I post a weekly diary of historical notes, arts & science items, foreign news (often receiving little notice in the US) and whimsical pieces from the outside world that I often feature in "Cheers & Jeers".
OK, you've been warned - here is this week's tomfoolery material that I posted.
CHEERS to Bill and Michael in PWM, our Laramie, Wyoming-based friend Irish Patti and ...... well, each of you at Cheers and Jeers. Have a fabulous weekend .... and week ahead.
ART NOTES— an exhibition entitled Bouguereau & America— works by the French painter William-Adolphe Bouguereau that were quite popular in the US from the late 1860’s to the early 1900’s — is at the San Diego, California Museum of Art scheduled to August 2nd.
YUK for TODAY— in the precarious position of Corey Lewandowski as current campaign manager for you-know-who ... a money quote from Gabriel Sherman:
Other Trump insiders are skeptical that Lewandowski would be put in charge of such a vast operation. “Corey was great when it was just Trump and an airplane. But let’s face it, he couldn’t manage a 7-Eleven,” a person close to Trump said.
TODAY SAW THE DEATH of the last surviving KKK member convicted of the 1963 Alabama church bombings… at the age of eighty-two.
THURSDAY's CHILD is named Tatty the Cat— an English kitteh who snuck into a car engine and went for a four-mile ride before the driver stopped at a supermarket … and heard the six-year-old orange tabby meowing.
YOUR WEEKEND READ is this detailed profile of the former official at the Nat’l Security Council, Fiona Hill— whose public testimony was a highlight of the impeachment hearings — yet as the nonpareil Digby notes, her efforts were thanked by many in power privately (Bolton, Kelly and Mattis) … yet who were unwilling to do so publicly.
WITH THE APPARENT DEFEAT of long-term Rep. Eliot Engel in the NY-16 House Democratic primary: in a June 11, 1996 Wall Street Journal front-page profile, Eliot Engel was alleged to have been referred-to (by his staff!) as "Lunch Money" - the kid most likely to be harassed for his lunch money (which he denied ever since).
FRIDAY's CHILD is named Narnia the Cat— a French kitteh with a rare two-tone face, and has fathered twenty kittens, two of whom inherited one of his colors.
HOPEFUL ELECTION NOTES— three cases of possible optimism: in the African nation of Malawi, a rigged re-election last year was voided by its Supreme Court (with challenger Lazarus Chakwera given a decent chance of prevailing in this week’s election) …. in Belarus, the reign of Europe’s last dictator (Alexander Lukashenko) may possibly come to an end on August 9th, and in Poland the anti-gay, pro-Trump incumbent Andrzej Duda may have to face the mayor of Warsaw in a run-off if no one gains 50% in today’s election.
MUSIC NOTES— fifty-two years after he performed a concert at a Palo Alto, California high school and was (secretly) recorded by the school’s janitor ……….
… a new album by jazz piano legend Thelonious Monk will be released July 31st.
BRAIN TEASER— try this Quiz of the Week's News from the BBC ...… and the much easier, USA-centered NY Times quiz.
FATHER-SON?— former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson and current Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker.
...... and finally, for a song of the week ...........................… in 1965, the Lovin’ Spoonful had performed at a major venue in Nashville and afterwards: their guitarists John Sebastian and the late Zal Yanofsky had a drink at their hotel bar. The bar band’s guitarist played rings around them technically, and they wondered: how was it that they played a major show and this guy was playing at a Holiday Inn? (John Sebastian wrote the song Nashville Cats sometime after that night).
Not until years later did they learn …. that they had been listening to a nineteen year-old Danny Gatton— someone with a wide range of styles and technical ability in abundance, with many players testifying to his ability. Guitar Player magazine dubbed him the World’s Greatest Unknown Guitarist. Yet he somehow never gained a national audience beyond guitar hero listeners. And he had something hidden inside that many failed to notice until it was too late.
Born in 1945 in Washington D.C. (with a rhythm guitarist father) he joined bands beginning at age twelve, with a four-year stint in The Offbeats crucial. At age nineteen he moved to Nashville to get session work — it was at that time that John Sebastian saw him play — and briefly he became the roommate of guitarist Roy Buchanan— prophetically, someone who was also renowned for his technical mastery, and whose career (and death) took an eerily similar path, a bit earlier.
He returned to Washington in the early 70’s, getting studio work and playing in local bands such as Liz Meyer & Friends. His 1975 debut solo album was American Music and a nickname that he gave himself became the title of his 1978 album Redneck Jazz— with noted pedal steel guitarist Buddy Emmons in his band.
He was also known as The Humbler— as anyone who sat-in with him and tried to out-do him was likely to be …. well, humbled. And for style: it was wide-ranging as could be. He was based in rockabilly … and then added country, jazz, rock and R&B. His second album’s title Redneck Jazz can give you an example of his flexibility. His long-time bassist John Previti said of him:
When he played country music, it sounded like all he played was country music. When he played jazz, it sounded like that's all he played ... (the same for) rockabilly, old rock and roll, soul music. He called himself a Whitman sampler of music.
In the late 70’s, his ability caught the eye of more established musicians, including the former Little Feat star Lowell George, who offered him a place in a new band he planned to form … only to die two days later. Gatton did wind-up touring with both veteran old-school country musician Roger Miller … and also rockabilly star Robert Gordon (just to illustrate his versatility, once again).
He gained popularity with these stars, and bootlegs of his performances were trade by guitar-hero fans. Yet the touring wore on him, and he returned to the D.C. region to be close to family, resuming session work and playing local gigs.
In the mid-to-late 1980’s, he purchased his dream farmhouse in southwest Maryland, badly in need of very expensive repairs. He thus became more serious about revving-up his career: releasing the 1987 album Unfinished Business (with covers of Cherokee, Georgia on My Mind and even the Jackie Gleason theme) that received rave reviews, including Rolling Stone. This led to his first major-label record deal (with Elektra).
In 1991 he released 88 Elmira Street— his Washington, D.C. childhood address — which was a collection of instrumentals (mostly originals) that also included covers of Martin Denny’s Quiet Village, Brian Wilson’s In My Room and a bizarre rendition of The Simpsons theme. The next year he joined jazz musicians Bobby Watson and Joshua Redmond on a Blue Note release, New York Stories— which gained him more notice in that musical realm.
It was not until 1993’s album Cruisin’ Deuces — a more country/rockabilly music effort — that he undertook his first nationwide tour. Yet disappointing sales (as well as his main supporter at Elektra leaving) led to his being dropped from the label, and so he returned to session work as a result.
Why no national acclaim? His wide-range of music left promoters and DJ’s unsure where to slot him, he was a homebody (who disliked long tours) and did not want to move to NYC, Nashville or Los Angeles, he was an instrumental guitarist long after the era (1950’s to mid-60’s) when that was in vogue, the lack of a worthy vocalist to accompany him … and a shyness that he openly admitted to.
In 1994 he released an album with the Philadelphia virtuoso organist Joey DeFrancesco, Relentless— and they toured Europe together that summer. Yet all along, he suffered from bouts of depression that he was able to hide from all except those close to him. In October, 1994 he locked himself in his garage and shot himself, exactly a month after his forty-ninth birthday … and left no note. The following January, many of his musician friends organized a three-night club benefit performance in New York (raising $25k for his wife and daughter).
There is a 2003 biography of him, a 1999 compilation album that chronicles his career and a documentary entitled The Humbler that is still in production. Yet it is the legion of guitarists who cited him as an inspiration that is perhaps his greatest legacy and these include James Burton, Vince Gill, Willie Nelson, Les Paul, Richie Sambora, Ricky Skaggs, Slash, Steve Vai, Albert Lee and Steve Earle ... for starters.
Although lengthy, here he is playing an instrumental: the #1 hit single for the Farina brothers (Santo & Johnny) in 1959, Sleep Walk— which Gatton had previously recorded on his 1987 album Unfinished Business.