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Copyright © 2005
Nancy Beard
All
rights reserved
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ORIGINAL
Take Five Combo
(performing at STRICK'S)
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Left to Right: Dick Heintze, Ralph Rigabuto, John
Koslin & Ron MacDonald....Danny went to the bathroom during this
picture. |
 Strick's
Legendary Club Original Home of Patsy Cline, Roy Clark. Jimmy Dean.
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LATER VERSION
Take
Five Combo
Left to Right: Danny Gatton, Ron MacDonald, Bobby
Woods, Dick Heintze, John Koslin
Left to Right: Danny Gatton, Bobby Woods, John Koslin
NOTE: DANNY GATTON playing
GIBSON ES L5 Guitar used on first recording
'Trouble In Mind' and 'Beggarman'
 
Left to Right: Ron MacDonald, Front Man Singer, Tommy Hagawatt,
Drums, John Koslin, Bass & Vocals, Danny Gatton, Switching from Gibson
ES-335 to New Les Paul Custom, Dick Heintze, Hammond-B3.
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Left: Ron MacDonald doing his Front Man
Impersonations ...Note: Danny Gatton on Drums, John Koslin on Guitar.
Right: Dick Heintze & Ron with friends relaxing
between sets.
Take Five Combo
APPEARING AS 'THE
SOULMATES '
On Wilson Line Cruises
Top Left to Right: Ron MacDonald (drums & vocals),
Roger McDuffie (tenor sax & vocals), Dick Heintz (Hammond B-3).
Bottom Left to Right: John Koslin (bass), Danny Gatton
(guitar), Gibson Les Paul)
Recording on Wilson Line Records Label
'How's Your Sister?' (Gatton & Heintze)
Very Rare Collector's Item
'Moonlight Cruise' (Koslin & MacDonald)
Very Rare Collector's Item
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East Coast Express
"THE JAZZ DAYS"
Orleans House,
Arlington, VA
Top Left to Right: Ron MacDonald, Danny Gatton, Bottom
Left to Right: John Koslin, Dick Heintze
Excerpts from ‘Unfinished Business’
The Life & Times of Danny Gatton
The new era promised a standard of virtuosity unheard of in the ‘50s,
with its never-ending stream of songs based on the I-IV-V chord trinity. How
frustrating then, for Danny & dick Heintze to spend their nights and
weekends grinding out schmaltzy jazz or whatever Top 40 tunes were
happening. So, it wasn’t surprising that they jumped at the chance to rejoin
Ronnie MacDonald in 1967 in a new group called the Take Five Combo.
They started in Bethesda, Maryland, and then moved on to a Washington
club called the Pall Mall, formerly the jazz club Charlie’s. Danny’s
explosive interplay with Heintze quickly became the band’s hottest ticket,
MacDonald says: "I’d never seen anybody do it with that much precision –
exactly the same note, the same phrasing, the same time."
The band’s priorities changed after the owner of Tom Sarri’s Orleans
House eyeballed them. "He came in and said, ’I really like you guys, I want
you to play my restaurant. And by he way, I don’t want you to play any rock
‘n roll,’ MacDonald recalls. "Danny’s eyes got big, and so did Heintze’s."
Phill Zavarella’s brother Mike joined on upright bass, "and Danny and Dick,
they were in heaven. We were playing jazz all night long, and we were off at
ten o’clock every night. We were there for a year, maybe a year and a half."
East Coast Express
aka
"TAKE FIVE COMBO"
Picture from Newly Release Book 2003,..
'UNFINISHED BUSINESS'
The Life & Times of DANNY GATTON by
Ralph Heibutzkihu
Excerpts from
‘Unfinished Business’
The Life & Times of Danny Gatton
Bobby Hancock was among the regulars at the Orleans
House, which was in Arlington. He recalls the band's name differently,
saving it was East Coast Offering or East Coast Express. Bobby says "supper
jazz" was always on their menu. "That would run at least through dinner, and
then there would be dancing afterwards." When they weren't holding down the
supper-club fort, Danny, Heintze, MacDonald and Roger McDuffie would do Top
40 covers at Gus & Johns in Clinton, Maryland. Heintze used the organ's foot
pedals t cover for the lack of a bassist, and Danny even got down behind the
drums sometimes. "Danny played a great shuffle," Roger says.
Local guitarist Joe Tass wasn't impressed by
the Take Five Combo--after all, he's just met Roy Buchanan, widely
acknowledged as the man to beat on guitar. But when Tass and some pals were
hunting around for gigs, they paused to listen more closely to Gatton's band
at one venue. "They were playing 'Never on Sunday,' which is like a
cha-cha," he recalls. "There's Dick Heintze, a monster keyboard player, but
listening to that I'm saying 'Damn, they're playing old people's music."
Danny then swooped through the fast "mandolin parts" he'd devised for the "Zorba
the Greek" theme. I said, 'Damn, this guy can f---in play! What a
monster!" Tass and company departed, figuring that if the management
demanded such ability, they'd better find a gig elsewhere.
Quotes from Phil Zavarella: Phil spent the
time perusing his old buddy's guitar collection and catching up on the
band's doings at the Orleans House. "They were making $280 a week, in the
'60s." Phil says, "They were the fattest musicians in town. And they
were getting off when most people were playing their second set."
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LATER VERSION
Eastcoast Express
Top Left to Right: Jimmy Welsh
(bass), Dick Heintze (organ), Bottom Left to Right: Pokie Walls (drums &
vocals), Ron MacDonald (vocals), Danny Gatton (guitar).
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Danny Gatton
& The Drapes
Left to Right: Larry Struthers - Dr. Naked (tenor
sax), Don Stapleton (baritone sax), Ron MacDonald (vocals), Danny Gatton
(guitar), John Previti (bass), Dave Elliott (drums).
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Danny Gatton & The
Drapes
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Left to Right: Danny Gatton, Dave Elliott, Billy Windsor, John Previti,
Southern Maryland Horns: Ralph McDuffy, Mike Shear, Don Stapleton.
Billy Jack's Nightclub
Southern Maryland
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