I remember The 47 well. I was there the first night Doc Watson appeared, not long after coming up from North Carolina, courtesy of Ralph Rinzler. I think it must have been early on Doc Watson's first tour because he seemed genuinely surprised and moved by the warmth of the reception he received. Word had gotten out that a wonderful flatpicker was going to be at The 47 and the place was full. He certainly did not disappoint. However, in the middle of "Sittin' on Top of the World", a string broke. DW didn't miss a 16th note. He just refigured the fingering and played the rest of the showpiece on five strings.

I thing DW had been feeling kind of concerned about what sort of reception he was going to get in Cambridge. He was on the literal edge of Harvard and he may have thought that any audience here was going to be stuffy and cold. Well, most of the people in The 47 that night were guitar players of one or another level of ability but more than most audiences they appreciated the musicianship that they had just seen Doc Watson do around that broken string and at the end of the song, there was enthusiastic applause and stomping of feet. This was clearly not a reserved audience but a highly enthusiastic one.

Looking back after all these years, I can't be sure that my memory isn't restaging the event to some extent but I remember there being a choking quality to Doc Watson's voice when he spoke, as though he was trying to keep from sobbing over the warmth of the reception he was getting in this far nothern, cold, Yankee outpost. He tried to say something in the way of explanation. What he said was, "I busted a why-ar."

That's when we really started applauding and cheering. It was quite a night.

Sourdough

Some others seen at the Club 47 Charles River Valley Boys Jim Kweskin and his Jug Band Lisa Kindred Tom Rush SD