Search - Danny Gatton :: Humbler: Live

For the rockabilly guitar player, the Gatton album to own.

tperuzzi@chugach.net | Anchorage, AK | 04/18/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"If you are interested in rockabilly guitar playing, this is an important album to own. Gatton runs through his bag of rockabilly tricks with humbling speed and accuracy. As far as being enjoyable listening, it is fair. Vocals, drums and bass are adequate, but fairly uninspired. Gatton's playing is marvelous but sometimes so over the top it detracts from the song - like he is on 11 all the time. The quality of the recording is good, although it lacks some of the high frequency content of a modern recording. It is 48 minutes long with 15 songs. It is a mono recording bootlegged off a mixing board during a 1981 club show on the band's fourth gig together.Since this album is mostly rockabilly, you won't hear the full range of Gatton's musical abilities (but you still get a lot in 48 minutes!). You get an appreciation of his technical proficiency. The soloing, while technically astounding, sometimes comes off as gimmickry as Danny wedges so much material into 3 chord rock(-abilly) songs. Of course gimmickry is permissible, encouraged, and perhaps even a hallmark of rockabilly, so if his soloing comes off as gimmickry maybe that is a neutral or positive comment. More specifically, some of the soloing is sped up and fancied up riffs from Rockabilly standards such as "Hello Mary-Lou" or "Rock-Around-the-Clock" - songs which he ain't playin' when he borrows the riffs. Some of his later recordings, like Redneck Jazz, feature more complex arrangements as Danny is not limited, as he was on this gig, to mostly 3 or 4 chord standards."

A must-have CD for guitar and rockabilly fans.

tperuzzi@chugach.net | 05/26/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a legendary performance; the bootleg recording was a prized possession among guitar players for many years. And now I'm thankful it has been made available on CD and I was able to obtain a copy of it. This is just incredibly fun to listen to!As some other reviewers have pointed out, the quality of the recording is very good but might not quite be up to modern standards. But it is plenty good enough, and we're lucky to have a recording at all. How did it come about? That's part of the legend: When Gatton showed up a few hours before the show that night for a sound check, the technicians working at the club couldn't believe what they were hearing and quickly scrambled to record everything as best they could. And it's a good thing they did!!I'm not a Danny Gatton expert, but from what I've heard to date, this is Danny at his best. The stuff of his that I've sampled so far hasn't always appealed to me; e.g. the Cruisin' Deuces CD, which I didn't care much for. But when Danny was into it and felt like letting it rip, well, it just doesn't get much better than that for guitar fans.Due to its stature, this is one of those things you'll want to own just to say you have it. But if you like great guitar work, or hard-driving rockabilly, or both, you'll enjoy listening to it more than anything."

SA-MOKIN'

christopher solis | Mt. Oliver, PA United States | 04/14/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"... Danny Gatton was one of the most blazing guitar players ever. This recording is but an example of what this master of many styles could do in the rockabilly style. Danny had the chops and he wasn't ashamed aout it; this recording is over the top with ...-ripping licks blazing a smoking scar up and down your fire-breathing colon because D. Gatton spent some time in his life PRACTICING he tears up the neck. Dig. If you like Steve Morse you will appreciate Danny Gatton."