I first heard heard of Danny Gatton when he played Austin City Limits. He came across as a guy doing what he loved with total control of his instrument and what he wanted to communicate through it, but that image proved to be deceiving. He was known as “The Humbler” for his talent to put any guitarist who challenged him to shame as well as “The World’s Greatest Unknown Guitar Player” – that’s how they introduced him on ACL.

He’s was named by Rolling Stone as one the top 100 guitarists of all time. He also has admirers such Eric Clapton, Albert Lee, Les Paul, and Slash. It’s been said that he never made to big time because it was hard for record companies to package his rockabilly, blues, jazz, country, rock mix of style into a convenient, commercially viable, consumer box.

He claimed that he hated touring, and would never have picked up an instrument if he had to do it again. I guess in some cases, talent does not necessarily bring happiness. Yet he kept at it hoping to get a bit deal, and he did. He signed a 7 album deal with Elecktra when he was 45, but was dropped after 2 due to poor sales.

Danny would have been 65 now, unfortunately his bouts of depression caught up with him, and Danny shot himself in his Maryland garage on October 4th, 1994. Much like Kurt Cobain, a wonderful talent gone to soon. If you know someone that has depression, talk to them, don’t just tell them but show them that you care … you may be able to help them help themselves.

Check him out doing nasty slide with a beer bottle and a towel:

via Legacy

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