Doc Watson Caricature

Doc Watson Caricature, illustrated here in 1969, with his Gallagher G-50 acoustic guitar, age 46.

Arthel Lane “Doc” Watson was an American guitarist, songwriter, and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues, and gospel music. Watson won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Watson’s fingerstyle and flatpicking skills, as well as his knowledge of traditional American music, were highly regarded.

Born in Deep Gap, North Carolina, an eye infection caused Watson to lose his vision before his second birthday and was declared legally blind.

Watson’s earliest influences were country roots musicians and groups such as the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers.
By the time Watson reached adulthood, he had become a proficient acoustic and electric guitar player.

According to Watson, he got the nickname “Doc” during a live radio broadcast when the announcer remarked that his given name Arthel was odd and he needed an easy nickname.
A fan in the crowd shouted “Call him Doc!” presumably in reference to the literary character Sherlock Holmes’s sidekick Doctor Watson. The name stuck.

Watson taught himself to play fiddle tunes on his Gibson Les Paul electric guitar. He later transferred the technique to acoustic guitar, and playing fiddle tunes became part of his signature sound. During his time with Jack Williams Band in 1953, Doc supported his family as a piano tuner.
He would eventually get his big break and rave reviews for his performance at the renowned Newport Folk Festival in Newport, Rhode Island in 1963. Watson recorded his first solo album in 1964 and began performing with his son Merle, the same year.

In 1985, his son Merle died in a tractor accident on his family farm.

In 1997, Watson received the National Medal of Arts from U.S. president Bill Clinton.

On May 21, 2012, Watson fell at his home. He was not seriously injured in the fall, but an underlying medical condition prompted surgery on his colon.
Watson died on May 29, 2012 at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center of complications following the surgery at the age of 89.

#DocWatson, #DocWatsonCaricature, #Bluegrass, #PaulKing, #PaulKingArtwerks, #PaulKingArt.com