Danny and the Fat Boys

One of the things I did once I got the computer system reassembled was to digitize one of my old vinyl LPs. It's a disc from 1975 called "American Music", featuring Danny Gatton, extraordinary guitarist from Washington, D. C., my old home town. Danny committed suicide in 1994, but his legacy certainly lives on in some of the hottest guitar licks known to man.

The album ends with a song called "Harlem Nocturne", a tune that was featured on an old TV show from the 1950s called "Mr. Lucky". Danny trades his guitar riffs with some of the other D. C. talent on sax, organ, and bass, but his playing is incredible. If you want a good intro to the man, a later live album he did with a group called Danny Gatton's Redneck Jazz Explosion is truly amazing, blending a mix of jazz and rock that recalls the best of the old jazz fusion movement. Check out a taste of "Coming Home" from the Gatton web site. All his albums are available there.

Danny's one of those little known gems that other guitarists are familiar with, but of whom most other people have never heard. If you like the sound of a guitar that can talk, cry, holler and scream, check out Danny Gatton.