Doc Watson – Live at Club 47 (2018) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Long acknowledged as Americas premiere folk guitarist, Arthel Lane Doc Watson was born in what was then the tiny rural community of Deep Gap, North Carolina in the heart of the Blue Ridge mountains on March 3, 1923. Surrounded by music and musicians, Doc and his siblings grew up listening to hymns, murder ballads and down home string band music, all of which would later find places in his own repertoire. In 1953, Doc formed a honky tonk dance band with pianist Jack Williams called Jack Williams and his Country Gentlemen. Their repertoire consisted primarily of rockabilly, country and western, pop standards and square dance tunes, and Doc played electric guitar in this ensemble. To fill occasional square dance requests, Doc learned to flatpick fiddle tunes on the guitar, as Joe Maphis had done in the 1930s. Unlike his contemporaries Chet Atkins and Merle Travis, who started their professional careers playing acoustic guitars and later switched to electric, Doc began on electric and later made the transition to acoustic with the advent of the folk revival of the Sixties. Although he continued to work with Williams playing country and pop music, Doc never stopped playing traditional mountain music with his family and friends at home. These included Clarence Tom Ashley, Docs father-in-law Gaither Carlton, and two other neighbors, fiddler Fred Price and guitarist Clint Howard, all of whom would travel and record with Doc in the future. It was in these comfortable home surroundings that Doc was first discovered and recorded by folklorist Ralph Rinzler and collector and discographer Eugene Earle, who were on a collecting trip through North Carolina looking for traditional artists to record. Once these field recordings were released, as Old Time Music at Clarence Ashleys Vol. 1 (and later Vol. 2) on Folkways Records, Docs reputation grew, and he soon began playing for enthusiastic urban audiences farther from home. Rinzler presented Doc in concert in New York.

In the mid-’60s, Doc Watson rose from relative obscurity to become one of the leading lights of American folk music, displaying a dazzling flatpicking technique on the guitar and an encyclopedic knowledge of old-timey and traditional music. Watson was just starting to make a name for himself as a solo act (and was a few months away from his breakthrough performance at the Newport Folk Festival) when, in February 1963, he played Boston’s venerable folk music venue Club 47, where he quickly became a favorite of the New England cognoscenti. A local music fan, Michael Eisenstadt, brought a professional-grade tape recorder to the show, and 55 years later, the show has been given a commercial release by Yep Roc Records as Live at Club 47. The audio is remarkably crisp and clear despite being recorded with a single microphone, and it captures Watson in splendid form. It should surprise no one that Watson was picking up a storm on guitar this evening, as well as showing he was a sure hand on banjo and autoharp. But Live at Club 47 is a vivid reminder of how personable and engaging Watson could be performing in front of an audience. Playing in a small room, Watson’s simple but expressive vocals are superb, finding humor and drama in these songs, which he delivers with genuine warmth and sincerity. If there are moments when Watson seems to be playing up his hillbilly roots for the sake of the Big City audience, there’s no arguing that he knew how to work a crowd and get an honest laugh. Watson seems fully engaged and having a great time on Live at Club 47, and the set list is a treasure trove of essential American folk tunes (including a few he never got around to recording in the studio). Live at Club 47 doesn’t reveal much that’s unknown about the artistry of Doc Watson, but the good humor and intimacy of this performance are irresistible, and it’s as pleasing a document of Doc Watson in concert as you could ask for. – Mark Deming

Tracklist:
01. Doc Watson – Wabash Cannonball (Live) (03:47)
02. Doc Watson – The House Carpenter (Live) (05:23)
03. Doc Watson – I Wish I Was Single Again (Live) (03:37)
04. Doc Watson – Little Darling Pal of Mine (Live) (03:00)
05. Doc Watson – Train That Carried My Girl From Town (Live) (04:31)
06. Doc Watson – The Worried Blues (Live) (02:53)
07. Doc Watson – Old Dan Tucker (Live) (02:36)
08. Doc Watson – Sweet Heaven When I Die (Live) (03:04)
09. Doc Watson – Doc’s Talkin’ Blues (Live) (04:18)
10. Doc Watson – Little Margaret (Live) (03:09)
11. Doc Watson – Sitting on Top of the World (Live) (02:25)
12. Doc Watson – Don’t Let Your Deal Go Down (Live) (03:45)
13. Doc Watson – Blue Smoke (Live) (01:35)
14. Doc Watson – Deep River Blues (Live) (03:07)
15. Doc Watson – Way Downtown (Live) (02:54)
16. Doc Watson – Somebody Touched Me (Live) (03:39)
17. Doc Watson – Billy in the Low Ground (Live) (01:45)
18. Doc Watson – Boil Them Cabbage Down (Live) (02:14)
19. Doc Watson – Everyday Dirt (Live) (02:39)
20. Doc Watson – I Am a Pilgrim (Live) (03:30)
21. Doc Watson – No Telephone in Heaven (Live) (02:55)
22. Doc Watson – Hop High Ladies the Cake’s All Dough (Live) (01:12)
23. Doc Watson – Little Sadie (Live) (02:26)
24. Doc Watson – Black Mountain Rag (Live) (02:07)
25. Doc Watson – Blackberry Rag (Live) (01:29)
26. Doc Watson – Childhood Play (Live) (02:18)