XP: Doc Watson

originally posted by Peter Creasey:
XP: Doc Watson
Doc Watson -- One of my all-time favorite performers with a truly amazing and inspiring story...


About Doc Watson...



. . . . . Pete

The video and its audio are awful, but give you, sort of, an idea of what it might have been like.

Saw Merle and Doc several times. Always a great show.

The new tribute album "I Am A Pilgrim: Doc Watson at 100" is actually good and worth listening to (loved Steve Earle doing "Make Me a Pallet;" he keeps getting better).
 
Virtuoso acoustic guitar player with a signature, uncannily fluid picking style and, my, what a voice. Life fenced 'round with tragedy - blinded as an infant because of improper postnatal treatment (or so I've heard him attest), son Merle died in a traffic accident at age 36.

Take your pick of great songs - the finger picking intro to "Sitting on Top of the World," crystal clear flatpicking on traditional folk tunes like "Little Omie Wise" and "Shady Grove," mesmerizing vocals on St. James Infirmary and acapella spirituals. I think it's Merle who plays Banjo on Honey Babe Blues, and I can listen to the breaks in that song over and over again. And over again.

There are other great guitar players aplenty, of course, but we shall not see his like again.
 
Back
Top