case. and btw everything in ur comment is true
bimwopbarn 8 months ago
@carcariden I basically agree with you, except that Robert Wyatt tells the story of how Larry Coryell, who is at least as fast and virtuosic a player as Gatton was, once dared to take on Hendrix in a cutting contest. Coryell brought out his entire battery of incredible licks and left the audience stunned. Then Hendrix got up on stage and blew Coryell away with one note. Speed and licks are, in the end, less effective than emotional intensity, and that's what Gatton fatally lacked.
lexo30 7 months ago
@lexo30 dude I'm so glad this isn't another hate-filled Gatton Fan Rant...very cool little piece of trivia, thanks for sharing....
carcariden 7 months ago
@carcariden Well, thank you.
lexo30 7 months ago
@lexo30 Is there a vid of Larry & Jimi doing that?
coal4life 7 months ago
@coal4life No. We're talking about the late 60s. People in those days did not own portable video cameras that they could bring bring to random jam sessions. There is only the anecdotal evidence of Robert Wyatt, as reported in Charles Shaar Murray's book 'Crosstown Traffic'. (I can give you the page number if you want it.) Robert Wyatt is, I think, generally regarded as an honest man and a fairly reliable witness, or at any rate not a chronic liar.
lexo30 7 months ago
@lexo30 Yeah. I was there in the 60s. Just thought that some film footage might have been converted to present day format. Been doing that myself trying to keep alot of film of concerts from turning to dust. I still have the 16mm camera and recording gear stashed away. And miles of film to work with. Thanx for the feedback. I'll see if I can find that book. Going to be hard to make time to read it but I'll get it done.
coal4life 7 months ago
@coal4life Sorry, I mistook you for someone younger. :) It's a fantastic book about Hendrix's impact, significance and legacy. Still in print and one of the best rock books I know (and I've read *a lot*.)
lexo30 7 months ago
@lexo30: Sorry, have to disagree with you - I've seen Larry Coryell several times, and while he has marvelous chops and is a jazz giant, he is no Danny Gatton in terms of technique... he'd agree, by the way. Also saw Danny live, and his playing was plenty intense when he wanted it to be. The giants of music are all individuals, and that applies not only to Hendrix but to Gatton. Hendrix would have been floored by DG, just as many others have been.
GeorgiaBoy1961 7 months ago
@GeorgiaBoy1961 Well, I never saw either Gatton or Hendrix live - Hendrix because he died before I was born, and Gatton because as far as I know he never toured to Ireland. I just know what I hear from the recordings. And what I hear is that Gatton was the faster player, but Hendrix was incomparably a greater musician.
lexo30 7 months ago
@lexo30: Re: "Hendrix was an incomparably greater musician..." Well, that depends on what you value, and what your tastes are. I'd certainly rank Hendrix as vastly more influential than Gatton, but terming him greater is problematical, because there is no absolute standard in music. I much prefer SVR to Hendrix, for example, and I can't really listen to JH much without getting bored. Why? I dislike psychadelic music, even brilliantly-played. Hendrix' stuff is dated, too.
GeorgiaBoy1961 6 months ago
@GeorgiaBoy1961 It's an absolutely fair point which you make: you can't prove that one artist is better than another, in the way that you can prove that one scientist is better than another. I can only talk about what I think Hendrix did for music, and I can see that I don't persuade you. I don't think of Hendrix's music as belonging to 'psychedelic music' - I listen to Hendrix but hardly at all to early Pink Floyd, say. I would say that Hendrix made SRV possible.
lexo30 6 months ago
@GeorgiaBoy1961 I don't think of Hendrix's stuff as being 'dated', any more than I think of the Beatles or Mozart or Haydn as being 'dated' - you can tell when their stuff was made, but what does that matter if you connect with it? I must admit that I can't listen to SRV at all. His stuff sounds to me like a weaker, less inspired, less courageous, less ambitious variation on Hendrix. To me, he's kind of like the greatest bar band guitarist ever, whereas Hendrix was much more. But-taste, etc.
lexo30 6 months ago
@lexo30: We do agree that good music stands the test of time. Unquestionably, Hendrix made certain parts of SRV's style possible, but the same can be said of Jimi - who was hugely influenced by many previous players. Virtually no one springs forth without antecedents or influences... we all have 'em. As for Stevie Ray not being on the same artistic level as Jimi, listen to "Lenny" or "Rivera Paradise" sometime. Hendrix' music is dated; the psychedelic era was a flash in the pan. That's fact.
GeorgiaBoy1961 6 months ago
@GeorgiaBoy1961 'Hendrix' music is dated; the psychedelic era was a flash in the pan. That's fact.' Well, no, it's actually a judgment on your part, and while judgments are part of the whole process of talking about music, I think what you really mean is something like 'Hendrix's music is obsolete', which is basically meaningless. I think you need to explain what you mean by 'dated'.
lexo30 6 months ago
@GeorgiaBoy1961 Hendrix's music, like the Beatles' best music, and like Bach's and Mozart's and Webern's and Coltrane's, talks to me about the universe. Gatton's music tells me nothing except what a great technician Gatton was. That's why he never became any more famous. It wasn't bad luck; it was that he had little to communicate other than his urge to be good at playing the guitar.
lexo30 7 months ago
@GeorgiaBoy1961 I got to see Danny Gatton play a couple of times. I agree with the poster that said he made you want to not play at all. He was THAT good.
That's why they called him "the humbler". Because he humbled anyone that tried to match up against him.
oldartstudent 6 months ago
@oldartstudent" Yep, a lot of guitar slingers wanted to throw their axes in the river after seeing/hearing DG play. There are a few folks who are at or even beyond DG's level technically, look up Scotty Anderson sometime here on YT and see if he doesn't blow you away. He and DG were good pals, BTW.
GeorgiaBoy1961 6 months ago
@carcariden Yeah. I was there in the 60s. Just thought that some film footage might have been converted to present day format. Been doing that myself trying to keep alot of film of concerts from turning to dust. I still have the 16mm camera and recording gear stashed away. And miles of film to work with. Thanx for the feedback. I'll see if I can find that book. Going to be hard to make time to read it but I'll get it done.
coal4life 7 months ago
@carcariden *hippie icon* - by far the most important attribute any artist could possess (:
phildoughty 6 months ago
@carcariden , he wasn't Hendrix but Hendrix couldn't do half the things Gatton could do with a guitar.
precaryus 6 months ago
@precaryus I got no quibble with that statement...
carcariden 6 months ago
@carcariden So and so will always outplay so and so, who will be outplayed by so and so, who will be outplayed by so and so.......If you really want to get down to it you have to acknowledge that Gatton was 49 when he died, and Hendrix was only 27. Just imagine if Hendrix would have had that extra 22 years to build his skills like Gatton did....Your comparison is a little flawed in that respect....just sayin ;)
MakeMusicIA 6 months ago
@MakeMusicIA Your comparison is a stretch too.Gatton was already playing bars in the 60s.We don't have recordings of him back then.But his skill impressed John Sebastian of the Lovin Spoonful enough to write "Nashville Cats".
whatthedormousesaid 5 months ago
Comment removed
MiGrandeCazzo 10 months ago
@poppyseller1 Um - to say that Hendrix was 'just one of a million players who moved the playing forward but far from the only' is like saying that Einstein is just one of a million scientists who advanced our understanding of the universe. Yes, there have been other scientists, but Hendrix 'moved the playing forward' as far as anyone has ever done. He's up there with Charlie Christian (Newton) and Andres Segovia (Euclid), in terms of paradigm shifts in approaches to the guitar are concerned.
lexo30 7 months ago
@lexo30: Yes, we get it that you love Hendrix, and that he was enormously influential in how electric players approach their instruments, but popular music is too big to be due to just one man, no matter how brilliant. And do not forget that if Hendrix hadn't "discovered" the techniques he's credited with - someone else would have. We're not talking "Einstein" here, to use your phrase. Feedback, manipulation of effects, distortion, etc. had all been done by others before JH.
GeorgiaBoy1961 6 months ago
@GeorgiaBoy1961 This may come as a surprise, but not only is Hendrix *not* my favourite musician ever, he's not even my favourite guitar player. We agree more than you think. Popular music is a whole tree of different influences cross-influencing each other, and Hendrix is only one figure. What we disagree about is the extent of his importance. Yeah, Link Wray had used fuzz and (actually) John Lennon, not George Harrison, had used feedback; but Hendrix made them into expressive devices.
lexo30 6 months ago
@GeorgiaBoy1961 A whole bunch of not very interesting composers (and some great ones) had used counterpoint before Bach, but Bach made more complex, more dazzling and more moving counterpoint than any of his predecessors (and many of his successors). Practically all rock guitarists in the Hendrix era were either rhythm or lead; Hendrix could do both at the same time. No, I don't listen to him all the time. I probably listen to more Fripp, Fred Frith and Zappa than I listen to Hendrix.
lexo30 6 months ago
@lexo30: (Continued from previous post) Link Wray used feedback before Hendrix, as did George Harrison; Chet Atkins and Les Paul experimented with tape delay and echo effects long before Jimi; lots of rock and blues pioneers played at extreme volume (Clapton, Albert King, Albert Collins, etc.) and used distortion creatively; T-Bone Walker played guitar behind his head when Jimi was still a baby; jazz players like Wes Montgomery and others were using advanced chord voicings before JH. And so on.
GeorgiaBoy1961 6 months ago
@GeorgiaBoy1961 As I suggested below, it's not so much about which musician does things first, but what a musician does with the things on offer. Sure, all the guys you mention did all those things before Hendrix. You omit Curtis Mayfield, a more appropriate comparison than Wes in terms of chordal playing. But none of them, before Hendrix, did all of those things.
lexo30 6 months ago
@lexo30: You are correct, Mayfield was a big influence on Hendrix. Look, I'm about outta gas on this discussion - think as you like and I'll do the same. You haven't changed my mind, and I suspect the same is true on your end. Cheers.
GeorgiaBoy1961 6 months ago
@GeorgiaBoy1961 , true and especially Wes, you hear it all the time in JH's use of intervals. JH learned from those that came before him as those who cam after learned from him.
precaryus 6 months ago
This guys seriously underrated.
Carthsgtr 11 months ago 15
Oh hell yeah.I remember the club soda now although i dont even remember exactly where it was.Desperados too.That used to be in Georgetown. Then again i dont remember a lot of things from the 80s. D.C.used to have a kick ass music scene. Even way back Patsy Cline used to play there all the time.Roy Clark.Before my time.I think even Skip James moved there back in the 70s.Not sure whats going on there now.
redwashre 1 year ago
Saw him mostly in the early eighties before i moved to NYC for a long time.Next time i saw him he was by chance and he was on Austin City limits. Got to have a great talk to Les Paul one time and prettty much all we talked about was Danny cause Les was Dannys idol. Next thing i really remember is hearing about him on the news but id rather remember the good stuff.Id say he was the greatest guitar player ive ever seen and i saw Segovia once.Long live redneck jazz.
redwashre 1 year ago
I first heard Danny on a Guitar Player Magazine flexi-disk in '88 during my metalhead youth and rediscovered him 2yrs ago via yt. Since then I've been pleccy free and playing a tele it's amazing how it's opened my eyes! He was a monster guitarist and the best teacher I've never met. Amazing Talent!
TheGubernot 1 year ago
@TheGubernot: Are you referring to that GP Soundpage, "Nit Pickin'"? Man alive, when I heard that - did it turn my head around! I'm still amazed more than twnety years later. And except for one very brief echo effect, there's no overdubs on that record - none. That's amazing. Danny's right-hand was awe-inspiring - but so was his creativity and musicality.
GeorgiaBoy1961 6 months ago
@GeorgiaBoy1961 Yes I am indeed :) It was so spontaneous sounding and fun in fact do you remember his exercises in the mag? I've used them for 23 years lol! His lack of pretension really rubbed off on me. It's funny today I was speaking to a Luthier who'd never heard him! Well by tonight he will have! Lol!
TheGubernot 6 months ago
@Parkwoodparkenfarker- is clearly a douche for sayin danny could outplay Jimi Hendrix. wow. how dumb are you
jblaze23rod 1 year ago
@jblaze23rod Hey dude....Gatton COULD outplay Jimi....he could outplay everyone.....Now - could he outPERFORM JImi? Hell no.... big difference
carcariden 11 months ago
I used to go in the eighties.Saw him with Robert Gordon at the wax museum with Robert Gordon,once with Evan Johns(no slouch himself)out in maryland somewhere,Gallaghers once but the Gentry was really kind of Dannys house. It was his old neighborhood.S.W. D.C.
redwashre 1 year ago
Danny asked me for a beer bottle once and i handed him a bud bottle knowing he always used a heinakin bottle.He was fired up playing and said no it had to be a heinakin bottle so i went around to where the bar was,bought one,chugged it on the way back and gave it to him. Talk about high maintenance.ha ha.Danny had a good sense of humor.Kind of on the dry side.Far as sleepwalk goes if anyone should have gotten a grammy for its rendition it should have been him.
redwashre 1 year ago
Used to catch Danny everytime i could in D.C. back in the eighties.He would do jazz night at the gentry right around the corner from where he grew up. He would do the Danny and the fat boys thing friday and sat. and be back tuesday night playing hardcore jazz. Lost a lot of sleep but it was worth it.Everyone that was there at that time knew there was something special going on.
redwashre 1 year ago
@redwashre Great stories you lucky guy!! what years did you see him? To me he was very explosive from 74-79, but 81-83 some great finger picking and , and 87-88 some brilliant Jazz are right there in their own way. Hopefully someday collectors with the real good rare stuff will share!!
gattonmaster 1 year ago
@redwashre You're so lucky! I'd loved to have seen him live.
bingefeller 1 year ago
damn you danny. back to the drawing board.
TheInboil 1 year ago
Who else could pull off that solo? He was the master. Steve Vai did not say for nothing if there was something like best guitarist it would be Danny Gatton - period.
gillan5 1 year ago
@gillan5 BINGO!!!
gattonmaster 1 year ago
ok I must go back to standard tuning...
kucerarichard 1 year ago
I'm just thankful someone taped this.
EurtDoolb 1 year ago
What's with all the hate in these comments? This video is what it is, open your heart to genius. This isn't a competition.
RayERice 1 year ago
You guys arguing about who is the "best," behave yourselves... there is no "best," only what gets to you musically, and what doesn't. Besides, gattonmaster (wink, wink), everyone knows that there was Wes and then everyone else, as far as being the ultimate of what could be done with a guitar. Seriously, arguing about who's the "best" guitar player is like trying to determine the greatest baseball hitter of all time. Ain't gonna settle anything, and everyone will just get ticked off.
GeorgiaBoy1961 1 year ago
@GeorgiaBoy1961 Hi buddy ha ha lol; here we go again. No but your right buddy its all about the music. I'm only saying in my opinion the best playing on audio and viideo/dvd I've seen and heard of DG impresses me more than anything I've ever heard or seen by Lenny, Scotty, Wes, Johny Smith, Jimmy Bryant, and all the others BUT I really like ALL the great players.
gattonmaster 1 year ago
He was the nicest and most approachable genius you can find. After his show at Graffiiti in Pittsburgh, he was out of smokes and I was out of beer, The bar was closed, but he fixed that, we traded smokes and beers for an hour. He also explained the mysterious story of the Custom Shop pinstripe Tele that got painted a horrible copper color (which he played that night). An incredibly humble, down to earth and friendly person
scottstetzer 1 year ago
I saw Danny play several times. The last time, at a run-down dump of a bar in P.G. County, MD, shortly before he committed suicide. He looked like it was the last place on earth he wanted to be. I want everyone to know that he was a great guy, approachable and down-to-earth. It's a real shame what happened. It reminds me of something I read from Lonny Mack about being a traveling musician: You've got to love it, because if you don't, it'll kill you.
bro689 1 year ago
@bro689: Sure wish Danny had reached out for some help, because it still hurts that he took his own life the way he did. Lonnie Mack is indeed right, that the road can mow you down. It's a harsh life out there, and you'd better be into it 100% or it will lay you low. I used to gig all the time myself, and the musician's life isn't an easy one - despite the music (good and bad), fun times and the kicks. It had to hurt Danny seeing guys with little of his talent sour past him on the charts.
GeorgiaBoy1961 1 year ago
dude is a straight up boss.
ChipperVia 1 year ago
I fucking love danny gatton. He's not about the popularity he's about the music. how all musicians should be.
kazagurma204 1 year ago
Maravilloso, Majestuoso!
alexgrappow 1 year ago
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doucet68 1 year ago
@doucet68 That was an ignorant comment.
GreyJazz90 1 year ago
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doucet68 1 year ago
@doucet68
hey el douche....shut up and play yer guitar!!!!!!!
magmajet 1 year ago
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doucet68 1 year ago
@doucet68 yea, i learned the shadow's version when i was 4...most players progress past 4 chords a 8 notes..go fuck off too buddy..damn, is everyone on here an imbecile tween?
Pre00 1 year ago
This guy owns Hendrix.
MrLocostSeven 1 year ago
@MrLocostSeven Oh without a doubt; not even close. You can take any players career and only 2 guys are in Gattons class; Lenny Breau and Scotty Anderson. Danny was the most spectacular improvised soloist of all time and it isn't even close...; I should know...
gattonmaster 1 year ago
@gattonmaster you should know your mouth didn't get round from eating bananas..STFU moron, danny was great but so are thousands of others not including you..femboy, you probably play a fag gibson and think yer cool like slash..lolol..loser..Lenny breau..wtf?..go smoke more crack and stay of youtube idiot..Scotty anderson sucked cocks too
Pre00 1 year ago
#1 Hendrix, #2 Gatton Period
Parkwoodparkenfarker 1 year ago
@Parkwoodparkenfarker when will people like you understand even though jimi was awesome an cool and a fantastic composer as well as a pioneer hes not the best player in history...
Timmonsec 1 year ago
@Timmonsec THANK YOU. So many people say he is the best. And most who say that are not even guitar players. I agree that he did a lot of changes for rock and I am glad he was a guitar player. But you know who his favorite guitarist was?... Billy Gibbons. ZZ Top was around when he was, too. And Billy was a much cleaner and more musical player. Anyway. I agree. Jimi = awesome. Jimi does not = the best.
joshuaeroush 1 year ago
@Parkwoodparkenfarker Several are better than Jimi ; Gatton, Breau, Scotty Anderson, Wes Montgomery, Johny Smith, Jimmy Bryant; and others. Jimi used to be my heroe and his imagination and all around musician talent are excellent but for just lead guitar there are many better.
gattonmaster 1 year ago
@gattonmaster
there really arnt "better" players, i like jimi, dimebag darrel, bb king, and pretty much any other famous guitarists and the truth of it all is they are ALL great at their own style, and it really just depends what YOU like to determine who you think is better
bubbah12345 1 year ago
@bubbah12345
THIS! duhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
How this is not painfully obvious to so many people who claim to love certain musicians and styles is beyond me. lol...
SSSteve1961 1 year ago
@SSSteve1961 lol were u agreeing with me
if so then yea, i dont get it either its pretty obvious that theres not much to compare style wise when they play COMPLETELY different genre's and were influenced by different styles and guitarists
just listen and marvel at their greatness :D
bubbah12345 11 months ago