Doc Watson

Farewell to Doc Watson (1923-2012)

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Arthel “Doc” Watson has died at the age of 89.  Doc along with Pete Seeger are to my mind the most important folk singers and folk popularizers of the later 20th century.  Doc Watson was a consummate old time string band musician, best known for his guitar picking, but also a great banjo, harmonica and mandolin player and a wonderful singer.

Doc spent his early years playing regionally near his home in Western North Carolina.  Then with the help of several New York musician/folklorist/enthusiasts Doc, already nearing 40 years old in the early 1960’s, emerged full blown on the national scene.   Although he disliked being away from home he toured very hard for years, all the more difficult because he was blind.  In terms of his style, repertoire and generation, Doc was a very interesting mix, bridging the territory between regional “authentic” traditional musician and self conscious “folk singer” putting his take on folk and other songs.   Doc won fans everywhere that he played, won the National Medal of Arts in 1997 and was a great inspiration for many musicians.

Doc’s guitar work was rooted in the old time guitar picking of Riley Puckett, the Delmore Brothers and others, but he took it to an even more impressive level of musicianship.  His artistry and technical virtuosity on the acoustic guitar may never be equaled.  I was lucky to see him in concert a number of times and several of his albums are among my very favorites.

Here is an obituary from the New York Times:
www.nytimes.com/2012/05/30/arts/music/doc-watson-folk-musician-dies-at-89



I recommend checking out some of his early work:

Doc Watson [Doc’s first album]

Original Folkways Recordings of Doc Watson and Clarence Ashley, 1960-1962

The Watson Family

http://www.clarenceashley.com/images/gallery/images/recording.jpg
[Doc Watson performs live with Clarence Ashley and band – early 1960’s]

And some great live material:

Jean Ritchie and Doc Watson at Folk City

Doc Watson at Gerdes Folk City  [Great material from Doc’s first solos shows in NYC, 1962-’63 – recorded and released by Peter K. Siegel at Henry Street Folklore .]

Bill Monroe and Doc Watson: Live Recordings 1963-1980 [Great album of duets with Bill Monroe!]

Friends of Old Time Music box set

Video:
Doc Watson on Pete Seeger’s 60’s TV show “Rainbow Quest.”


[photo by John Cohen 1961]

Here is a link to audio from the collection at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC – the first recording of Doc Watson, at age 18 in 1941 singing “Precious Jewel” at the Boone Fiddlers Convention.  Field recorded by W. Amos Abrams.

 

Interview with Oscar Brand

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On today’s show I speak with folk musician and pioneering radio host Oscar Brand, who celebrated his 90th birthday earlier this year.  Happy birthday Oscar!

Oscar Brand is the host of Folksong Festival on WNYC, a radio show which he has hosted since he got out of the army in 1945.  I believe Folksong Festival to be the longest running radio program with a single host in the world!  Oscar has had many many incredible guests on the show over these many years, Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Leadbelly, Jean Ritchie, Bob Dylan, everyone you can think of and more…an amazing program.  It was great to hear his reminiscences of these people and the history of his program as we recorded this interview at his home in 2008.

Brand is a man of many talents, he is a very well known folk singer and a great wealth of songs on every topic imaginable, including bawdy songs and campaign songs! He was a founder back in 1959 and then the MC of the Newport Folk Festival.  As an MC he was lucky enough to introduce both Jean Ritchie at her debut performance at the first ever Hootenany at Irving Plaza back in the 40’s, and then in 1959 introduced Joan Baez to a mass audience in her first appearance at Newport.  Oscar is an old old friend of Down Home Radio founder Henrietta Yurchenco.  They had the first folk music radio programs in New York back in the 1940’s.

A big thanks to Steve French for editing the audio of this interview.

You can hear Oscar Brand’s Folksong Festival program by clicking HERE.

George Pickow, Jean Ritchie and Oscar Brand, WNYC, 1947
[George Pickow, Jean Ritchie and Oscar Brand at WNYC in New York City, 1947]

A Special Treat:
On Thanksgivings over the years Oscar Brand would always have whatever traveling folk singers that happened to be in town over to his house for Thanksgiving dinner.  In 1966 he had Bill Monroe, Doc Watson, Jean Ritchie, Ralph Rinzler, Mike Seeger and Almeda Riddle and others at his house.  Oscar broke out his tape recorder and they made some really great recordings, posted here as an extra special treat! – He airs these recordings on his show every year at Thanksgiving, but here they are now, recorded from one of his broadcasts.


[Me and Oscar at the Alan Lomax memorial conference at Cooper Union in 2003.]