Name: The Essential Doc Watson
Brand: Vanguard Records
SKU: 59919
Availability: OutOfStock

The Essential Doc Watson

Rating

Album: The Essential Doc Watson
#	Song Title	Time
1)	Tom Dooley
2)	Alberta
3)	Froggie Went A-Courtin'
4)	Beaumont Rag
5)	St. James Hospital
6)	Muskrat
7)	Down in the Valley to Pray
8)	Blue Railroad Train
9)	Rising Sun Blues
10)	Shady Grove
11)	My Rough and Rowdy Ways
12)	Train That Carried My Girl from Town, The
13)	Black Mountain Rag
14)	I Was a Stranger
15)	Blue Ridge Mountain Blues
16)	Country Blues
17)	Ground Hog
18)	Little Orphan Girl
19)	Blackberry Blossom
20)	Going Down the Road Feeling Bad
21)	Rambling Hobo
22)	Omie Wise
23)	Handsome Molly
24)	White House Blues
25)	I Want to Love Him More
26)	Way Downtown

Album: The Essential Doc Watson
#	Song Title	Time
1)	Tom Dooley
2)	Alberta
3)	Froggie Went A-Courtin'
4)	Beaumont Rag
5)	St. James Hospital
6)	Muskrat
7)	Down in the Valley to Pray
8)	Blue Railroad Train
9)	Rising Sun Blues
10)	Shady Grove
11)	My Rough and Rowdy Ways
12)	Train That Carried My Girl from Town, The
13)	Black Mountain Rag
14)	I Was a Stranger
15)	Blue Ridge Mountain Blues
16)	Country Blues
17)	Ground Hog
18)	Little Orphan Girl
19)	Blackberry Blossom
20)	Going Down the Road Feeling Bad
21)	Rambling Hobo
22)	Omie Wise
23)	Handsome Molly
24)	White House Blues
25)	I Want to Love Him More
26)	Way Downtown

Performer Notes

Recorded live at the Newport Folk Festivals in 1963 & 1964.
Adapters: Doc Watson; Dock Boggs.
Personnel: Doc Watson (vocals, acoustic guitar, banjo, harmonica); Arnold Watson (vocals, banjo); Mrs. General Dixon Watson, Clint Howard (vocals); Grady Martin (guitar, dobro); Merle Watson (guitar); Shot Jackson (dobro); Don Stover (banjo); Fred Price, Gaither Carlton, Tommy Jackson, Buddy Spicher (fiddle); Floyd Cramer (piano); Buddy Harman (drums).
Recording information: Newport Folk Festival, Newport, RI (1963/1964).
Unknown Contributor Roles: Elsie McWilliams; Jimmie Rodgers .
Arrangers: Doc Watson; Dock Boggs.
The Essential Doc Watson includes 26 tracks of Watson in his most traditional, folksy mode, with his stunning flat-picking guitar technique and warm, unadorned singing in fine form. The album's first half focuses on studio sessions -- some solo, some with accompaniment -- while the second half is taken from Watson's mid-'60s Newport Folk Festival appearances.
The performances throughout are top-notch. Watson's flawlessly fluid guitar work is a wonder (most notably on instrumentals like "Beaumont Rag"), and he sounds as at ease singing a cappella ("Down in the Valley to Pray") as he does backed by additional musicians ("The Train That Carried My Girl from Town"). The program includes traditional songs ("Tom Dooley" and "Little Omie Wise"), as well as tunes by Jimmy Rodgers ("I Was a Stranger") and Dock Boggs ("Country Blues"), with Watson bringing each song to life with his incisive, sincere renditions. As a one-stop, economical introduction to this folk legend, The Essential Doc Watson is hard to beat. ~ Rovi Staff