Although it's only his debut record, American Music reveals Danny Gatton to already be an innovative and supremely gifted guitarist; here he tackles a sprawling range of music, moving easily from rockabilly to jazz to blues.

I have made it my personal goal to enlighten as many people as possible and willing on the unbelievable talent and works of Danny Gatton, well known around D.C. and the Delmarva region but outside guitar freaks, was tragically nearly an unknown, his brief time of maximum coverage coming during promotion of his first Elektra album "88 Elmira St." and an appearance on "Austin City Limits", which is evidently considered a legendary show, and in Guitar Player magazine.

He would sadly commit suicide a few years later, the follow-up "Cruisin" Deuces" not selling well, and admittedly not his strongest record but still great, but record a brilliant jazz album with organ player Joey DiFrancesco, "Relentless", featuring some of the hottest Hammond B-3 organ playing you'll ever hear, and perhaps Gatton's own best playing. He would record a live show shortly before his death.

"American Music" is our first album featuring Danny as band leader with the Fat Boys, usually as a three piece with Billy Hancock on bass and vocals and Dave Elliot on drums. It goes without saying that if you were going to play with Gatton, you better be damn good yourself, and the Fat Boys were indeed up to the challenge, although personally I think Gatton's line-up on "88 Elmira St." and "Cruisin' Deuces" was his best with one exception: pianist Dick Heintze.

A musical partner from Danny's earliest gigging days, Heintze was a mind blowingly superb piano player, with unbelievable speed and chops that may be historically Gatton's perfect foil. He appears on several cuts, peeling off bluesy, country and jazz licks with ease, and on the blues "After Hours", delivers what may be one of the greatest piano blues solos ever recorded. Dick Heintze was very close to Danny, and he would tragically die of ALS some years later, with his death and that of Gatton's Redneck Jazz group rhythm guitarist and vocalist Billy Windsor's death contributing some acolytes say to Danny's own depression that later won the battle and took him away.

But this isn't a bio. What we get here is a joyous timeless album that just like all his albums featured damn near every kind of music known to man mixed in a special blend and coming out utterly unique and wonderful, and bear in mind in 1975 a rockin' and rollin' album like this was competing with drippy sappy drek like John Denver, James Taylor and the weenie crowd, disco starting to gain a foot hold and rock in its most bloated and pretentious years. Eagles' "Hotel California" from '76 anyone?

Of special note here is the closer, his onstage standard of "Harlem Nocturne" in its first studio release. We have a redone version on "Cruisin' Dueces", and while that is a fine take, there is something more languid and mysterious about this first effort. Normally I'm not one for rehashes, remakes, outtakes, etc. but in the greatest jazz and blues traditions, followers of those styles know that every time the tune is played it takes on a different tone. It was truly a special moment, and closes what is one of the best debuts in rock and roll. Nobody played with the fury and fire of Danny Gatton, nor did they channel everything that made American popular music from decades past so special. We mourn the loss of Danny Gatton 22 years ago because there is no telling what he may have accomplished, but thankfully there have been excellent releases of earlier material, and every damned one of them is a must.



Tracklist:

01. American Music (3:05)
02. Hauled Off And Loved Her (2:17)
03. Good Enough to Keep (2:53)
04. Ubangi Stomp (1:52)
05. After Hours (5:34)
06. Honeysuckle Rose (3:31)
07. A Tribute to Amos Milburn (5:56)
08. TV Mama (4:36)
09. Memphis (Disco Funk) (5:41)
10. Move On Down the Line (3:43)
11. Opus De Funk (6:25)
12. Harlem Nocturne (4:02)