Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: Stringsinger
Date: 30 May 12 - 10:29 AM

Doc should have gotten the Presidential Medal of Honor.

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: Stringsinger
Date: 30 May 12 - 10:30 AM

That is Medal of Freedom.   He freed folk music from the academics.

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: Amos
Date: 30 May 12 - 10:56 AM

Godammit. What a sad morning.

Go free, old timer; you can see clearly now.

A

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 30 May 12 - 11:04 AM

Doc Watson: An Old-Time Folk Musician With Soul, the 1988 interview on NPR's Fresh Air

Sorry I came very late to being aware of his music, but so glad I did get to see him in concert in Tucson.

So many people he has affected.

~ Becky in Tucson

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: Owen Woodson
Date: 30 May 12 - 11:07 AM

See in heaven? Doc could see more clearly with the sight in both eyes gone than many people I know with perfect vision. I heard a story about him one time, to the effect that some of Doc's neighbours criticised him for playing with Black musicians. Doc said "Hell, you're all black to me".

There'll be one heck of a session in heaven tonight with Doc and Mississippi John Hurt jamming together like long lost brothers.

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: Owen Woodson
Date: 30 May 12 - 11:19 AM

I've just found a detailed and moving tribute to Doc in this morning's Guardian .

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: frogprince
Date: 30 May 12 - 11:23 AM

Saw Doc live just once, in Chicago, approx 1980. I remember him getting a bit "cranky", momentarily about mike placement or something on that order, but promptly resetting the mood with a bit of humor and getting on with a fine performance. The world is out one virtuoso artist and "gentleman of the old school".

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: Bill D
Date: 30 May 12 - 11:24 AM

Here is Doc, playing mouth harp and singing "Amazing Grace

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: GUEST,999
Date: 30 May 12 - 11:25 AM

Doc Watson was a giant. Saw him perform a few times and he was a wizard on guitar and more than able to drop into blues, country, Appalachian, bluegrass--well, his normal dozen genres, but he also knew how to rock. He wasn't precious about his place in music--the man plain and simple liked to play. The arts took a hit with his death, but his legacy is walking around all over the world of music, a world he enhanced by his participation and ability to "carry it on".

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: frogprince
Date: 30 May 12 - 11:34 AM

"...was blind, but now I see." And a little chill ran up my spine. How many shades of meaning come to mind hearing that now. I didn't realize I was going to have to reach for a hankerchief.

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: GUEST,Coyote Breath with no cookie
Date: 30 May 12 - 11:41 AM

Roll on, buddy!

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: GUEST,gillymor
Date: 30 May 12 - 11:45 AM

He brought so much joy and comfort into this mean old world.

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: Acorn4
Date: 30 May 12 - 11:53 AM

Those double Vanguard albums from the seventies would definitely be in my "desert island discs" - his fingerpicking was brilliant as well as his flatpicking.

I think "Beaumont Rag" is my favourite instrumental and "Shady Grove" my favourite of Doc's songs.

Irreplaceable - RIP, Doc

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: GUEST,josepp
Date: 30 May 12 - 12:11 PM

So long, Doc, and thanks for everything.

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: wysiwyg
Date: 30 May 12 - 12:52 PM

The most important MUSIC lesson I learned from Doc, AND HIS BANDS, the many times I saw them play was this: pick a great song and then relax on into it and let it play. Don't do it "right." And don't "do" "Doc's style"-- his style was to always be on the next wave, not whatever one we might now be trying to copy.

It's not the technique. Just DO IT and let it run its course.

That's the Real Deal. Works ever' time. :~)

~Susan

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 30 May 12 - 01:05 PM

Doc was that rare combination---a masterful technical virtuoso, a fine musician and a wonderful performer. I suspect that I would have paid to hear him sing the Bronx telephone directory---a capella.

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: Richie
Date: 30 May 12 - 01:14 PM

Here's Doc's version of Matty Groves:

http://bluegrassmessengers.com/matty-groves--doc-watson-nc-1966-recording.aspx

Doc was an excellent fingerpicker. If you listen to Matty Groves you'll find it amazing that he used his thumb and just his index finger- like Merle Travis.

Doc named his son, Merle for Merle Travis, just as Chet named his daughter Merle for Merle Travis.

Not many people know Doc was also a good banjo picker, he played three-finger mountain style like Charlie Poole and Doc Boggs. One time I was back-stage, no one was there, and Doc played Country Blues for me on the banjo- I'm sure Doc Boggs would have been proud.

Richie

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: Mrrzy
Date: 30 May 12 - 01:29 PM

So sorry, I was hoping against hope that he'd pull through...

Walk on, boy.

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: Taconicus
Date: 30 May 12 - 01:39 PM

I was fortunate enough to hear Doc and Merle play in a tiny coffeehouse in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1969. I remember how proud Doc was that Merle had learned to play the banjo so quickly. Their performance that night got me interested in bluegrass music, and although I was never a good enough guitar player to handle bluegrass, Doc Watson was one of my inspirations when I later took up guitar and began performing myself.

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: GUEST,grover
Date: 30 May 12 - 01:47 PM

First time I heard Mr. Watson's version of Black Moutain Rag I slowed it to 16 on my record player until I could play it note for note. Took 3 solid days w/no sleep and alot of coffee. My roommates thought I was crazy. Best three days I've ever spent. THAT music lesson taught me more in learning one song than the rest of my career combined. Took MONTHS to play it clean at speed. The most difficult thing wasn't playing it clean and fast it was figuring out how he did that little 'chimes' thing in the middle of the song.

The same for Deep River Blues. The song that introduced me to jazz chords w/Travis picking combined. Everything I do as a guitar player can be traced to those two songs. Two completely different disciplines.

RIP, Mr. Watson. From just one of millions of people blessed by your existance. Thank you.

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: GUEST,Songbob
Date: 30 May 12 - 02:15 PM

I can't help but remember the song he wrote and recorded with his wife, Rosa Lee, "Long Journey."

- - - -

God's given us years of happiness here, but now we must part.
And as the angels come and call for you,
The pains of grief tug at my heart.

Oh my darling
My darling
My heart breaks as you take your long journey

- - - -

An amazing song, and so rooted in home, church, family, and place. If there was ever a more rooted man of music, I don't know who it was.

Bob

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: Brian May
Date: 30 May 12 - 02:16 PM

At least we had him while he was here . . . an inspiration and much appreciated in so many places.

Thanks Doc and RIP, best wishes and condolences to his family and friends.

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: gnu
Date: 30 May 12 - 03:15 PM

Thanks for the tunes. RIP

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: GUEST,Big Ballad Singer
Date: 30 May 12 - 04:36 PM

I was a rap/metal/alternative musical snob until the time I started working at a major bookstore chain's music department. We were allowed to take home the CDs that we played over the store PA. There was a 2-disc Doc Watson anthology in the pile, and I knew it sold at the store for a good price, so I figured I'd take it home and flip it for a few bucks at the local second-hand record shop (remember those?).

Thing is, I saw that the song titles included a few with the word "blues" in them... 'how bad could they be?' I thought.

I cued up the firs disc, and my musical life changed forever.

RIP. Mr. Watson. You deserve the rest.

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: Rex
Date: 30 May 12 - 04:49 PM

I am grateful to Doc for what he shared with us. Most of us that play guitar learned from him whether we know it or not. I didn't see this posted so here's a link to a remembrance from NPR.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2012/05/29/153697428/doc-watson-folk-music-icon-dies-at-89

Rex

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: bbc
Date: 30 May 12 - 05:07 PM

I was so sad to see this thread. I had the amazing good fortune to hear Doc perform at the high school just ten minutes from my home in rural New York, a few years ago. He was wonderful! Rest in peace.

Barbara

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: Bill D
Date: 30 May 12 - 05:20 PM

Something special I found doing a search.

An hour of various Doc performances, many with Merle...and one, which I saw live, of Doc playing for the first time with Merle Travis .....at Winfield, Kans. I'd suggest right clicking 'on the title' where it says Doc Watson VI and saving to your drive. Save it and savor it.... wonderful cuts.

The cut (#8) with Merle Watson is at 17:50... (If you listen carefully, you can hear me clapping in the crowd.)

(Doc 'met' Merle when recording the Nitty-Gritty Dirt Band album, but they were never on stage together until Winfield.) I 'may' have a tape of that afternoon somewhere.

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: Guy Wolff
Date: 30 May 12 - 07:02 PM

When I was a young potter I worked a summer at an old pottery shop in North Carolina named Jugtown. The owner Nancy Sweezy had worked on the Newport Folk Festivals with Ralph Rinzler. She had a great story of Ralph bringing Clarence Tom Ashley north for the show but they needed a guitarist . There was a country & western guitarist in Tom's town who knew Ashley but did not have an acoustic guitar. The story goes Ralph Rinzler lent Doc his guitar MArtin for those early sessions .

Mitch Janes of the Dillards once told me Doc took apart a Packard in his back yard. Cleaned it and got the thing back together and running ..

Great to hear all the wonderful stories here . I have been playing Rambling Hobo all week hoping against hope .. Thanks for so much Doc .. At least Merle has someone to play with now .. All the best to all here , Guy

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: voyager
Date: 30 May 12 - 07:10 PM

Mudcat -

These tributes to Doc Watson are heartfelt and blessed. When this thread reaches a 1000 posts, we'll have done our 'digital bit' to pay tribute to this humble and talented man. On the turntable today -

Doc Fest
Sitting Here Picking the Blues (w/ Merle Watson)

voyager

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: GUEST,Alan Oakes
Date: 30 May 12 - 07:37 PM

"Weep not for me now I'm gone" – a line from one of Doc Watson's most moving songs, "Lone Pilgrim."

Doc was my good friend for 45 years. I never knew a kinder or gentler man. He saw life in a very special, simple way. Although he knew that he was a gifted singer and musician, that wasn't the way he saw himself, primarily. He was a person. To him his worth came from his interactions with friends, family and people he met in his travels. He actually did not like being famous.

In the 60s, when he was still relatively unknown, he was unable to fly from his home directly to each concert and then return – he had to be on the road. This was a wonderful thing for me. Doc would stay in my home, in Berkeley, for a few weeks whenever he performed on the West Coast. From there he would fly to Seattle or Los Angeles or wherever and then come back. I may be the luckiest man alive.

He loved engineering and physics. At nearly every visit he and I spent many hours talking about bridges, space probes, high-energy physics, high-fidelity sound systems and like that. Marnie remembers [you should see her grin as she tells me this] how pleased he was when he showed us his new watch that he could read with his fingers and which would vibrate rather than sounding an alarm.

Marnie and I went to Doc's concerts whenever he performed nearby. We would go early and visit backstage, take him to dinner, take him on walks, and so on. Some of my favorite memories: running along the beach at high speed with him in San Francisco, taking him to play with the cannon on the Cambridge common, watching him run back and forth along the huge xylophone at the De Cordova museum in Lincoln banging out notes with a stick – with a huge grin on his face, taking him to a contra dance in Peterborough, NH. I will treasure these and many other memories the rest of my life.

I'm sorry to see him go; but, I know he lived a full and rich life and he was a good and well-loved man.

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: SINSULL
Date: 30 May 12 - 07:47 PM

RIP

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: meself
Date: 30 May 12 - 07:58 PM

He was a superb harmonica player, along with everything else ....

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 30 May 12 - 09:19 PM

Sad news, but what an amazing life!

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: Richie
Date: 30 May 12 - 09:29 PM

Some of my favorites of Doc's covers are:

1) Tennessee Stud
2) Intoxicated Rat
3) Rise When the Rooster Crows
4) St. James Infirmary

The way he used sound effects on the first two certainly made those arrangements unique.

I love his harmonica on Rise When the Rooster Crows. There's something about the simplicity and beauty of the song the way Doc did it.

I'm not sure but I think Doc may have changed St. James Infirmary to Am. He used a "cheater" on the third fret as I remember. Just a great arrangement.

Richie

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: GUEST,Aicha
Date: 30 May 12 - 10:23 PM

That's really sad news. Blind from birth, multiple Grammies, NC Hall of Fame, incredible talent...he was a legend.

http://thecelebritycafe.com/feature/2012/05/musician-doc-watson-dies-age-89

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: Cool Beans
Date: 30 May 12 - 10:45 PM

All these great stories about a great man. This is the electronic campfire, isn't it?

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 30 May 12 - 11:00 PM

Ry Cooder on his first encounter with Doc Watson

~ Becky in Tucson

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: kendall
Date: 31 May 12 - 01:19 AM

Now he belongs to the ages, but at least we had him for a long time.

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 31 May 12 - 12:11 PM

NYT Editorial | Appreciations: Doc Watson

By Verlyn Klinkenborg
May 30, 2012

In the 1960s, nearly every aspiring guitarist spent a lot of time sitting beside a record player, setting the needle on the vinyl, listening to a few bars and then trying to pick out the notes on the guitar. (Now, of course, there are apps to make this easier.) You would do this over and over and over again. With a little patience, a song would give up its secrets. And the more songs that gave up their secrets, the easier the learning became. For a lot of us young guitarists, that process came to a halt when we first heard Doc Watson, who died on Tuesday at 89.

Hearing him that first time was like standing by the railroad tracks when Casey Jones went past on his last night ride. It wasn't just Doc Watson's speed that stunned a young guitarist. It wasn't even his accuracy. It was the energy behind his flat pick. Listening to him, you could almost imagine his right arm moving like the wheel pistons on a steam locomotive. You could hear the stiffness in the strings, the subtle hammering of his pick, the cyclone of notes gathering round your head. Those old country tunes acquired an angular momentum they had never had before.

Young guitarists (this one, at least) misunderstood what they were hearing. They listened to the picking for itself, the virtuosity of a man who could bring such linear power to the intricate motions of playing guitar. Sooner or later, you realized that the music simply flowed through Doc Watson. He was a delta in himself, where all those traditional musical tributaries converged. Listening to his records, you soon figured out that there was no point picking out the notes he played bar by bar. It was time to learn how to ride the song, the way Doc Watson did.

--

~ Becky in Tucson

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: Don Firth
Date: 31 May 12 - 02:00 PM

Owen Woodson:    ". . . some of Doc's neighbours criticised him for playing with Black musicians. Doc said 'Hell, you're all black to me.'"

I love it!!

Doc Watson was truly one of Nature's Noblemen.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: GUEST,lefthanded guitar
Date: 31 May 12 - 06:48 PM

Whenver I've seen, heard or met the must superlative talents, they are always modest, unassuming, approachable, and never let their talent overshine their humanity.
That was Doc, still playing nimbly into his eighties. Rest in peace, and I hope he's riding that Tennesse Stud in the sweet by and by.

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: GUEST,Wendy Price
Date: 31 May 12 - 08:45 PM

Fond memories of Doc's playing in the 60's. Never had the opportunity to see him in person, but he was a big influence on my early introduction to traditional music

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: TopcatBanjo
Date: 01 Jun 12 - 07:07 AM

For those in the UK (or those overseas who have worked out how to access iPlayer!) the Bob Harris Country programme on Radio 2 last night included a tribute to Doc Watson (as well as a Sara Watkins session) and is available on Listen Again until next Thursday.

Linky:

Doc Watson tribute on Bob Harris show

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: TopcatBanjo
Date: 01 Jun 12 - 07:36 AM

Re: the Bob Harris programme linked above...

Just in case you want to skip the rest of it - the show opens with a Doc song (at about 4 mins in)but the main Doc-related content comes at the end of the programme, from about 49 minutes in.

Maria

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: GUEST,Fred Bailey
Date: 03 Jun 12 - 12:06 PM

In 1965 a friend and I signed out on week-end passes and hitch-hiked up to Philadelphia where Doc was playing at the Main Point. The two of us had met as guitar-slingers around the barracks and we timed our arrival well before door-opening. We grabbed the tiny table just in front of the microphones and with our knees against the foot-high stage, so we could most closely observe Doc's fingers. Merle brought him on stage and got him settled. (He would re-join him him for the second set, later.) At some point during that first set, Doc finished a song and while talking to the audience, he cupped his left hand to his right, slipping his finger-picks off and into his left palm. But this routine motion rapped his left knuckles gently against the voice microphone. The T-joint of the boom-mic stand was unfortunately LOOSE. Picture the following in slow-motion. The mike immediately spun away from him. Doc said, "well I swang it right away, didn't I?" I rose to a half-crouch, grabbed the counter-weight of the mike-stand, rotated the mike back in front of his mouth, and sat down. Doc looked straight in my eyes (I swear), said "Thank you" and proceeded to change his picks and introduce the next song. I've had the willies ever since. And I never got to say "You're welcome, Doc."

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: GUEST,Bob Ryszkiewicz
Date: 03 Jun 12 - 05:03 PM

It was an honor to have met Doc Watson...Rest in Peace Doc...Thank You...bob

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 03 Jun 12 - 07:21 PM

Conversations with Doc Watson

Seven-time Grammy Award-winner Doc Watson has appeared with David Holt several times on UNC-TV. Portions of those earlier shows and a new interview are combined as a retrospective of Doc's life and career. From humble beginnings in the mountains of North Carolina, Doc has built a world-wide reputation as a powerful singer and masterful guitar player. But he has never left his roots, preferring to let his influence spread quietly through his music. In doing so, he has become one of our nation's musical treasures.

A video online from the Folkways series at UNC-TV.

~ Becky in Tucson

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: topical tom
Date: 04 Jun 12 - 03:39 PM

Another music giant gone. There will be top flat picking in Heaven. RIP, Doc. Your musicwill be eternal. Thanks for the great music you left us.

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: ollaimh
Date: 05 Jun 12 - 11:37 AM

one of my first albums was doc watson sings songs for children. i've loved his music ever since. he did an unforgetable version of "the cat came back".

he wasn't necessarily the fastest or technically best guitarist and singer, but he was the absolute best at arrangement and phrasing. when he did a song you know that was the way it was meant to be done.

he will be missed but we are lucky to have a great legacy of recordings. my recent favourite is a cd i found in a second hand store with him and bill munroe doing twenty old time standards, some of the best picking and singing i've ever heard.

just to put in a plug for a local guy the only other flatpicking guitarist i have evr heard who i like as much is eddy poirier. anyone interested in jigs and reels on flatpicked guitar should not miss his album "candlelight hornpipe" a real treasure

Subject: RE: Obit: Doc Watson 1923 - 2012
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 05 Jun 12 - 03:14 PM

I made my first trip to the States, in 1998, specifically to hear Doc Watson play, at Burlington VT.

At that time I figured he couldn't have long to go, so I'd best catch him while I could. I was totally knocked out by his performance, and by his rapport with the audience. Little did I know that he would go on playing and singing superlatively for another 12 - 13 years ...

It is simply miraculous that he continued as active as he did for as long as he did, and although we all grieve, we could not, in all conscience, have asked for any more from the man than he was allowed to give.

R. I. P.