When I found
out about the Danny Gatton Estate Sale, something inside my head
told me to go and so I did. I've been a fan of his music and guitar
playing for years and thought this would be a once-in-a-lifetime
chance to hang out at Danny's farm. It was a long flight from
California to the Baltimore area, but well worth the trip.
I arrived at Danny's
place at 7:30am Saturday morning. On the grass were a couple hundred
boxes of a man's life - a soup to nuts collection of miscellaneous
items. It rained a lot that day so everything was covered with
plastic sheets. A great majority of items on the grass were junk,
but some music-related items did show up from time to time. Most
of the truly awesome pieces were in the garage. At 7:30am, only
a few people were around but, by 9am, when the auction started
there was about 200 people. Not everyone there was a Gatton fan.
Some folks didn't know anything about the man. They were there
looking for bargains. I did see a few people walking around with
tears rolling down their faces.
The
auction started at 9am on the grass in front of the garage area.
Shortly after the auction started, the rain came pouring down.
They auctioned off items by the box and by the piece. I picked
up Danny's Asia Tour jacket, size L, early on. The auction on
the grass was still going on non-stop come rain or shine and they
were still at it at 2pm! Lots and lots of boxes and items - a
lifetime's worth. Some original album artwork got wet and ruined.
In fact, most everything outside was wet.
At 12 noon, they auctioned
off the house and land. The final bid was $375,000. When the auctioneer
said, "Sold for $375,000 dollars.", the peacock on the
side of the house let out a long, loud scream - gave me goose
bumps big time...
Jan Gatton, Danny's
wife, was there. She stayed in the house all day except when she
came out to give the auctioneer four or five Redneck Jazz albums
- some were the rare red vinyl copies. I really felt bad for her
because this had to be a very hard day for her. I also met Billy
Windsor's cousin; a very nice lady who was working the auction
in the information booth.
The
garage is where I spent most of my time. This is where Danny worked
on cars and guitars. Just to walk around and look at everything
was worth the trip. The garage was in two sections. The front
had four large doors and was one room. A doorway led into a large
back room where a partially restored car sat. This room had a
large doorway on the side of the building perfect for driving
in and out, and lots of room to work on cars.
The
sad part about the garage was the fact there was little or no
supervision by the auction company so people were pawing through
everything, and I'm sad to report that items were stolen. It was
quite the circus and I didn't appreciate the disrespect displayed
by some of the people in attendance. This was very hard for me
to stand there and watch.
I didn't stay until
the end. I had my fill of everything and was soaked, cold, and
somewhat depressed, but I must admit I'll never forget this day
- the day I hung out at Danny's.
- Mike Holland
(California)
See more photos
below
Bay doors leading from
the large bay into the yard behind the house (not shown, to the
left)
Danny's cartoon, drawn
on a dry-erase board in the garage.
Danny's sense of humor.
This door actually led to the yard outside the back of the garage.
There was no plumbing in the garage.
Danny had detailed exactly
the work that was to be done (and being done) on a 1934 Ford panel
truck.
Parts for the Mercury
(shown above)
Danny's yard car (a rusty
old '34 Ford sedan). Photos of this car were used on the traycard
for Untouchable, and for the web site advertisement cards.
The
auction started at 9am on the grass in front of the garage area.
Shortly after the auction started, the rain came pouring down.
They auctioned off items by the box and by the piece. I picked
up Danny's Asia Tour jacket, size L, early on. The auction on
the grass was still going on non-stop come rain or shine and they
were still at it at 2pm! Lots and lots of boxes and items - a
lifetime's worth. Some original album artwork got wet and ruined.
In fact, most everything outside was wet.
The
garage is where I spent most of my time. This is where Danny worked
on cars and guitars. Just to walk around and look at everything
was worth the trip. The garage was in two sections. The front
had four large doors and was one room. A doorway led into a large
back room where a partially restored car sat. This room had a
large doorway on the side of the building perfect for driving
in and out, and lots of room to work on cars.
The
sad part about the garage was the fact there was little or no
supervision by the auction company so people were pawing through
everything, and I'm sad to report that items were stolen. It was
quite the circus and I didn't appreciate the disrespect displayed
by some of the people in attendance. This was very hard for me
to stand there and watch.
