Doc Watson
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Biography
[Edit]In the latter half of the 20th century there were three pre-eminently influential folk/country guitar players: Merle Travis, Chet Atkins, and Arthel "Doc" Watson, a flat-picking genius from Deep Gap, North Carolina. Unlike the other two, Watson was in middle age before gaining any attention. After 1960, though, when Watson was recorded with his family and friends in Folkways' Old Time Music at Clarence Ashley's, people remained in awe of this gentle blind man who sang and picked with a pure and emotional authenticity. The present generation, folkies and country pickers alike, including Ricky Skaggs, Vince Gill, the late Clarence White, Emmylou Harris, and literally hundreds of others, acknowledge their great debt to Watson. Watson provided a further service to folk/country by his encyclopedic knowledge of many American traditional songs. While Travis and Atkins started on acoustic guitars and moved to electric, before Watson's "discovery" during the folk revival in the early '60s, he played electric in a local all-purpose band that played current rock, swing, country, and of course folk music. He gained recognition gradually, first from the Clarence Ashley album, which led to a rave performance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1963. Folkways soon recorded an album of Watson, followed in 1964 by a series of albums by Vanguard, nearly one a year through the decade. No sooner had interest in folk music waned than Watson was back in great demand because of the three-disc Will the Circle Be Unbroken, a watershed album in 1972 that was created by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. It featured Watson, Travis, Roy Acuff, and a who's who of country greats. Merle, Watson's son and a talent in his own right, began appearing with his father regularly. The result was good enough for them to win two Grammys for traditional music, in 1973 and 1974. Father and son played beautiful music together for over 15 years, until Merle died tragically on the family farm in 1985. Following his son's death, Doc continued with his appearances, showcasing his beautiful voice, his great instrumental talent, and his mastery of traditional material. He was an American treasure.
Early in his childhood in Deep Gap, Watson was struck by an illness that restricted the blood flow to his eyes, resulting in his blindness at an early age. As a child, he was surrounded by music and was given a new harmonica every Christmas. When he was ten, his father gave him a homemade fretless banjo, which Doc played consistently for the next three years. Around the same time he picked up the banjo, Watson began attending the School for the Blind in Raleigh, North Carolina. At the age of 13, Doc began playing guitar after being introduced to the instrument by his cousin. Six months after receiving his guitar, Doc and his older brother Linney began busking on street corners, singing traditional numbers. By his late teens, Watson had learned how to fingerpick from his neighbor Olin Miller.
In 1941, Watson joined a band that had a regular radio program in Lenoir, North Carolina. It was at this show that he earned his nickname, once one of the announcers referred to the guitarist as "Doc" during the broadcast. For the next six years he played around North Carolina. In 1947, he married Rosa Lee Carlton, the daughter of fiddler Gaither W. Carlton. Though his father-in-law taught him a number of traditional songs, Doc didn't play any traditional material publicly during the '40s, preferring to concentrate on country instead; to pay the bills, he also worked as a piano tuner. Watson joined the supporting band of a local pianist and railroad worker named Jack Williams in 1953. With Williams, Doc played electric guitar and performed a variety of music, from country to rock and pop. After staying with Jack for eight years, Watson joined the Clarence Ashley String Band and traveled with the group to New York in order to appear at a Friends of Old-Time Music concert. His performance at the concert was a resounding success, and he was invited to perform at Gerde's Folk City in Greenwich Village.
The invitation to perform in New York was an indication that the folk boom of the early '60s was beginning to gain momentum, and Doc became one of the major benefactors of the revival. Young college students began to follow his music and he soon switched to acoustic guitar on the advice of Ralph Rinzler. During 1961, Watson made his recording debut on Clarence Ashley's Old Time Music at Clarence Ashley's, a performance which earned him considerable acclaim. Two years later, his solo spot at the Newport Folk Festival stole the show; that same year he released his first solo album, Doc Watson & Family. In 1964, Doc began giving concerts accompanied by his son Merle on second guitar. From that point on, Doc and Merle were constant collaborators and one of the most popular performers on the folk and traditional music circuit. Even when the folk boom of the '60s died down toward the end of the decade, Watson retained his audience, and when he was spotlighted on the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's breakthrough 1972 album Will the Circle Be Unbroken, he earned another generation of new fans. In 1974, his album Then and Now won the Grammy for Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording; the following year, he and Merle took home the same award for their Two Days in November.
Doc and Merle continued to perform and record successfully during the early '80s, giving numerous successful concerts each year and earning many awards, including another Grammy in 1979 (Best Country Instrumental Performance for "Big Sandy"/"Leather Britches"). In 1985, Merle tragically died in a tractor accident on his home farm. Following his son's death, Doc stopped performing for a short time, yet he made a comeback supported by guitarist Jack Lawrence and bassist T. Michael Coleman, who had played with Watson since 1974. Throughout the '80s and '90s, Doc continued to perform and record to enthusiastic audiences. During that time he won two more Grammys — Best Traditional Folk Recording for both 1986's Riding the Midnight Train and 1990's On Praying Ground — as well as a North Carolina Award in Fine Arts. Home Sweet Home followed in 1998 and Third Generation Blues in 1999. Doc Watson continued with occasional performing and recording into the 21st century; he died in May 2012 following surgery at a hospital in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, at 89 years of age.
Title: Songs for Little Pickers
Artist: Doc Watson
Genre: World Music, Country, Songwriter/Lyricist, Kids
Title: Trouble In Mind: Doc Watson Country Blues Collection
Artist: Doc Watson
Genre: Blues, World Music
Title: Never The Same Once, Live At The Boarding House, May 1974 Chapter 4 (CD1)
Artist: Doc Watson, Merle Watson
Genre: Country
Title: Never The Same Once, Live At The Boarding House, May 1974 Chapter 3 (CD1)
Artist: Doc Watson, Merle Watson
Genre: Country
Title: Doc Watson: 20 of His Best
Artist: Doc Watson
Genre: World Music, Country, Songwriter/Lyricist
Title: Never The Same Once, Live At The Boarding House, May 1974 Chapter 3 (CD2)
Artist: Doc Watson, Merle Watson
Genre: Country
Title: Never The Same Once, Live At The Boarding House, May 1974 Chapter 2 (CD2)
Artist: Doc Watson, Merle Watson
Genre: Country
Title: Out In the Country - Doc Watson
Artist: Doc Watson
Genre: World Music, Country, Songwriter/Lyricist
Title: Doc Watson At Gerdes Folk City
Artist: Doc Watson
Genre: World Music, Country, Songwriter/Lyricist
Title: My Dear Old Southern Home
Artist: Doc Watson
Genre: World Music, Country, Songwriter/Lyricist
Title: Country Masters: Doc Watson
Artist: Doc Watson
Genre: World Music, Country, Songwriter/Lyricist
Title: Little Stream of Whiskey & Other Favorites
Artist: Doc Watson
Genre: World Music, Country, Folk
Title: The Rambling Hobo & Other Favorites
Artist: Doc Watson
Genre: Rock, Country, Songwriter/Lyricist
Title: Riding the Midnight Train
Artist: Doc Watson
Genre: Rock, World Music, Country, Songwriter/Lyricist
Title: The Lost Tapes of Doc Watson
Artist: Doc Watson
Genre: Blues, World Music, Country, Songwriter/Lyricist
Title: The Best of Doc Watson (1964-1968)
Artist: Doc Watson
Genre: World Music, Country, Songwriter/Lyricist
Collections
Title: True Blue Bluegrass, Vol. 2
Genre: Country
Title: Country Loving Memories, Vol. 2
Genre: Country
Title: Discover Christian Country
Genre: Country
Title: A Toast to St. Patrick! - Irish Drinking Songs
Genre: Folk
Title: Country's Greatest Moments Vol. 1
Genre: Country
Title: Now! Country for Old Men (Re-Recorded Versions)
Genre: Country
Title: Country's Greatest Moments Vol. 2
Genre: Country
Title: Hits of Country Gospel
Genre: Blues
Title: Bay Blues Live
Genre: Jazz
Title: Classic Southern Gospel from Smithsonian Folkways
Genre: Gospel
Title: Country Kings, Vol. Four
Genre: Country
Title: Classic Banjo from Smithsonian Folkways
Genre: World Music, Country, Songwriter/Lyricist
Title: Friends of Old Time Music
Genre: Songwriter/Lyricist
Title: Classic Appalachian Blues from Smithsonian Folkways
Genre: Blues
Title: There Is No Eye: Music for Photographs
Genre: Songwriter/Lyricist
Title: A Fish That's a Song
Genre: Songwriter/Lyricist
Title: The Folk Side of Blues
Genre: Blues
Title: Roots - Unplugged
Genre: Folk
Title: Country: Travelin' Songs
Genre: Blues
Title: Country Guitar Gems
Genre: Country
Title: Golden Country Gospel
Genre: Country
Title: Pickin' and Grinnin'
Genre: Jazz
Title: Gospel: Country
Genre: Gospel
Title: Discover Hillbilly Country
Genre: Country
Title: A Beginners Guide To Classic Country Guitar
Genre: Country
Title: Classic Country: Hello Hangover
Genre: Country
Title: True Blue Bluegrass, Vol. 3
Genre: Country
Title: Bluegrass Hall of Fame
Genre: Country
Title: The King's and Queens of Country Music, Volume Three
Genre: Country
Title: Live from the Old Town School, Vol. 3
Genre: Songwriter/Lyricist
Title: Highway Blues
Genre: Blues
Title: Country Hits of the 50s
Genre: Country
Title: Country Rags and Reels
Genre: Country
Title: Classic Country - Unplugged
Genre: Country
Title: A Folk Revival, Vol. 2
Genre: Country
Title: Good Ol' Country Gospel
Genre: Country
Title: Bluegrass Summer
Genre: Country
Title: Southern Songs - Bluegrass
Genre: Country
Title: Bluegrass X-Mas
Genre:
Title: Discover Blues Country
Genre: Country
Title: Bluegrass Drinkin' Songs
Genre: Country
Title: American Country X-Mas
Genre:
Title: Great Country: Party Time
Genre: Country
Title: Christmas Bluegrass
Genre:
Title: Old Country Songs from Down On the Farm, Vol. 1
Genre: Country
Title: Acoustic Blues Nuggets
Genre: Blues
Title: The Darkest Classic Country
Genre: Country
Title: Appalachia: The Best of Bluegrass, Vol. 3
Genre: Country
Title: Gambling With Roots Music
Genre: Folk
Title: Appalachia: The Best of Bluegrass, Vol. 2
Genre: Country
Title: Six Strings Twanging: Country Guitar and Dobro
Genre: Country
Title: A Vegetarian's Thanksgiving Playlist
Genre:
Title: Tasty Tracks
Genre: Pop
Title: Essential Singer Songwriters
Genre: Songwriter/Lyricist
Title: Blues Wave, Vol. 2
Genre: Blues
Title: Bay Blues (Live)
Genre: Blues
Featuring albums
Title: Celebrate Blues & Bluegrass - Memphis Slim & Doc Watson (Re-Recorded Versions)
Artist: Memphis Slim
Genre: Blues
Title: Treasures Untold
Artist: The Doc Watson Family
Genre: World Music, Country, Songwriter/Lyricist
Title: Classic Old-Time Fiddle from Smithsonian Folkways
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: World Music, Country, Folk
Title: Classic Folk Music from Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: World Music, Contemporary Folk, Folk
Title: The Young Fogies
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: World Music, Country, Alternative Country, Alternative, Songwriter/Lyricist, Classical, Folk
Title: Classic Railroad Songs from Smithsonian Folkways
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Country, Alternative Country
Title: Awake My Soul (Original Soundtrack) & Help Me to Sing
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: World Music, Theatre/Soundtrack, Folk
Title: Every Time I Feel The Spirit: Best Of Sugar Hill Gospel Volume 1
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Country
Title: This Is Americana Vol. 1: A View From Sugar Hill Records
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Country
Title: Way Down In My Soul: Best Of Sugar Hill Gospel Volume 2
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Country
Title: Classic Southern Gospel from Smithsonian Folkways
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: World Music, Folk
Title: Classic Southern Gospel from Smithsonian Folkways
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: World Music, Folk
Title: Mother, Queen of My Heart: A Collection of Songs Inspired By Mom
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Country
Title: Putumayo Presents Acoustic America
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: World Music, Songwriter/Lyricist
Title: Today I Started Loving You Again & More Country Classics
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul