Doc Watson
| Doc Watson | |
|---|---|
Doc Watson at MusicFest 'n Sugar Grove in Sugar Grove, North Carolina in 2009
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Arthel Lane Watson |
| Also known as | Doc Watson |
| Born |
March 3, 1923 Deep Gap, North Carolina |
| Died | May 29, 2012 (aged 89) Winston-Salem, North Carolina |
| Genres | Blues, bluegrass, country, folk, gospel |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, singer-songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar, banjo, harmonica |
| Years active | 1953–2012 |
| Labels | Folkways, Vanguard, United Artists, Flying Fish, Sugar Hill |
| Associated acts | Merle Watson |
Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson (March 3, 1923 – May 29, 2012) was an American guitarist, songwriter, and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues, and gospel music. Watson won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Watson's flatpicking skills and knowledge of traditional American music were highly regarded. He performed with his son, guitarist Merle Watson, for over 15 years until Merle's death in 1985 in an accident on the family farm.
Watson was born in Deep Gap, North Carolina. 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. A fan in the crowd shouted "Call him Doc!" presumably in reference to the literary character Sherlock Holmes's sidekick Doctor Watson. The name stuck ever since.
An eye infection caused Doc Watson to lose his vision before his first birthday. He attended North Carolina's school for the visually impaired, The Governor Morehead School, in Raleigh, North Carolina.
In a 1989 radio interview with Terry Gross on the Fresh Air show on National Public Radio, Watson explains how he got his first guitar. His father told him that if he and his brother David chopped down all the small dead chestnut trees along the edge of their field, he could sell the wood to a tannery. Watson bought a $10 Stella guitar from Sears Roebuck with his earnings, while his brother bought a new suit. Later in that same interview, Watson explained that his first high-quality guitar was a Martin D-18.
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