Why I Love Doc Watson

[tree]

Not just his guitar picking, or his singing voice, although either of those would be reason enough. His personality comes through his music, and he's the kind of human being I'd like to be when I grow up.

Does anybody know if this one is on a cd anywhere?

[tree]

I can't seem to get the youtube to embed the way I used to.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=la4pLa8cQFM

is what I wanted to embed. Sorry for the incompetence . . .

[Wolfboy]

Not just his guitar picking, or his singing voice, although either of those would be reason enough. His personality comes through his music, and he's the kind of human being I'd like to be when I grow up.

Does anybody know if this one is on a cd anywhere?

Yep, Down South. Great album.

[JEStanek]

This works... just post the video id from the url after the = la4pLa8cQFM

Jamie

PS let me count the ways I love Doc Watson.

[Rick Schmidlin]

Because today is his birthday

[Mike Snyder]

Watson, Blake, Hartford, Stanley- National Treasures

[Fretbear]

When I was young I saw an old black & white clip of Doc picking and singing "(He made the) Freight Train Boogie"; When he flat-picked his solo on the guitar it made something snap in my head that is still broken.....His "Live on Stage" double album on Vanguard is one of the best records I ever bought.

[allenhopkins]

Saw Doc on his first coffeehouse tour of the Northeast, probably 1963 or 1964. You could tell the guitar players in the audience at Club 47 in Cambridge; they were the ones who would rise out of their seats to watch what he was doing on Black Mountain Rag or Nashville Blues. I had the privilege of opening for him, backing a female country/folk vocal trio, over 15 years ago here in Rochester. One of the great traditional musicians of our time -- and also, one who expresses himself as profoundly ambivalent about the choice he made to become a professional touring musician. I believe he told the late Ralph Rinzler, the one who got him started touring after he surfaced on the Old-Time Music At Clarence Ashley's recording session, that he "maybe shouldn't have listened" when Ralph offered to book him at Newport and subsequently. The loss of his son and musical partner Merle obviously affected him deeply. Wonder if someone will write his biography, while he's still alive to contribute to it.

[Bluegrassnate]

he's the kind of human being I'd like to be when I grow up.

Me too.

[Darren Bailey]

There is a great Doc watson show on the archive site for free download. David Grisman accompanies him on every song, well worth listening to.

[doc holiday]

Darren, Which archives site is that? Thanks!

[Darren Bailey]

This one:
http://www.archive.org/details/etree

Loads of Del mcCoury shows there too. I have been downloading shows from there for many years and have never had any viruses or nasty things like that. The files download as a zip file with tracks already distinguished which is helpful. Enjoy searching through it all.

PS - no login or personal info required, just open access to the shows.

[tree]

Doc and Dawg, one of my all time favorite cds. Those guys sound so relaxed, their touch is so nuanced and sweet, you can tell that some of the music they captured surprised even them (the ending of Soldiers Joy, particularly - where Doc's immediate comment is "Now we'll leave that ALONE!").

[SternART]

David once called me pretty late one night..........I was already in bed........and said I should come down to a studio in Richmond, CA. He said he was working late, and that he had a surprise for me. I got dressed and headed over there to discover Doc & Dawg recording duets for the Home Is Where The Heart Is CD. They were working on the tunes Doc had played duets with Bill Monroe on over the years. There were only 4 of us there, the recording engineer, David, Doc and myself. This studio had an interesting layout where the control room was upstairs, with the musicians recording downstairs........as I recall there was a video camera allowing the engineer visuals of them on a small black & white TV screen. Turns out they needed someone to help Doc up & down the steps so he could hear playbacks. Now I was new to helping a blind person get about, so I asked Doc how to do it, he said to just walk normal, he would hold my arm & that was it. Not only did I get to hear some amazing picking that night, but Doc told me a lot of stories, as we went up & down the steps......in fact he told me that he was the very first professional musician to invite a young David Grisman on stage to sit in with him. Stories about Merle, playing with Bill, etc. What a nice memory......and a pretty darn cool way to spend a late night, in the recording studio. Doc is a very nice and sensitive man, and what an incredible talent.

[Steve Cantrell]

Why I love Doc Watson? For this response to a rowdy drunk in the audience: Yeah son, I remember when I had my first beer too.

[liestman]

This one:
http://www.archive.org/details/etree

Darren, do you have a full link, direct to the Doc Watson show, that you can provide? I am searching the site and not finding it. Maybe operator error on my part!
Thanks

[Darren Bailey]

hey liestman, can't find it myself, go to the personal messages and drop me a line with your email, I'll sort you out either with an attachment or I could send you the disc through the post - whichever works for you. It's a cracker.

[John Soper]

It's always a treat to see/hear Doc at MerleFest. A true national treasure. See him while you can!

[Jean Fugal]

>>Does anybody know if this one is on a cd anywhere?>>

............... Doc Watson - Down South .......................

[Darren Bailey]

Sorry John, just rrealised Liestman is your surname, wasn't being deliberately formal.

[liestman]

No problem, Bailerooni! :-)

[mandolirius]

>>Does anybody know if this one is on a cd anywhere?>>

............... Doc Watson - Down South .......................

It's the title cut of an old Vanguard album. I found it typing Dow Watson Down South into Google.

[Canister]

What everyone said!

[Caleb]

I was watching some rather obscure documentary on old-time music recently (can't remember the name of it) and there was a very young Doc Watson (filmed in black and white) playing with another guitarist and a fiddler. They were doing "Way Downtown" and I was blown away. I dug out some of my Doc CDs and got reacquainted with him.

I always like the chatter in the songs that Doc does. Someone will take a break and he'll say something like, "That's the way to pick it, son." I like that stuff. Doc's the real deal.

[Bill Van Liere]

In 1970 when I was a senior in high school I had a friend that played Black Mtn. Rag for me one day on his Martin. That was one of those life changing moments, I have not been the same since as this opened a whole new musical world for me. Yea, I still liked Led Zep, Traffic......but when I began to listen to his recordings I realized that this guy from North Carolina had a skill level right up with Clapton.

This all influenced me to buy a guitar (nice little Martin O-16NY for $200) and start my own musical journey.