Doc & Merle Watson
Doc and Merle Watson was a father and son folk and bluegrass duo who released a series of albums between 1971 and 1985. Doc – born Arthel Lane Watson on March 3, 1923 - was blind before the age of one, the result of an eye infection. He bought his first guitar after earning money helping his father and spent all of his spare time learning to play it. He joined Jack Williams’ country and western swing band in 1953. Doc Watson developed his signature guitar sound after Williams’ band received requests to play square dances, which lead to Watson teaching himself how to play fiddle tunes on the guitar. He recorded his first self-titled solo album in 1964, which was followed by Doc Watson & Son (1965), his first album recorded with his son Merle (born Eddy Merle Watson on February 8, 1949 in Deep Gap, North Carolina). While Merle’s name was not listed on the cover of that 1965 album, things changed in 1971 with the release of Ballads from Deep Gap (1971), the first album credited to Doc & Merle Watson. For the next 14 years, the duo released a series of albums including Then and Now (1973), Lonesome Road (1977), Look Away (1978), Doc & Merle Watson’s Guitar Album (1983), and Pickin’ the Blues (1985). The duo’s career came to an abrupt end on October 23, 1985 when Merle was killed in a tractor accident on the family farm. In his honor, his father founded the annual traditional music festival Merlefest in 1988. Doc Watson died on May 29, 2012.
©Copyright Music Story Stephen Schnee 2023
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Discography
11 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Elementary Doctor Watson
Country - Released by Tomato - Egge Company Ltd on 1 Jan 1972
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bear's Sonic Journals: Never the Same Way Once (Live)
Country - Released by Owsley Stanley Foundation on 23 Jun 2017
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Red Rocking Chair
Country - Released by Rounder Records on 1 Jan 1981
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sittin' Here Pickin' the Blues
Folk - Released by Rounder Records on 1 Jan 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ballads From Deep Gap
Rock - Released by Vanguard Records on 1 Jan 1967
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Remembering Merle
Rock - Released by Sugar Hill Records on 1 Jan 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Black Mountain Rag
Country - Released by Rounder Records on 19 Sep 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Songs Doc Didn't Sing
Country - Released by FLI Records on 11 Sep 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Down In The Wildwood (Live Hollywood '73)
Doc Watson, Doc & Merle Watson
Country - Released by Blue Shrimp Recordings on 11 Dec 2023
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo