Customer Reviews

Unfinished Business - The Life and Times of Danny Gatton (Book)

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Finally! The long awaited biography of Danny Gatton by Ralph
Heibutzki has arrived. The best biographies provide insight
into the character, motives, and personality of their subject.
Who was Danny Gatton? In answering this question, Heibutzki
has done an admirable job. Through many, many interviews from
all the people who were part of Danny Gatton's life; family and
friends, I know so much more about this brilliant musician
who Steve Vai (no slouch guitarist himself!) describes on the
cover jacket, "...Danny Gatton comes closer to anyone else to
being the best guitar player to ever live."

What drove Gatton to suicide? How did he view himself as a
musician? Why was he at once once blase about fame and at
the same time so driven to acquire it? At one point, he
forgot to call John Fogerty back to join his band, but was
clearly very excited to be signed to Elektra Records.
He craved the notoriety and money that came with stardom,
but would rather play small clubs close to home and
work on customizing vintage cars.

Why wasn't he more famous? Wasn't he arguably the best?
Maybe it was precisely because of his extraordinary skill
level. Can it be that he could only be appreciated by other
musicians or guitarists? Many people (non musicians) I play
his music for elicit a "ho hum" reaction, while my mind is
reeling with his stunning technique and musicianship. Who
knows? As someone who knew him observed, "he never threw
away a note".

Those issues, and more, are addressed in this biography,
and I feel after reading it that I know Danny Gatton, the
person, a bit more. Good job Ralph!

I enjoyed this book overall. It gives one a good enough idea of who Danny Gatton was and what made him such a respected guitarist. I knew a little about Gatton going in, not a lot though, and I feel like the author succeeded in filling in the blanks. I also thought the book handled Gatton's unfortunate death in an objective fashion while remaining sensitive to the emotional issues involved.

[Reviewer note: This review was edited on 02/07/2005. After looking it over again, I decided it appeared a bit more negative than I had actually intended.]

But this book also has a couple of problems, I think. The most significant being that, in an effort to give Gatton the status he deserves, the author includes a fair amount of material that puts down other great guitarists as a way of building Gatton up. You can see this, for example, on page 76 with regard to Chet Atkins, and at other times throughout the book with some other guitarists.

This happens most often, though, in relation to Roy Buchanan. And I particularly think that's a shame. Danny and Roy were both great guitar players, two of the greatest of all time, in fact, and neither one gets near the recognition he deserves. That being so, I don't see where pitting them against each other adds much to the discussion. But regardless, which one was 'better' is highly debatable, and the relative status of the two should be presented fairly as such, as was done in Phil Carson's Roy Buchanan: American Axe.

The other thing I thought could have been improved would have been for the book to have spent a little more time giving us an idea of who Danny Gatton was as a person. Don't get me wrong, it does give you a better idea of who he was, and the book certainly does a great job covering Gatton's music and career, but I didn't come away from the book feeling like I really knew the man behind the guitar god, at least not as well as I would have liked.

This is a very worthwhile book though, despite the minor drawbacks. You may want to supplement the book with some CDs to get a better feel for Gatton's status as an elite guitar player, and who his influences were. Of course that starts with Danny Gatton CDs, but I would also suggest picking CDs by the following: Roy Buchanan, Hank Garland, Lenny Breau, and Tal Farlow.

The other reviewers have discussed the merits of Danny's playing, so I will mostly stick to extolling the book. Heibutzki talked to just about everybody, and found most if not all of the print material and used this in his thoughtful, comprehensive biography.
As an interviewer, the author got his subjects to open up, and what they say frequently tells as much about themselves as about Danny. As a consequence, the reader gets a sense of the mileau of clubs, studios, band and record label politics, and Washington DC and Southern Maryland music and lifestyle from the 60's to the 90's. A great deal of attention is paid to Danny's interest in cars, and his family life, as well as his early days gigging in various teenage bands and with Liz Meyer & Friends before he became "unfamous".
Also, the book comes with a bibliography and discography, as well as a useful index, showing the author's almost academic thoroughness.

I was not an initiate of Gatton's music before reading this book, but I had heard of Gatton and was familiar with the legends surrounding his guitar heroism. I was curious, but, being a fan of songwriters more than instrumentalists, I never felt motivated to dig deeper until reading this book. Now, however, I am listening to Danny Gatton's music for the first time, propelled into his history by Heibutzki's excellent biography. Heibutzki has done a wonderful job penning a living, breathing *story* here, far beyond what is usually done in rock bios of this sort. He pays all due homage to Gatton's technical bent and & instrumental artistry, but he never forgets to illuminate the human being behind it all. Yes, for you gearheads, everything you ever wanted to know about the pick-ups Gatton used, the type of guitars he favored, and how he invented his own effects box is all here ... But those of us who want just to know why Gatton was so special will not be disappointed either. This isn't a story of a guitar-player; it's the story of a friend, husband, father, and man of principles. Heibutzki has covered all of the bases here. Recommended.

Written by respected published journalist Ralph Heibutzki (a regular contributor to the "All Music Guides" and whose articles regularly appear in a number of music magazines and journals), Unfinished Business: The Life & Times Of Danny Gatton is the informative biography of a guitar virtuoso who was popularly known for his love of a broad selection of genres including country, gospel, soul, as well as his own self-dubbed style of "Redneck Jazz." Danny Gatton's work spread in influence, even though he never received popular acclaim, and even though his own personal troubles would lead him to end his own life in 1994. Gatton's musical legacy lives on, and Unfinished Business is a profound and introspective life story recommended to the attention of his legions of fans and admirers, as well as American Music History library collections.

This account of guitar great Danny Gatton is welcome news to his many fans and friends. Ralph Heibutzki has give us a well rounded presentation of Danny, his talent, sparkling personality and sense of humor, and his struggles with the mercurial business of music. Gleaned from scores of interviews (including this reviewer), Heibutzki has covered the accomplishments, disappointments and the sad, troublesome days leading up to Danny's taking his own life in October, 1994. There is a comprehensive index, discography and bibliography. And a lovely foreward by guitarist Arlen Roth.

Ralph Heibutzki clearly spent a lot of time and effort collecting information and interviews for this impressive look at the life and music of the late guitar legend, Danny Gatton.

Starting with Gatton's roots as a child in the 1950's in Washington, DC--where he absorbed an amazingly varied batch of musical influences--"Unfinished Business" presents a captivating trip through every era of Danny's life until his self-inflicted demise in 1994. The book succeeds in giving readers a thorough examination of Gatton's personal triumphs and struggles as it traces the evolution of his music. The interviews with friends, family members, long-time DC-area music journalists and fellow musicians help paint a complex picture of a man with a great gift as a guitarist, but a rocky relationship with the recording industry. It was what Heibutzki calls Danny's "genre hopping" (and the fact he did not sing) that made his music tough to market in a category-obsessed business.

The book also includes an interesting assortment of photos plus discography, videography, bibliography and a listing of unreleased material. With the reissue of much of Gatton's musical catalog on the horizon, the timing is perfect for this fine document of his life and work.

-Charlie Young

Danny and Lenny, IMO, are the ultimate, the guitarists' guitarists. No guitarist I've ever heard could touch them. Both approached their music differently, but both played with a taste, intelligence, feeling, and respect for their predecessors that is unmatched. Both ended their brilliant lives early. Both seemed to be fighting inner (and outer) demons.

I've read this book, countless internet articles, obituaries, etc., about Danny (everybody who is familiar with his music feels that they know him and are on a first name basis with him). But I doubt that anybody, even his own wife or daughter really KNEW Danny. His psyche seems impenetrable--and this book, not surprisingly, does not crack the shell.

"Danny plays like everybody, but nobody can play like Danny." Was the fact that he never seemed to settle in a single groove destructive to his career commercially? Was he too good for his own good? He was probably a man of contradictions, and in the end, the unresolved contradictory wants and needs may the be underlying cause of his suicide.

"Danny had God's hands. Sometimes I heard God come out of his speaker." I'm not religious, but I know what his drummer meant. Lots of fans think that the best musician is the one that can play the fastest. That's a neophyte opinion. It's ballad playing that separates the men from the boys, and no guitarist played them better than Danny.

His last recording (that I know of) was at the Birchmere near where his farm was. A month later, he would be dead. The CD is a monument to his brilliance as, not just a guitarist, but a musician and artist. There is no anger, not a mean note in there. If you are one of those people who think that a writer's, musician's, composer's, life is reflected in his work you are going to find little backing for that theory here. The music is ethereal almost ("Secret Love"), funny (Surf medley), madly swinging ("Caravan")--you shake your head and wonder why such a talent would want to kill himself.

According to friends, Danny loved his music, old Ford trucks, drinking beer, and family. He had all those. So why? If you are looking for answers, this book provides none, but merely a portrait of a genius whose person will probably always remain a mystery. "He could play it all. Now all we can do is listen." And listen. Amen...

As a musician, I was very fortunate to know Danny personally as he played in one of his earliest DC bands with my uncle, Rick Harmel. I recall that he took time to show me a few practice scales almost everytime I ran into him - no matter how busy he appeeared - and he was a warm-hearted, generous guy to the core.

This book balances the abrupt, tragic end of Danny's life with the highs and motivations that made Gatton a player's player. It also spotlights many of the people (like Arlen Roth) that contributed their loyalty and friendship to Danny. Thank you Ralph for a great homage and superb, thorough account of the life of the Master of the Telecaster. A "must read" for all guitarists - and anyone else who enjoys a moving account of an accomplished human being.

Ralph Heibutzki (the underground man) digs deep and brings to us 'Unfinished Business' guitar legend Danny Gatton's un-sung story. Packed with all the right detail, Heibutzki's book let's you see all the scenes in pictures as well as informing us exactly what club or street you are in, and you can almost smell Danny's self-modified amp transformer burn, as does the book.
This work of Mr Heibutzki has to be made into a film sooner-or-later; who needs a script? It's all there in Ralph's polished writing's on the genius underdog-man of Telecaster hot-wired innovation - Danny Gatton - the world's greatest un-known guitarist. Get it!