WHAT'S SO SPECIAL ABOUT DANNY GATTON?
In March 1989, American magazine Guitar Player ran their now legendary ‘Unknown Greats’ cover feature. Subtitled ‘Amazing Players You’ve Never Heard Of’, the cover was a photo of a man wearing a Phantom Of The Opera-style half-mask. Cradled in his left arm was a beat-up ’53 Fender Telecaster.
To give this some context, other Guitar Player cover stars featured that year included cats you recognised by a single name: Jimi, Keef, Satch, not to mention James and Kirk from Metallica. Even the remainder, future Deep Purple man Steve Morse, Michael Jackson sidewoman Jennifer Batten and blind Canadian bluesman Jeff Healey, had enough profile to guarantee them a place on the newsstand.
The unknown great, the man in the mask, was a rockabilly guitar player from Washington DC named Danny Gatton. Middle-aged, out of shape, with a 50s quiff, Gatton was an unlikely cover star and guitar hero circa 1989; hair-metal was still doing brisk business that year. It was
