It seems that those memories of the music, artists & personalities from the days of WHFS still seem to find there way into my life whether triggered by a song, or as it was earlier today, by a topic of conversation during a phone call. My friend Rich called me this morning and we spent time catching up on a variety of topics when towards the end of it he asked my thoughts on the passing of Robin Williams. Well what could one say? Yes it was tragic and the public in general, at least for the moment, is now engaged on the topic of human depression which to me is a good thing. I feel that this public discourse builds a deeper awareness of this human condition. Anyway after hanging up with Rich I found myself thinking about others who have dealt unsuccessfully with depression in their lives over the years. Since the phone call was now over I had brought my iTunes screen back up on my laptop and changed the current playlist to a Blues one. Soon the sounds of Blind Lemon Jefferson doing Black Snake Moan filled my headphones. Ah yes WHFSs Damian & Weasel were certainly into him back in the day. As the next song in the shuffle began to play I stopped what I was doing on the computer and basically got caught up in not only the song but also in my memories of the guitarist who was playing it as well. The song was Melancholy Serenade and the artist was Southern Marylands own Danny Gatton. Boy how many times did I hear not only Dannys music on WHFS but also the announcements of him playing at the Birchmere or the Psyche Delly and other local venues. It also conjured up those Saturday nights at Dannys Beneath It All where I listened to all of that great live music. It was then that I thought about Richs question to me earlier and how it was now 20 years ago this coming October that Danny too lost his struggle with depression. This was certainly not a happy memory for me but then again I have chosen to remember Danny for his approachable manner and the great music that he made with his guitar. If you have not seen it before here is a 1990 Channel 9 Capital Edition piece on Danny Gatton and a few of the things that defined his life. https://youtube/watch?v=KbNKMlrkHMc
Posted on: Wed, 20 Aug 2014 00:37:20 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015