Danny Gatton was one of the best and finest guitar players in the world. Danny befriended Arlen Roth early in Arlen’s career and helped find him work and a career in music. Danny was so beloved by Fender that they created a special one-off Telecaster for him:
That Danny Gatton guitar was a shining beacon in a dark world.
Fender loved and appreciated Danny so much that they made a “Danny Gatton Telecaster” and sold it to the public:
Arlen Roth made a several Hot Licks videos starring Danny.
Then, in October 1994, Danny Gatton threw away his life and rotted his talent by committing suicide with a gun in a locked garage.
Danny’s death drowns us in the human condition, and makes one wonder how Arlen Roth feels about Danny’s suicide in light of the horrible deaths of his wife and daughter in a 1997 car crash. Here are Arlen and his beautiful daughter, Gillian, performing together in better times.
This is Danny Gatton in concert playing his Telecaster with a beer bottle and then later a kitchen towel:
Here are Arlen and Danny playing together on Danny’s album “Toolin’ Around” — neither of them read music — and there is no doubt Danny is the better and swifter guitarist. The song “Tequila” starts around the 2:44 mark and the final minute of the video is the best as Danny tries to get his overdubs correct:
What makes one man choose death over life and how does another man deal with two deaths he never wanted?