Jukebox Breakdown

When I was 15, all that mattered to me was Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton, and Jimi Hendrix. Sure, I knew Albert, B.B., and Freddie King, Albert Collins, and a host of other amazing blues guitarists who had existed throughout the history of that particular genre, but it was Stevie, Eric, and Jimi who I emulated. I would learn their riffs and their songs, and play them back in whatever context was called for, and thought I was hot shit due to my ability to do so. My cousins Martha, Morgan, and their father Eddie (Ed was actually my Mom’s cousin, thus making them 2nd cousins) were the only people in my family outside of my Dad and I who loved blues, and I spent a pretty large chunk of my time when I was in PA, staying with them. Martha was and is a much better musician than I am, she plays bass, guitar, she can sing, and I’m fairly certain if you put an instrument in front of her, in an hour or two she will probably be able to knock through a couple songs whether she’d played it before or not. She was always very encouraging of my playing, and even though she could play circles around me, never shut me down when I would try to show off in front of her (she’s pretty fucking rad). One night I was over their house hanging out and Eddie asked me about Danny Gatton, whom I had never heard of…he launched in to a near encyclopedic recitation of Gatton’s career and discography, and I said foolishly “well, I’m sure he’s great, but if he was better than Stevie Ray Vaughan, how come I’ve never heard of him?” And Eddie told me about how he was called The Humbler because if you walked onstage with Danny Gatton you were going to walk off a little less sure of your abilities. That night, he made me a tape of Relentless, which is a record he did with Joey DeFranchesco. I listened to that tape for years, every night I would put it on my stereo and drift off to sleep. I knew there were things being played that I couldn’t wrap my head around, and I knew I liked the sound, but I didn’t know why. Over the years I have gone through periods where Danny Gatton was all I would listen to, and to be honest he was one of the greatest guitarists who ever lived, and had an unparalleled knowledge of american music. Eddie passed away a few years ago, Martha is married and is a computer programmer, and Morgan is a teacher. I don’t get to PA very often to visit but when I do I still spend as much time as possible with them. Today I listened to Relentless on repeat at work and I thought about my cousins and my love of music, and how that tape changed and expanded my idea of what a great guitar player was. Thank you Eddie, Martha, Morgan, and Danny Gatton