Danny and the Fat Boys - 'American Music'

 

"Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get"
— Mrs. Gump

The same could be said of guitarist Danny Gatton's music. 

Danny was such a "genre-jumper" that he never found a commercial niche.  Record labels didn't know how to market him, and he didn't fit into most radio stations formats.

Danny was a player's player, he wasn't just fluent and fluid in various forms of rock, country, rockabilly, jazz, and blues, he was a master of all of them.  He was playing so called "Roots Music" years before the phrase was coined, and became hip to explore.  Danny called his music (with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek), "Redneck Jazz".

Lowell George extended an invitation to Danny to join his band after leaving Little Feat, but Lowell dies two days later. 

A tortured soul, who suffered bouts of depression, Danny Gatton committed suicide on October 4, 1994, exactly a month after his 49^th birthday.  His passing went largely unacknowledged in the music press, although many fellow guitarists and musicians from across the musical spectrum lamented his death.

'American Music' was originally in 1975, this was the first album to document the genius of Danny Gatton.  Stylistically, it's all over the place, veering from rockabilly to jazz to blues to good old-fashioned rock and roll, and even reggae.  The one constant on this album is Danny's formidable guitar skills.

The Fat Boys are, Billy Hancock on bass and vocals and Dave Elliot on drums.  It goes without saying that if you were going to play with Danny, you better be damn good yourself, and the Fat Boys were more than up to the challenge.  Also featured is Dick Heintze, who was a mind-blowing and superb piano player, with unbelievable speed and chops that are Danny's perfect foil.

For the freeload, what was the last album you actually bought?