Foundation Doc Watson Guitar Instrumental Collection 1964-1998

This album immediately drew me when I first heard it on YouTube. In it Arthel "Doc" Watson plays mostly upbeat fiddle tunes, some dating to the 1700s or before, as well as a few "newer" country tunes. As such most of the songs are a very good complement to his older collection of "The Vanguard Years" which I also highly recommend. A lot of these tunes are damnably hard to play full speed or even 3/4 speed on the fiddle and I have no idea how he manages to speed them up further, play them on the guitar and have them hold together. People always praise the top rock and blues pickers such as McCartney, Clapton, Santana. I'm sorry, they (and great country pickers like Roy Clark, Chet Atkins and Les Paul too for that matter) will never top Watson. Once you become familiar with his music you will hear echoes of his licks copied by nearly everybody (including the six above mentioned), no matter what you call their style. In the rock world one can better see his influence in such musicians as Garcia and arguably Springsteen, but he's everywhere. Watson was a mostly self taught musician who was one of the leading 20th century instrumentalists of any style and using any instrument. His main instrument was guitar, though I've heard a number of his banjo, mandolin and vocal tunes through the years. Although he was an enthusiastic singer with a lot of appeal he was probably not the best vocalist in his home county, probably not in his home church either. (But he made up for it with his guitar.) For those who are really taken by his singing and want to hear a simpler style of his instrumentals I'd recommend his 1987 album, "Portrait". You can get a hint of his musical complexity in the book "Doc &Dawg", which is a transcription in tabs and notation of his CD of the same name. (That particular CD also has some tunes which illustrate my point that players like Clapton and Santana show his influence, though one could argue the influence was in both directions.) Read more

If you are familiar with the music and artistry of this awesome man, there is little that I can say here other than BRAVO. If you are NOT familiar with Doc Watson - this man had magical fingers that did a ballet on the fret board and strings of a guitar. If you enjoy any kind of bluegrass music, TRY this album, you will not regret it. IF you have ever tried to play the guitar or appreciate those who can, this man was the KING of all (in my opinion). BTW, Doc was accompanied by his son, also a very accomplished musician, on some of the tracks of this CD. Read more

This is a fantastic collection of Doc Watson's guitar playing. If you've never listened to Doc, you're in for a real treat. No one was ever better at playing a flat top guitar than Doc and the music on this CD demonstrates it well. This is all instrumental which would be difficult for most, but Doc nails it. Read more

hey if your into old violin tunes played on a guitar this is a real find.. and Doc of course doe's a bang up job flatpicking is really coming into its own these days,, and fun tunes just to have the knowledge of, and if you like bluegrass some really usable style licks Read more

Doc Watson is really at the roots of country music and bluegrass. Despite is blindness he plays guitar like nobody else, a master in flat picking. By chance, he has a very long career and produced many of the finest records of his style of music. Each of them are a "must have" in every serious country collection. Read more

If you love bluegrass guitar playing, these instrumentals from Doc Watson are iconic. He is truly the master among so many great pickers. Each track is great, but "June Apple" is, perhaps, the most incredible guitar instrumental I have ever heard. A great American, and we will miss him. Read more

This mans guitar work is just amazing. His touch of the strings is incredible to listen to. His melodies are beautiful. I just recently discovered his music and I'm so thankful I did. I regret not seeing him in concert. I live where he lived. Read more

Too short Read more