So long, Doc!

Folk musician Doc Watson dies in NC hospital at 89

May 29, 2012, 6:57 PM EST

Doc Watson, the Grammy-award winning  folk musician whose lightning-fast style of flatpicking influenced guitarists  around the world for more than a half-century, died Tuesday at a hospital in  Winston-Salem, according to a hospital spokeswoman and his management company.  He was 89.

Watson, who was blind from age 1, recently had abdominal surgery that  resulted in his hospitalization.

Arthel “Doc” Watson’s mastery of flatpicking helped make the case for the  guitar as a lead instrument in the 1950s and 1960s, when it was often considered  a backup for the mandolin, fiddle or banjo. His fast playing could intimidate  other musicians, even his own grandson, who performed with him.

[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyQOCJ4SUSk[/tube]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyQOCJ4SUSk

[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMtrIH6tvmM[/tube]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMtrIH6tvmM

[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pR4RxBKqWtk[/tube]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pR4RxBKqWtk

[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=La-QiWzwgOM[/tube]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=La-QiWzwgOM

[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3ZWdyhkkLQ[/tube]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3ZWdyhkkLQ

http://music.msn.com/music/article.aspx?news=732234

Photograph:  http://www.eartymemusic.com/2010/10/doc-watson-blind-but-now-i-see-book.html

Permanent link to this article: https://levantium.com/2012/05/29/so-long-doc/

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