King What?

June 19, 2006 8:50 AM

Who is the famous guitarist whose name sounds like "King Gannom?" I am transcribing an interview and my respondent refers to someone whose name sounds like "King Gannom" but I can't find any person named that. Is there a famous guitarist (maybe from the 50s, 60s, or 70s) whose name sounds like that?

The context of the reference gives no clues, it was something like "[Someone] was such a great guy to play with, no matter what your level of ability he always made you feel like you were King Gannom or one of those guys like that."

posted by arcticwoman to Media & Arts (20 answers total)

Can you post an audio clip of the relevant bit of the interview so we can hear the pronunciation?
posted by jjg at 8:59 AM on June 19, 2006

Is there any genre we could narrow it down to? What type of music does the interviewee typically play?
posted by SuperSquirrel at 9:02 AM on June 19, 2006

Could it be King Crimson? (Robert Fripp was the actual guitarist for that band).
posted by bluefrog at 9:05 AM on June 19, 2006

I'm wondering if it's a person's name, or if maybe you're mishearing the sentence -- maybe it's something like: "no matter what your level of ability he always made you feel like you were [F_cking an __m or one of those guys like that.]
posted by JekPorkins at 9:11 AM on June 19, 2006

Danny Gatton? maybe
posted by stavx at 9:13 AM on June 19, 2006

The Online Guitar Archive lists for letter K tablature includes:

King Albert
King B B
King Ben E
King Carole
King Crimson
King Diamond
King Freddie
King Freddy
King Harvest
King Jonathan
King Kaki
King Kobra
King Missile
King Prawn
King Vitamin
King Wes
Kingmaker
Kings Of Convenience
Kings Of Leon
Kings X
Kingsley Gershon
Kingsmen
posted by icontemplate at 9:16 AM on June 19, 2006

King Crimson was the first thing that popped into my brain when I read this. Robert Fripp, their guitarist, is highly respected, nay even revered in some guitar-playing circles.
posted by willmize at 9:18 AM on June 19, 2006

Unlikely longshot: King Buzzo from The Melvins?

So far, I'd go with King Crimson or the misheard gerund.
posted by merlinmann at 9:20 AM on June 19, 2006

I bet it's Danny Gatton.
posted by wsg at 9:22 AM on June 19, 2006

Yeah -- I bet it's "F_cking Gatton"
posted by JekPorkins at 9:26 AM on June 19, 2006

voting for "fuc"king gatton.
posted by glenwood at 9:27 AM on June 19, 2006

Response by poster: I'm sorry, I can't post any of the interview, it's on an old audio tape and I have no way of uploading it.

The music genre would likely be country, but also possibly jazz. The other musicians mentioned in the interview are Chet Atkins, Carl Smith, Johnny Cash, Lenny Breau, Django Reinhardt, and a few others.

Thanks for the suggestions so far, I'l start checking into them.
posted by arcticwoman at 9:30 AM on June 19, 2006

Response by poster: Danny Gatton looks possible.
posted by arcticwoman at 9:31 AM on June 19, 2006

If the genre is country/jazz, it's definitely Gatton. Atkins, Smith, Cash, Breau, and Django can't possibly be mentioned in a conversation that doesn't also include Gatton.
posted by JekPorkins at 9:33 AM on June 19, 2006

Best answer: If it's country, I found this guy by typing "King Gannon" into allmusic.

He's a fiddler, but the name is a dead-ringer.

But I also think the words your interviewee spoke were probably more in the "no matter who you were, he made you feel like you were 'king shit'" vein.
posted by interrobang at 9:43 AM on June 19, 2006

Blues guitarist Kid Ramos? (More on Ramos)
posted by madamjujujive at 10:35 AM on June 19, 2006

Response by poster: interrobang got it, I'm pretty sure. The name is dead on and I think the fiddle/guitar thing can be explained pretty easily. The guy I'm studying is a guitarist, but it's probably safe to say that many of his musician friends played other, complimentary, instruments such as harmonica or fiddle.
The other thing that clinches it for me is that King Ganam live and played in Canada, specifically Edmonton, which is where the guy I'm studying is from.

Thanks for the Gatton suggestion, though. To flesh out my main research I'm also looking at other influential musicians of the time, and Gatton is one that I would have missed for sure.
posted by arcticwoman at 10:43 AM on June 19, 2006

If Gatton is relevant, then you should also research Roy Buchanan, another Washington, DC-based telecaster player. Their playing styles, careers and even deaths are quite similar.
posted by timeistight at 1:09 PM on June 19, 2006

I think I still have a towel from a Gatton performance... he used to "soak" his "telly" and play it through the towel. Amazing. He threw it into the audience, and I nearly killed three other women for it. Redneck Jazz...
posted by Corky at 5:45 PM on June 19, 2006

Here's amazing video of Gatton playing slide guitar with a full beer, which foams up and gets all over his guitar and then playing through a towel to clean it up. Honky Tonkin' Country Girl.
posted by wsg at 9:02 AM on June 20, 2006