Danny Gatton - Crosscut Saw (excellent audio)

[@HotRodSixString]

My top two guitarist of all time are Danny Gatton .

[@cidertom5140]

and who????

[@garyguitar]

HotRodSixString Ha....! He's my top 5. Know what you mean...

[@gravitymusicla]

What type of question is that? It's #1. Danny Gatton #2. Danny Gatton

[@Miguel...160]

He's defo in my top 1 .

[@numv2]

#1 Danny Gatton, #3 Jimi Hendrix, #4 Frank Marino

[@Gminor7]

Gatton's is the blues solo I've been wanting to hear my entire life - chromaticism galore. Howard Roberts, Hank Garland, Lenny Breau, Johnny Smith, Les Paul, Wes . . . He soaked it all up and painted the most technicolor 3D blues I'ver ever heard.

[@dougpoynter1884]

Exactly…this is a solo that is beyond ANY I’ve ever heard…he’s got so much going on that you could listen for 100 years and not pick it all up. Evan John’s solo is great…he knew how to fire Danny up.

[@WGBader]

Along with Duane Allman.

[@banditvibe]

Thanks to the guys at the Guitar Center in Falls Church for helping me get the right gear to digitize my tapes. It's a relief to finally have this on the net. I knew I had some good sh*t and didn't want it to fade away on on cassette tapes. I remember thinking at the show, holy sh*t, I can't believe I just got that on tape. Evan Johns is no slouch, and his raw blues on the strat is a nice contrast to DG's fluid, bad-ass chops on the ES-350.

[@flatpicker36]

i think most of dannys licks are in the key of awesome.

[@jamesbarnett3194]

I was the soundman at the gentry. A great show that nite!!!

[@keithblackwell6981]

James Barnett yes and the soundboard tape is horrible bad night to get a bad mix

[@patrickcleveland8148]

You are very fortunate.

[@amoncopeland6747]

Bullshi

[@maxmilligan5672]

Best guitarist and entertainer I ever saw, telecaster, lead ,amp. Mind blowing. Thanks for posting.

[@bluesborn]

@banditvibe You make a very good point.Not everyone can be a Danny Gatton but they can develop a personal recognizable style and express themselves with passion and honesty.Music doesn't have to be about "who is best" or "fastest" or whatever,it's about feeling something and finding a way to say it.

[@GeorgiaBoy1961]

@banditvibe: Thanks for posting this, it is a wonderful treat to hear some new DG after all this time. You are right about Evan Johns; his guitar playing is nothing to dismiss and it took some brass to solo before Danny.

[@youareveryundude]

There are guitar players, MANY great ones - and then there is Danny - in a league of his own... the solo in this track makes me speechless and I guess it makes many guitar slingers thinking of giving up playing guitar forever... nothing comes even close to this master of the telecaster... big thanks for this gem!

[@mup_pet]

I've got so bored with guitar music over the years, and Danny Gatton really does deliver something so interesting. I always have to close my ears when I listen to him play; he weaves these amazing patterns. Quite remarkable. A very clever man.

[@bilvis48]

This Cat is quite possibly the best Guitarist ive ever heard in my life!

[@fredceely]

Several comments have mentioned bursting out laughing at some points when Danny really gets going. That's me all over. Usually accompanied by a wide-eyed WTF! He just threw in these things that were obviously impossible, except for him. Danny was depressed, and he paid the price for that. I'm depressed myself, and it's always terrible to think of someone who made so many people so happy, like Danny did, and, let's say, Robin Williams, but they just couldn't seem to bring that happiness home. RIP, Danny. We'll love you forever.

[@mikebaird8648]

Right on brother, it's nice to hear someone comment on the reason he left us. It's not an easy thing to understand... So thanks...

[@candidogrinsztejn7762]

What a great comment..

[@jmsbk12345]

Danny Gatton, one of those few guitarists that make you burst out laughing during his solos because they are so awesome and moving. Only a few other guitarists make me do this namely: Hendrix, Wes Montgomery, Django Reinhardt, Paco de Lucia, Lenny Breau, Scotty Anderson, Chet Atkins, Segovia and occasionally Jeff Beck.

[@commanderthorkilj.amundsen3426]

@@petel2952 In their respective genres, Hendrix, SRV, Atkins, Breau, Pass, Montgomery, etc., etc., were great, accomplished musicians, but Danny Gatton can flow effortlessly between styles without pause and never seeming to exhaust musical ideas. He also was able to hear something once and reproduce it. He didn't practice endlessly, but guitar was a sidelight to other hobbies he had. I agree with Steve Vai (who plays very different music from Gatton or those mentioned) when he says Danny Gatton comes closer than anyone else who ever picked up a guitar as being the best. And he did this with the handicap of fat, stubby fingers.

[@commanderthorkilj.amundsen3426]

Pete L Not really. McLaughlin and Pass are technically very proficient, but are a sure cure for insomnia. Gatton was very different.

[@petel2952]

Judging from your remarks and your name-lol-you're woefully inept. Go stomp on your stomp box and make some noise. That should make you happy. "Look Ma distortion."

[@commanderthorkilj.amundsen3426]

Pete L looks like you deleted your non sequitur remarks Petro, If you can’t appreciate nuanced dialogue, perhaps entering discussion w/ other Taylor Swift fans would make you feel better. I hear she plays open chords purty good!

[@davidwalker5054]

i am the same. Danny makes me burst out laughing. so do'es Django

[@mikebaird8648]

It's great to see / hear these cuts of Danny playing. I use to see him on many, many Sat. nights around the D.C. No. VA area. His mom would sit with us watching Danny. Lived buying Danny the first Heineken beer, he'd drink it and then use it as a slide for his guitar. Wonderful cat and outstanding guitarist and that hardly says enough...

[@slownoman]

Albert King is smiling about this. Man, what chops. I saw Albert a lot of times and he knocked me out. Never had the honor of seeing Danny. Thanks for posting this gem!

[@stringbender57]

Holy Sh*t !!! Unbelievable! Danny killing it! THANKS for posting this. I am a huge Gatton fan and this made my year! 

[@adaptiveagile]

I am officially blown away by this. Was expecting some fancy fingers and complex fast runs as per Danny's country/rockabilly bluesy style, and instead it's one of the most cross-genre fusion pieces ever -- way too much theory there for me to grasp, but the sound was magical. Was totally not expecting Gatton to go into jazz territory. And the way he keeps it all together is masterful. Holy wow. Thanks so much for posting. If you have any others of this ilk, please point me in that direction!

[@betterdogbehaviornow581]

That was beyond any of the other guitarists that have been named on this post...maybe beyond anyone who has ever played. Who could deal with that. Joe Pass once did an instructional video for Ed Eastridge (Big Mo Records) for free to be able to hear tapes of Danny playing in studio. The baddest man to pick up an axe! If you play the guitar you know what you’re listening to...there are so many riffs firing all at once...he’s playing keyboards on the guitar. You could listen to that for the rest of your life and not get it all...and he could pull that kind of stuff whenever he wanted.

[@antonipeters2333]

Best comment ever!

[@antonipeters2333]

I mean, Joe Pass did a free instructional video just to be able to hear tapes of Danny Gatton playing in studio. Now that's a frickin' testimonial if I ever heard one!

[@xodusattack]

Danny's solo on this is beyond sick!!!! Thanks for posting this, if you have more, please bestow it upon the world!!!

[@usa45v26]

Imagine my happiness at finding this for the first time today. Today is a good day! Great audio! Thank you.

[@1zenrn]

Evan is a legendary great!, Never got enough credit...

[@stevearle]

Wow! what a great contrast in stylistic approaches to the blues...(in one band!). Straight up, Evan Johns lays down some super fun, raw Strat. stuff that lays the perfect groundwork for D.G. to unload a sophisticated, climactic WHATMORETOSAYBLUESSOLO on a guitar that I (for one) wish he had played much more often... beautiful, crazy, mellow Gibson humbucker tone for days...in contrast to his typical super Tele treble sound that almost drove me out of a Toronto club back da day. Thanx so much for posting!

[@garyguitar]

stevearle Great accessment of the song. Like you, I appreciate his ES-350 and Les Paul Custom tone more than his Tele tone. He's always great, but even greater here. Sort of Howard Roberts meets Rick Derringer meets James Burton meets etc. I love him on Tele's but even more on his 350 and LP. What a talent to leave us so early. This is one of my fave solos of his. Best wishes. garyguitar

[@MrJohnnyDistortion]

Inside the box, outside the box, incredible stuff.

[@bokehintheussr5033]

This is what happens when your friends invite you to a standard blues jam and you come along with lightning fast bebop phrasing, tritone substitutions, whole tone scales and insane hybrid picking. Genius...

[@johnmitchelljr]

You keep post in’, I’ll keep listening. Thank you.

[@cnrbsmth]

I bust out laughing several times during dannys solo! On a 350???

[@martincollier5956]

I was blessed to be there the first night Evan (Evan was 20 then) played with The Humbler Danny Gatton they played together for years and Evan later began Evan John's and the H Bombs and Danny played with them on occasion. Those days when Evan was with the Danny Gatton Band are forever in my memories. I realize that these videos open the doors to everyone that looks and that's great. Thanks Evan and Danny !!

[@MartijnHover]

Danny's solo makes me both so happy that somebody was able to make such wonderful noises on his guitar, and so sad that he's no longer around at the same time...

[@Satchmoeddie]

@FlipsidesBand I have seemingly inherited a collection of Byrdlands. All have a curved tail piece that has "Byrdland" scrawled into it. I mean engraved or stamped. The 350 has a Venetian cut away, (Usually) My uncle used to play with Johnny Smith regularly, and both owned music stores. I saw more oddball custom Gibson stuff at Johnny's shop than probably on the internet itself. (don't care 2 look) Mom cashed in with a 61 Hummingbird with a 25 5/16" scale neck! She turned down a $42K offer in 97.

[@adaptiveagile]

Doesn't get any better than this; nor could it. One of my favorite recordings on KZbin.

[@EricCirca6566]

The guitar in the picture is an early '60s L-5 with a flourentine cutaway. Thank you for posting and contacting me.

[@kevinkmny]

Just when you think he can't take it any higher......he's just getting started.

[@banditvibe]

I've got a recording of an all-jazz show at Blues Alley in DC from '85. Once identify all the songs I'll put it up.

[@Dazzypig]

@GeorgiaBoy1961 Hell yeah, I've hard a lot of players and every time I go back to Danny it's like, 'wow, there just isn't anyone who can really "play with a guitar" like he did it'. Awesome.

[@sgringo]

Many of us can often identify guitarists based on a signature style or sound. (E.g. who CAN'T recognize Stevie Ray Vaughan five seconds into a solo?) But Gatton incorporated so many different techniques and had mastered so many musical genres ... I don't think I could ever reliably recognize a Gatton solo, beyond simply, "Well, it's astonishing so it could be Gatton."

[@ricnelson1958]

Unbelievable. I was at this show...and I'm pretty sure the version of "Stuffin the Stocking" above was at the same show.

[@michaelhaller1762]

Mighty thanks for this gem. Every time you think you nearly grasped the great Danny an audio or video comes out where he drives it a notch crazier. That guy was was from a different planet - guess it must be the same Hendrix was given to us for a short while!

[@Mark8395217]

Thank you for posting!!! Danny had the "broadest, most interesting" taste in music... just like me. He was everyone and everything rolled into one.

[@chriscensullo]

This is why Danny solos last; you don't want to/can't solo after him!

[@markstephens2234]

You know EXACTLY when Danny starts his solo! Oh you certainly could take a solo after him...you could also walk onto a railroad track and attempt to run in front of a moving train!!

[@billyboy6028]

I'd run in the bathroom and hide

[@betterdogbehaviornow581]

I’ve got a bootleg cd of Buddy Eamons, Lenny Breau and Danny playing...not even Lenny attempted to solo after Danny...Danny always took the last solo...he was a bad man!

[@PopsMdub]

Wow! Danny is amazing on this. I'm so glad you posted it and You Tube served it up to me knowing I love the masters!

[@H0kieJoe]

I'm having a "Back to the Future" moment. This guy was a freaking alien.

[@banditvibe]

He was that night.

[@Skipperj]

Thanks banditvibe for uploading this piece of music history,and it's a decent recording. My friend Tam Sullivan used to tell me stories of the many gigs that Danny shared with him. Sure glad we still have Danny on recordings like this.

[@paulgibby6932]

I thought the first two guys were pretty good, but when DG started up -- whole new level. The rhythm section did a great job backing him up as it got more intense, too.

[@kenakey1969]

Oh My! The folks got a treat that night.

[@francoisgarcia8655]

Extraordinary sound guitar of Danny Gatton !!!!..

[@davidwalker5054]

One of the very few Guitarists who can be mentioned in the same breath as Django

[@dougpoynter1884]

Hate to tell you but neither Django or anyone else could do this…this solo is beyond anyone in the past or present…and maybe the future as well…

[@MrKingtonejoe]

I'm willing to bet that 'Banditvibe' IS this Evan Johns!!!

[@timscott6081]

Glad you found this and shared it with his fans. Thank you very much.

[@GeraciBlues]

Love how Danny copies Evans’ ending solo riff there, they share a laugh , then he rips into his solo like my turn.. He was one of a kind that’s for sure.

[@banditvibe]

@Gminor7 yes, this might be the coolest, most bad-ass live-performance solo in the "unlimited" category I've ever heard;) He was on fire that night. He throws everything at this solo and it all just fits together really well.

[@betterdogbehaviornow581]

Exactly...if there was a way to have a Mount Rushmore for best live solo ever, that one would be there...at the top!

[@DougPoynter-nt4no]

Exactly...that legitimately blows away any solo I’ve ever heard...Evan Johns knew how to get him fired up!

[@mecafritz49]

More than great.....Thank you

[@teleuser]

Why anyone would give this a thumbs down is beyond me.

[@VintageSG]

So very true. Oh, boy, that is one earmelter!

[@stevearle]

Nice comments Gary, your "Roberts/ Derringer/ Burton" assessment just about nails it! but who can possibly describe all the styles Danny Gatton could and did put into one solo? Outrageous and masterful.

[@sherriffofhongkong]

Great Post. thanks so much. I've never heard a bad recording of Danny at any age... As he got older he did alittle more "self editing" but advanced to infinity.....

[@quickstep2408]

whaaatt! my god! gatton's solo... could hear all the different styles in it

[@LoveBandit1000]

Pretty sure I was at this show. Between songs my buddy Dave kept yelling "play some blues" and finally Evan focused on Dave and pointedly said "Man, I ain't got the blues"....Dave was embarrassed.

[@noonster55]

mind blowing/moving experience.

[@edwnorris]

It's so creative it's funny.

[@incidentalist]

Amazing stuff, what a loss! HUGE inspiration!

[@francoisgarcia8655]

One of my all time favorite guitar players with Jimi and Johnny Winter

[@sonhouse50]

That solo was 'FRIGHTENING'!!!!

[@jipes]

What an amazing twist on the song by Danny Gatton, incredibly groovy and ispired

[@Barnekkid]

...wow...just, wow...

[@keithblackwell6981]

i was at this show front row and evan johns told me to stop taping. I would love a copy of the whole show. please contact me

[@GeorgiaBoy1961]

@Dazzypig: Are you kidding? I wouldn't even get up on the same stage as that guy! He was known as "The Humbler" for good reason...

[@CreamyBone]

This is so good, I can hardly stand it !!

[@GeorgiaBoy1961]

Only Danny Gatton could blow a jazz-like improvization on "Crosscut Saw," and then turn the tune inside out and work all of his favorite licks and moves. No matter what he played, it came out sounding like Danny.... amazing.

[@brianmckernan7547]

The greatest, period

[@brad9652]

INCREDABLE ❤

[@FlipsidesBand]

I believe the guitar in the photo is a Byrdland, a more expensive version of the ES-350; same short scale.

[@MrMojabo]

I would have to say that is the blues.. Crosscut Saw being sung to Born in Chicago . Can you hear it?

[@jefblak]

Chet Atkins Metheny Clapton Ritenour Johnny A Knopfler Et Love em Seen em all GATTON is King

[@banditvibe]

Yeah, I just grabbed that pick off the web. I remember the hollow body he was playing that night had a bigsby on it. He may have brought more than that one. A friend of Danny's I recently talked to said that it was unusual for Danny to take his very first guitar out for a gig. He also said something about his first guitar having a smaller scale neck.

[@Carl-Eric]

rip evan johns

[@bluesdoggmusicrediker4614]

sorry to hear of his passing...he was great! he played around here alot in richmond,va in the late seventies.

[@banditvibe]

@bls315 I know, I know, I know -- I meant "first electric guitar" -- sorry. I can't change that in the video now. See my other video "Danny Gatton plays his first electric guitar" from the same show.

[@alvarofalcon7136]

The guitar in the picture is a Gibson 175. There are pictures of him with his ES-350.

[@ericwalters3295]

Es 350 bro....

[@alvarofalcon7136]

It’s actually an L-5 with the Venetian cutaway look at the headstock, at first thought it was an ES 175

[@ericwalters3295]

I stand corrected . L5 it is...

[@adaptiveagile]

Thanks!

[@b.rodclark334]

The Gibson in the photo is an L-5, different from an ES-350.

[@banditvibe]

@joshua9312 I have AIFF source audio I digitized from my original audio tape using a Yamaha Audiogram3 usb interface and Cubase. The video has an embedded 192k ACC audio track ripped via iMovie.

[@banditvibe]

Check out 6:19. Danny throws in 12 bars of blues licks just for good measure. Albert would approve.

[@mickconboy8634]

...thinking about looking at my guitar... Great video.

[@Skipperj]

It's inspiring and it's getting me fired up too.

[@lightningfisher8177]

excellent thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@scottwilliams6120]

Didn't read the previous comments, but the guitar in the photo is a '60s era L-5, not the rounded cutaway ES-350 he would've gotten as a teenager.

[@jmsbk12345]

I'm into jazz blues rockabilly funk 'out of the box' guitar solos and who's the best at that - yeah you've got it!

[@BeachJazzMusic]

Mind blowing solo by Danny. Evan ain't no slouch either.

[@stevearle]

Just when you .... 7:38... Danny Gatton in full awe inspiring flight!

[@stevearle]

You Rock man!

[@adamshawart]

Thanks for this

[@zero15388]

amazing

[@edantes2006]

Gatton on fire!

[@Barnekkid]

EXCELLENT! I have EJs autograph around here somewhere.

[@AntAtoll]

This smokes!

[@jebaj0czeski0marynaz]

danny gat' tone

[@designermite]

Sounds Great!

[@stringbender57]

THE MASTER - DANNY GATTON!

[@AROSFC]

não consigo parar de ouvir!!!

[@teleuser]

Sounds like a Telecaster to me especially at 7:20 to 8:00.

[@d1ummer]

I approve.

[@jplent]

Holy Sh*t...

[@hiattfan2]

just the way i like it played rippin with style

[@reminaya]

Yikes. Likewise. Clean, inventive, playful, masterful, nonstop. Alien technology on full display, as in LIGHTYEARS ahead of his time. A complete SUM-B$#CH. Unreal.

[@yohohoho7675]

Top jam.