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Famous Like Me > Actor > W > Doc Watson

Profile of Doc Watson on Famous Like Me

 
Name: Doc Watson  
   
Also Know As:
   
Date of Birth: 3rd March 1923
   
Place of Birth: Deep Gap, North Carolina, USA
   
Profession: Actor
 
 
From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia
Doc Watson
Merle Watson, c. 1979

Arthel Lane Watson (born March 3, 1923) in Deep Gap, North Carolina, is a guitar player, songwriter and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues and gospel music. The nickname 'Doc' comes from Sherlock Holmes's sidekick.

- In fact: Doc got his nickname from a studio employee who asked what the name of the artis was. Because no one knew that at the time the man said: "call him Doc". Besides that, Doc usualy is a nickname for the seventh child (son) in a family. (Jan Willems) -

Doc Watson, c. 1979

An eye infection caused Doc Watson to lose his vision prior to his first birthday.

He often performed with his son, (Eddy) Merle Watson (Named after Eddy Arnold and Merle Travis), who was killed in a tractor accident at the age of 36 in 1985.

He plays in both flatpicking and fingerpicking style, but is best known for his flatpick work. His virtuosity combined with his authenticity as a mountain musician made him a highly influential figure in the folk music revival of the early sixties. He pioneered the fast and flashy bluegrass lead guitar style which has been adopted and extended by others such as Clarence White and Tony Rice.

He is also an excellent and soulful singer, who started by developing a repertoire of mountain ballads which he learned via the oral tradition of his home area in Deep Gap, North Carolina. His first recordings were made with Clarence Ashley, Fred Price, Clint Howard, and others from this area. Prior to this, he worked as an electric guitar player in a honky-tonk band.

In 1986 he received the North Carolina Award and in 2000 he was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor.

Grammy Awards

  • 1973 Best Ethnic Or Traditional Recording (Including Traditional Blues): Doc Watson for Then And Now
  • 1974 Best Ethnic Or Traditional Recording: Merle Watson & Doc Watson for Two Days In November
  • 1979 Best Country Instrumental Performance: Doc Watson & Merle Watson for Big Sandy/Leather Britches
  • 1986 Best Traditional Folk Recording: Doc Watson for Riding The Midnight Train
  • 1990 Best Traditional Folk Recording: Doc Watson for On Praying Ground
  • 2002 Best Traditional Folk Album: Doc Watson & David Holt for Legacy

This content from Wikipedia is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Doc Watson