Danny Gatton Biography

Overview

Biography

Songs

CDs

Hot Rod Guitar

Unfinished Business [Powerhouse]

4 September 1945, Washington DC, USA, d. 4 October 1994, Newburg, Maryland, USA. Guitarist and songwriter Danny Gatton first picked up a guitar at the age of nine. Inspired by guitarist Charlie Christian and Bob Wills’ Texas Playboys, Gatton soon developed a unique individual style. Much of this was due to his customization of a standard Les Paul guitar into what he termed the ‘Les Paulveriser’. He enhanced this sound by making home recordings using two reel-to-reel tapes that produced an echo effect when one machine was played slightly out of synchronization with the other. Through his thirties and forties he played regularly in Washington to an audience who appreciated his unique take on jazz, bluegrass and rockabilly, issuing a series of exclusively mail-order albums that gradually expanded his audience. Eventually, one of these, Unfinished Business, provoked enough critical feedback to prompt Elektra Records into offering him a recording contract. However, despite further strong reviews, neither 88 Elmira St. in 1991 nor Cruisin’ Deuces in 1993 succeeded commercially. Gatton collaborated with jazz musician Joey DeFrancesco on his Relentless project but, depressed by the loss of his contract with Elektra, he committed suicide in 1994.

Source: The Encyclopedia of Popular Music by Colin Larkin. Licensed from Muze.