Doc Watson

[puffy]

This isn't about pipes.I apologize if i'm out of order.For those who don't know of it there's a kind of music called country folk music.It's what grew into bluegrass.The fellow given credit for making this music popular to the masses especially to southerners is a man named Doc Watson.He's pretty much a legend around this part of the country.I was having breakfast today in a resturant when he walked in and sat down at the table beside me.We talked a while,shook hands,I finished eating and left.This man is a star in my opinion.He's been doing concerts for almost 70 years.He's 87 now and still at it.He was as down to earth as anyone you could ever meet.When I refered to him as a legend he replied.I'm just one of the boys who enjoys music.I sure enjoyed meeting him.

 

[lonestar]

Awesome.

Reminds me of when I met Ralph Stanley and Jack Cooke after a show out here.

Just as down to earth as could be.

This was about a year before Jack Cooke passed on.

Makes meeting someone like these guys all the more special

 

[pstlpkr]

One of the good ones.
Doc Watson - 1991 - Black Mountain Rag
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdUrg2Cqxdw&feature=related
Doc Watson - 1991 - Deep River Blues (Solo)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyQOCJ4SUSk&feature=related

 

[papipeguy]

I've been playing guitar for 47 years. I'm not into the country or bluegrass stuff very much but I do have a lot of respect for those pickers. They can really tear it up. So much of country/bluegrass music owes its origins to Celtic music. As with other genres we Americans put our own spin on ancestral music to make it uniquely ours. I'd say that Doc Watson is a national treasure.

 

[chero]

i used to see Doc in mcdonalds some times in boone nc. if you want to hear him sing and play and other folk groups, visit the merlfest every year at wilkesboro nc. also they have well known guest performers. check it out on the net. fans come from all over the world.

 

[unclearthur]

Doc is a great musician . I love that old time picking.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APl9fRFmdC0&feature=related

 

[chero]

steve martin is good to.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrlqQ1_vZVE

 

[kcghost]

Doc is just breathtakingly good. I had the privilege of sitting in the front row of a theatre where he was performing. I was may 6-8 feet from him. His skill is breathtaking.
Bluegrass did not evolve from "country folk music" (whatever that is). Its derivative is the mountain music of the 20's and 30's from the Appalachian mountains with a strong under current of Scots-Irish music. It was fully formed by 1947.
Doc's music is also derived from the Appalachians, but more in a Carter Family - Jimmy Rodgers style. He made his name by his performances at a number of folk music venues in the 60's. If you have heard Doc you know he can place most anything and likes many forms of music.

 

[cortezattic]

yeee - haw!
Makes me wanna cut some V'ginnie plug and stuff it in a cob! :clap:

 

[lonestar]

stuff it in a cob!

Okay now, I know BS when I smell it :nana:

 

[nmbigfoot02]

I love Doc Watson's work with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Any fan of Bluegrass should have the Circle albums in their collection.

 

[chero]

http://www.goblueridge.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=12441:qdocq-celebration-friday-downtown&catid=1
for you Doc fans, its life size with him sitting and playing his guitar

 

[chero]

http://www.highcountrypress.com/weekly/2011/02-24-11/doc-watson-sculpture.htm

 

[my19]

Great story, Puffy! Man, I envy you.
Like a lot of folks, I first became aware of Doc Watson via the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" LPs. I was in school in the Shenandoah Valley at the time, so it all came together nicely. What an amazing talent -- on a record full of incredible talents. It gave me a new appreciation of country folk and mountain music, stuff I still love today.

 

[chero]

update on DOC
http://www2.wataugademocrat.com/Community/story/Community-gathers-to-honor-hometown-hero%2C-guitar-virtuoso-id-005612

 

[tslex]

Puffy, that's nifty.
I'm a big Doc fan and have seen him live several times, including at the festival near Boone.

 

[taoist]

Same story for me as "my19".....got to see him with Merle (and I thought Doc was gone by now too) at the Great American Music Hall in SF.....the warmup group was David Grissom (with Tony Rice)...killer show...had been skiing all day in the mountains, got back, showered and then drove 90 miles the other direction to catch Doc....Merle played a good slide style (just had to mention that). What a night.

 

[taoist]

And I was smoking my pipe and caught crap from the crowd (as usual) because the cigarette smokers didn't like Balkan 759. I never could get over that reaction....they were smoking Marlboros, not even Camels, and somehow had the audacity....oh well, I should just drive a nail thru my hand and get it over with.

 

[nathaniel]

I love them old pickers and frailers. I myself have been singing, writing, and playing guitar, piano, mandolin, and banjo for over 10 years, and am continuously learning from these men and women who "pioneered" the genres of their times. I adore the old back mountain old time americana music, also jazz, blues, and bluegrass. But I really love the clawhammer and slide playing that some of that music lends itself to. It has such spirituality in it, that only seems to come from the soul of the impoverished and simple. The lowly hobos, backwoodsmen, and train hoppers. There's something special in it all that people just don't like... In fact most find it annoying. Maybe if we autotuned it, they'd appreciate it? :roll:

 

[nathaniel]

I love them old pickers and frailers. I myself have been singing, writing, and playing guitar, piano, mandolin, and banjo for over 10 years, and am continuously learning from these men and women who "pioneered" the genres of their times. I adore the old back mountain old time americana music, also jazz, blues, and bluegrass. But I really love the clawhammer and slide playing that some of that music lends itself to. It has such spirituality in it, that only seems to come from the soul of the impoverished and simple. The lowly hobos, backwoodsmen, and train hoppers. There's something special in it all that people just don't like... In fact most find it annoying. Maybe if we autotuned it, they'd appreciate it? :roll: