Died On This Date (October 4, 1994) Danny Gatton / Rock Guitar Great
themusicsover Danny Gatton
September 4, 1945 – October 4, 1994
Danny Gatton was a guitar player’s guitar player. His playing was admired by no less than Slash, Eric Clapton, Les Paul and Willie Nelson. He’s been in the touring bands for Robert Gordon and Roger Miller, and he’s gone lick for lick on stage with the likes of Alvin Lee, Jimmie Vaughan and Roy Buchanan. And Rolling Stone magazine ranked him at #63 on their 2003 list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. Sadly though, Danny Gatton ended his own life by shooting himself in his garage at the age of 49.
What You Should Own
Al Gallodoro was a jazz saxophonist whose career began in the 1920s and spanned nearly eight decades until just prior to his death in 2008. He is best remembered for his association with Paul Whiteman, playing in his orchestra from 1936 to 1940. He went on to play bass clarinet in NBC’s Symphony Orchestra. Gallodoro made his final appearance on September 20, 2008 and then passed away 2 weeks later at the age of 95.
Woody Guthrie was arguably America’s most important folk singer and songwriter. Over a career that spanned a quarter century, Guthrie penned 100s of songs, many lending a voice to the common man. He also wrote many children’s songs. He wrote about the plight of the migrant worker, stories he learned first-hand as he traveled among them throughout the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression. Many such songs are archived in the Library of Congress, and one in particular, “This Land Is Your Land,” is sung in elementary schools across the US. In the late ’40s, Guthrie’s health began to deteriorate while his mental state seemed to come into question. At the time, some thought it might be due to schizophrenia and alcoholism. As it turned out, he was diagnosed in 1952 with a neurological disorder called Huntington’s disease. He spent several of his final years in psychiatric hospitals. With his health and mind failing during the folk revival of he early ’60s, he eld court with some of the day’s up-and-coming troubadors who admired him, most famously, Bob Dylan, 