Doc Watson ripping it, 1965.

[Westerly Wood]

What an amazing talent.

 

[Uke]

What an amazing talent.

Watson is a North Carolina legend. "Channel 5" was (and still is) the main Raleigh T.V. station. The interviewer was a newsman named Ben Runkle.

 

[Cougar]

My dad had a cassette of an album of Doc and Chet. Man, that was some good stuff! It must have been the Reflections album. OK, here's a good'un:

 

[Uke]

My dad had a cassette of an album of Doc and Chet. Man, that was some good stuff! It must have been the Reflections album. OK, here's a good'un:

Collaboration of the giants.

 

[bobouz]

I had the pleasure of seeing Doc & Merle (his son) perform twice in a very small venue. Although probably known more for his flatpicking prowess, it was his fingerpicking that I loved, and the two of them fingerpicking a tune together was sheer magic. There’s a live version of Windy & Warm they did on an old Vanguard double LP that’s still the standard by which I judge any version of the song.

Doc named his son after Merle Travis, and I had never noticed until watching the above video that Doc used Travis’ thumb & index finger picking style. Chet Atkins’ fingerpicking was also inspired by Travis, but he utilized more of his right hand. The “Atkins-Travis Traveling Show” collaborative LP is a must for any fingerpicking fan, and it was released by Raven on a double CD, along with the previously mentioned Reflections collaboration. Wonderful stuff!

 

[Westerly Wood]

I had the pleasure of seeing Doc & Merle (his son) perform twice in a very small venue. Although probably known more for his flatpicking prowess, it was his fingerpicking that I loved, and the two of them fingerpicking a tune together was sheer magic. There’s a live version of Windy & Warm they did on an old Vanguard double LP that’s still the standard by which I judge any version of the song.

 

[GGJaguar]

Americana at its best.

 

[crank]

Got to see Doc a couple times in 80's. I'm a love of his flatpicking.

I play his version of Summertime and I play Tennessee Stud and Windy and warm and though I have been playing Deep River Blues for decades I still eff it up. And though it's fairly simple my stupid head can't seem to wrap itself around Shady Grove. I don't know why...frustrating.

 

[bobouz]

Thanks so much Woody - brings it all right back!

 

[Westerly Wood]

Thanks so much Woody - brings it all right back!

He makes it look so easy but it’s not. And I bet those are medium gauge strings. His pinky doing the bend!

 

[sailingshoes72]

I haven't listened to Doc Watson in a long while. I enjoyed the flatpicking on Texas Gales and the finger picking on Windy and Warm. Thanks for posting!

I got the chance to see Doc Watson in concert at MerleFest back in the 1990's. And attend a workshop he gave in the auditorium at the festival. Wonderful memories!

 

[Guildedagain]

What an amazing talent.

"The guitar I just learned by ear."


This is what could happen when someone doesn't spend time on guitar forums.

 

[Neal]

He uses only his thumb and forefinger when fingerpicking.

 

[davidbeinct]

He uses only his thumb and forefinger when fingerpicking.

Bad form for sure. Some time on a guitar forum woulda straightened him out.

 

[Guildedagain]

He uses only his thumb and forefinger when fingerpicking.

Here's Merle, not Randy, Travis, Travis picking legend so it goes. In related news, there's really no pork in Pork and Beans.

He puts modern pickers to shame, but a few, very few.



Uses thumb and forefinger, which I do, or did, then found out about Travis picking, tried to "relearn everything right" but learned the "Dust in the wind" pattern, very useful to know (rabbit hole warning). Donovan shows Lennon/McCartney the pattern at Rishikesh India 1968, Beatles are on an acid retreat, apparently it "takes John two days to get it" not bad, and "Paul is a genius and can't be showed but picks it up by ear". So then they write Dear Prudence and other songs on the White Album with this newly found picking pattern, also called Carter picking after Ma Carter, which may be more accurate anyway.

So after all this fuss about Travis picking I see a video one day, and he don't do this at all, but he will blow your mind ;[]

But the internet says he does.

And in the UK, this whole mixup is backwards, I don't remember exactly how or why.

 

[Guildedagain]

Ok, so Merle blew your mind, but he don't Travis pick, lol ;[]

 

[Neal]

Bad form for sure. Some time on a guitar forum woulda straightened him out.

Might not straighten him out, but he would have five more guitars.

 

[bobouz]

Tickling the old memory banks, my recollection from learning it in the early ‘70s is that Travis Picking referred simply to the drop-thumb style, whether you used one or any combination of four fingers. Merle had learned the technique by watching Ike Everly (Don & Phil’s dad) & others, but then took it into previously uncharted territory with uniquely sophisticated rolls & patterns. A young Chet Atkins heard Merle on the radio & then put his own spin on the drop-thumb technique. Similarly, Doc Watson heard Merle’s playing and then resolved to learn the style. Travis’ influence was enormous. Along with penning numerous instrumentals, Merle was also a prolific songwriter. Doc Watson performed a number of his songs, one of my favorites being Three Times Seven. Much like Earl Scruggs on the banjo, Travis drove his instrument into territory where it had not gone before. He moved to the LA area, made movie appearances, collaborated with musicians such as Joe Maphis, and with Paul Bigsby, developed what many consider to be the prototype to Gibson’s Les Paul (although Bigsby’s Merle Travis guitar was actually hollow, the resemblance is unmistakable).

 

[Westerly Wood]