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

by Ralph Heibutzki (Author) "First and foremost: Understanding Danny Gatton isn't possible without appreciating the mid-Atlantic region where he was born, raised, and made his musical reputation..." (more)
Key Phrases: Danny Gatton, New York, Les Paul (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Whether playing country, gospel, rockabilly, soul, or standards, Danny Gatton wowed audiences with his incredible guitar technique. Hailed as the best unknown guitar player by both Rolling Stone and Guitar Player, he was a player's player who never received popular acclaim but continues to influence guitarists everywhere. The struggle to reach a wider audience while staying true to his own muse proved too much for him to bear, and in 1994 he took his own life. This book explores Gatton's "unfinished business" (the title of his greatest album) and completes the story of the man and his music, which elicited much praise for blinding speed, effortless genre-hopping, and flawlessly inventive technique. Photographs are included.

About the Author
Ralph Heibutzki's articles have appeared in Bass Player, DISCoveries, Goldmine, Guitar Player, and Vintage Guitar, and he is a regular contributor to the All Music Guide.

Product Details

• Paperback: 290 pages
• Publisher: Backbeat Books (July 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 087930748X
• ISBN-13: 978-0879307486
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #436,433 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent biography!, July 30, 2003

By	Martin A. Miller (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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!

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A very good biography with a couple of weak points., January 21, 2004

By A Customer

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.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thorough Research & an Appreciative Ear, October 28, 2004

By	johnny2bad (Vienna, VA United States) - See all my reviews

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.