Danny Gatton , Unfinished Business

danny told me roy used to come to his shows in disguise but danny always caught him.

 

That's pretty good.

 

I was in out of town when Redneck Jazz played their legendary gig at The Cellar Door club on M Street circa 1979 with Buddy Emmons on steel,
Danny Gatton on six-string and Canadian jazz wizard Lenny Breau on seven-string. I'm still kicking myself over that. Jack Casady played in The
Offbeats with Danny in the early '60s (both on guitar) although Jack wasn't featured on their 45. Jorma Kaukonen played guitar in The Triumphs
during that same period with Casady (Wikipedia says that Jack played lead and Jorma played rhythm, but locals I've talked to say they traded off
depending on the material). Growing up in the Washington, D.C. metro area pretty much made me a guitar fanatic for life.
Buchanan...Wray...Fahey...Byrd...Lofgren...the list goes on and on.

 

There are several clips from the upcoming documentary on youtube.

 

I was at that show. In fact I can see the back of my head in that video. Danny opened for Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown. I already knew about little Joe because he sat in at a Duke Robillard gig two months earlier.

 

One of my favorite Danny stories was from the early 90s. My wife and I met another couple
at a D.C. restaurant in Chinatown. After the meal I was picking my teeth with a plastic toothpick
and the super-sharp tip broke off and lodged between my teeth poking painfully, into my gums.
I couldn't remove it (even with dental floss) and almost decided to bail on the show we had
tickets for (Danny Gatton at The Barns @ Wolf Trap). I decided to tough it out and went to the
show in considerable pain. At one point in the set, Danny launched into a light-speed cover of
"Apricot Brandy" by Rhinoceros and the vibration level coming out of Gatton's amp caused the
toothpick to magically loose itself from my gums and ended my suffering. After that number,
Gatton comically shook his left wrist vigorously and commented: "That was harder than it looked!"
Thank you again, Mr. Gatton...wherever you are.

 

in the spring of 91 danny opened a bunch of shows for the radiators who were also friends of ours. we usually watched their sets from the wings of the stage. at every show danny did with them, their two guitarists, who were really good but no danny, would watch his set in total awe.

 

I posted something similar to this in the thread on dream boxed sets that don’t exist (yet) awhile back... Since this is an active Danny Gatton appreciation thread, maybe some of you all can provide insight on my questions...

I’d love to see a release of the complete 1978 Cellar Door recordings - but what all actually exists?

I have the two official CD’s that have come out, as well as an old three CDR boot that claims to be “complete” (it’s not). No idea how many sets were actually recorded. The two official CD’s contain material that isn’t on the “complete” boot, and the boot contains tunes that aren’t on any of the official releases. There are alternates of some takes floating around (there’s an alternate “Canadian Sunset” that’s nearly as sublime as the released one, another much looser “Rock Candy,” “Linus And Lucy,” etc...), plus the grainy videos that are on YouTube.

How much was recorded? How much was filmed? What was the actual intended destination/purpose of the recordings? On my boot, there is some onstage chatter that mentions being on the radio - were any of these sets broadcast at the time?

The book Unfinished Business doesn’t provide much help. The description of the “show” (as though it was one set) contained there is a play-by-play of the 1990’s NRG album, which was assembled from multiple sets.

On one of the sets, Danny says something to the effect of “I think we got all of that one,” maybe indicating that getting complete performances without running out of tape mid-song was an issue. The “Linus And Lucy” medley that I have is clearly missing a section that included “Harlem Nocturne” - the intro to “Harlem Nocturne” is played, then there ‘s an abrupt transition where the tape runs out. The segment of Danny playing “Famous Blue Raincoat / Nutcracker” on the official album is excised from this otherwise incomplete recording.

Aside from the audio recordings, there are videos of the following (at least): Rock Candy, Orange Blossom Special, Canadian Sunset (a 2 minute fragment & another fragment of about 5 minutes, maybe not from the same performance), Song Of India, Auld Lang Syne. How much was filmed? Was it on videotape? Was there a specific purpose for filming?

This is sublime music, some of the best music ever. In my opinion, the music benefitted from Danny having a collaborator who was on his level. It led him to take his foot off the gas pedal sometimes & leave some space for Buddy to contribute. Now Buddy Emmons is gone too. I realize that the odds of a fancy edition for these tapes are slim to none, but it’d be great for them to get a complete release someday. Danny & Buddy deserve it.

So what all exists? Can anyone add to the story of these recordings/videos?

 

I have a P.B.S. program on d.v.d. that has amazing live in studio footage of danny.....I don't have it in front of me but it is a legit release with great sound/video quality.i 5think I purchased it at TOWER here in New York back when they were in business.

 

I attended one of those shows. I think it was in April or May of '91. After Danny's exciting 45 minute set, the Radiators just didn't do it for me. I left after a few numbers.

 

Danny Gatton and Lenny Breau in the SAME band?! Jeez. Talk about fireworks in that club every night.

 

I had tickets to see Danny at a Boston Jazz club after being convinced to pick up a copy of "Relentless". When the club called to tell me the show was canceled, I asked if it would be rescheduled. The woman on the phone sounded like she was crying as she told me he had killed himself. I had talked several co-workers into going so we had a whole block of tickets. I had to go around and tell about 10 people about it. It was quite the day. I'll never forget it. One thing that will stick with me was that one of the guys I convinced to go to Gatton's show was also supposed to go to a Joe Pass show earlier that year but Pass died before the show. This guy refused to buy tickets to another show in advance as he thought he was some kind of jinx.

 

I’m starting to feel the same way, having seen both Tom Petty and Jerry Garcia at some of their final shows, right before their deaths.

 

I think it was a three-night stand, but Lenny was there only for two.

 

Have unfinished business, 88 Elmira and New York stories. Love them all and look forward to picking up more of his catalog. Pure genius!!!

 

My favorite is Redneck Jazz! A monster of an lp

 

LOVE everything Gatton. One of the best. Sorely missed. He made it look sooooo easy. What a virtuoso.
A have everything, but 88 Elmira St. is what I get back more often. Fandingus!!!

 

I grew up seeing Danny (first with Danny and the Fat Boys), Roy Buchanan, and Nils Lofgren (Grin) at any all-age venues in the DC area. There were also plenty of bars where somebody's brother's old draft card (no photo IDs!) got an underage kid in, too. Plenty. Gatton did something astonishing every night he played.

Here's an example of his ability to grace so many musical genres and to do so tastefully with restraint. It's the old chestnut Tragedy done ala Nitzsche surf tune.

 

I only became aware of Danny in more recent years but I love what I have of his.


Danny Gatton ‎– 88 Elmira St.
Label:
Elektra ‎– 9 61032-2
Format:
CD, Album
Country:
US
Released:
1991



Danny Gatton ‎– Unfinished Business
Label:
NRG Records (3) ‎– NCD-02479
Format:
CD, Album, Reissue
Country:
US
Released:
1989



Danny Gatton ‎– Redneck Jazz
Label:
NRG Records ‎– NCD-2916
Format:
CD, Album, Reissue
Country:
US
Released:
1991

 

"We did some teen hops with Link Wray out at the Hyattsville Armory back in '58 and '59 when I was with the Off Beats, so I knew him a little bit. Link and all his brothers are really sweet people, the nicest people you'd ever want to meet, but what happened was they asked me to play on this record they were making. I went down to their 'Wray's Shack Three-Track' in Accokeek which was a converted chicken coop - that's literally what it was - and his brother Ray Vernon came over and said, 'Here kid. I'll give you ten dollars if you sit here with a spoon in the kitchen and play this thing.' I played slide guitar with a spoon on his 1910 Gibson guitar that he had in his kitchen. The song was Fire and Brimstone and it's on the album where he's in the caricature of an Indian on the cover. They didn't give me credit. People think it was Link Wray, but it was really me. I did get ten dollars though."
Danny Gatton to author Mark Opsasnick in his book Capitol Rock