Not familiar with the name...can anyone cite some of his more popular songs?
Thanks.
Watson is best known for his stellar guitar picking style, but he sings a little too. (Oh, dear -- sang.)
God rest him, he was one of the last of the real old-timey musicians.
He has albums with literally hundreds of folk songs and blue grass songs.
This will take you a long ways around Lukey McCoy’s barn, but will give you a mini-taste of Doc Watson’s type of music:
Doc Watson collaborated with guitar-picking legend Merle Travis in the later years of their careers. Travis died in 1983, so Doc Watson has survived a long time since then.
For a quick window into their relationship and music, refer to an album produced by NITTY GRITTY DIRT BAND in the 1970s, titled “Will the Circle Be Unbroken.” The Dirt Band members were excellent musicians, and in addition to Rock ‘n Roll music, enjoyed, performed and were very good at Bluegrass. Their “Stars and Stripes Forever” album, which I once owned on 8-Track tape showcased the spectrum of their talents, from folk to rock to bluegrass, with several very humorous bits thrown in.
The multi-LP-disc “Circle” album included appearances by many Country & Bluegrass legends. “Mother” Maybelle Carter, Johnny Cash’s mother-in-law participated in a number or two and played her Hammer Dulcimer. One of the great Country fiddlers who never had much name recognition, Vassar Clements, was a mainstay on that album, as were Merle Travis and Doc Watson. Doc Watson held Merle Travis in such high regard that he named his son Merle after Travis. One standout number on the “Circle” album was when Doc and Merle joined in on a track of the C & W oldie, “DOWN YONDER.” According to narration on the album by either Doc or Merle, the song “Down Yonder” was originally recorded by a fun-sounding group by the name of “Gitt Tanner and the Skillet Lickers.”
Doc Watson was one of America’s premier old-timey/country blues guitarists. He was most famed for preserving and enhancing our rich trove of traditional mountain music with his virtuoso performances of old songs. His Smithsonian Folkways recordings with Clarence Ashley are the Appalachian equivalent of the Great American Songbook.
Mea culpa! It just dawned on me that I gave bad info in my previous reply. Maybelle Carter didn’t play the dulcimer; she played the Autoharp. In fact, she complained on the album that she had restrung her autoharp herself. And like a lot of “ideas” we get, that one turned into a nightmare, because of SO MANY strings on the instrument! She said she’d never tackle a job like THAT again.