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Fresh air doc watson6/7/2023 He attended North Carolina's school for the visually impaired, The Governor Morehead School, in Raleigh, North Carolina. Despite this, he was taught by his parents to work hard and care for himself. Īn eye infection caused Doc Watson to lose his vision before his first birthday. ![]() A fan in the crowd shouted "Call him Doc!" presumably in reference to the literary character Sherlock Holmes ' sidekick Doctor Watson. According to Watson on his three CD biographical recording Legacy, he got the nickname "Doc" during a live radio broadcast when the announcer remarked that his given name Arthel was odd and he needed an easy nickname. Watson was born in Deep Gap, North Carolina. He performed with his son Merle for over 15 years until Merle's death in 1985, in an accident on the family farm. Watson's flatpicking skills and knowledge of traditional American music are highly regarded. Watson won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. The performer is survived by Rosa Lee Carlton Watson, his wife of nearly sixty-six years, their daughter Nancy Ellen, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and his brother David Watson.Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson (Ma– May 29, 2012) was an American guitarist, songwriter and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues and gospel music. The pair shared the Grammy for their album "Legacy."įormer US president Bill Clinton said, when awarding him the National Medal of Arts: "There may not be a serious, committed baby boomer alive who didn't at some point in his or her youth try to spend a few minutes at least trying to learn to pick a guitar like Doc Watson." So began his busy professional career including concerts, clubs, colleges and festivals such as the Newport Folk Festival and Carnegie Hall.Īs recently as 2002, Watson - who recorded dozens of albums - took home one of his eight Grammys, when he joined forces with banjo player David Holt. It was 1962 when Watson gave his first solo performance at Gerde's Folk City in New York's Greenwich Village. That led to his first recordings, "Old-Time Music at Clarence Ashley's." In 1960 folklorists Ralph Rinzler and Eugene Earle heard Watson in the process. His opening in the musical world was aided by the growing folk revival. ![]() "Doc was fierce, but not fierce in a bad way - just fierce in a determined way," Holt said. Musician David Holt, who played with Watson for years, told National Public Radio that the special determination of a blind, self-made man was clear to hear in his work. Illness left Watson blind as an infant yet he was able to channel his talent and determination into musical renown he was widely known as one of the world's most accomplished flat-pickers. His father was delighted that he learned the chords in a day, and helped Watson buy his own guitar just days later. 'Might help you get through the world.'"Īccording to family lore, at 13, he taught himself the chords to "When the Roses Bloom in Dixieland" on a borrowed guitar. One of these days we'll get you a better one,' he said. "He brought it to me and put it in my hands, and said, 'Son, I want you to learn to play this thing real well. Watson told the US public radio show Fresh Air that he was just 11 when his father made him a banjo - with the skin of a dead cat. Watson, a National Medal of Arts winner who hailed from Deep Gap, North Carolina, passed away following abdominal surgery last week at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, promoters Folklore productions announced.įrom a musical family, Watson grew up poor in the Blue Ridge, and picked up the banjo early - his first instrument - before moving on to the guitar. Grammy-winning US folk legend Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson, who branched out from his Appalachian musical roots blending in bluegrass, country, gospel and blues, died in North Carolina Tuesday, his promoters said.
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