Doc lived in Deep Gap, NC just east of Boone. He'd show up at Thompson's Resturant for fried seafood and would perform a few songs after he'd finished eating.
I'm something of a musician myself - guitar and bass before that - and hence I am not easily-impressed, but as long as I live, I'll never forget the impression Doc and Merle Watson made upon me when I first listened to their live album on the Vanguard label from the 1960s. They just knocked me out, and nothing's changed down to the present day. The word "genius" gets overused a lot when it comes to describing musical talent, but Doc was the real deal and Merle was a chip off the old block (or at least Rose-Lee said he was! Hehe... if you have heard that record, you'll get the joke).
I didn't "discover" Doc's music soon-enough to get to hear/see Merle and Doc together.... Merle had already passed away by the time I learned about the two of them. But I did see Doc with Jack Lawrence live two times at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago, and those evenings rank as some of the highlights of my musical life. What a tremendous performer, he could do it all - play anything you'd like in just about any style, tell stories, jokes, history of folk and mountain music, you name it.
Guys like Doc Watson come along so rarely. I guess the closest thing we have to him now that he is gone would be someone like Ricky Skaggs. Whose music I also love!
Some Doc Watson! Thanks, haven't listen to him in awhile. I really enjoyed that.
ReplyDeleteHe was a pleasure to see in person and his interviews are always interesting. Quite a talent and quite a character.
ReplyDeleteLucky enough to move to Wilkesboro several years before he passed away, and was able to see him in several local and Merlefest concerts.
ReplyDeleteThis is my first meeting with Doc Watson, but track 2 rang a bell:
ReplyDeletewww.youtube.com/watch?v=uK_7AqH1VGQ
I don't think I've heard that name in shit forty years. I had a friend that used to play him all the time.
ReplyDeleteDoc lived in Deep Gap, NC just east of Boone. He'd show up at Thompson's Resturant for fried seafood and would perform a few songs after he'd finished eating.
ReplyDeleteI'm something of a musician myself - guitar and bass before that - and hence I am not easily-impressed, but as long as I live, I'll never forget the impression Doc and Merle Watson made upon me when I first listened to their live album on the Vanguard label from the 1960s. They just knocked me out, and nothing's changed down to the present day. The word "genius" gets overused a lot when it comes to describing musical talent, but Doc was the real deal and Merle was a chip off the old block (or at least Rose-Lee said he was! Hehe... if you have heard that record, you'll get the joke).
ReplyDeleteI didn't "discover" Doc's music soon-enough to get to hear/see Merle and Doc together.... Merle had already passed away by the time I learned about the two of them. But I did see Doc with Jack Lawrence live two times at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago, and those evenings rank as some of the highlights of my musical life. What a tremendous performer, he could do it all - play anything you'd like in just about any style, tell stories, jokes, history of folk and mountain music, you name it.
Guys like Doc Watson come along so rarely. I guess the closest thing we have to him now that he is gone would be someone like Ricky Skaggs. Whose music I also love!