The liner notes state that Doc Watson "who has influenced and been revered by virtually every great bluegrass flatpicker from Clarence White to Tony Rice, has never considered himself a bluegrass musician. Odd as this may seem, Doc's assessment of himself is correct. His music transcends all conventional labels and, while Riding The Midnight Train is Doc's first all-bluegrass album, it's bluegrass done Watson style."
Which is a pretty perfect describtion of what's happening here.
The repertoire is a not-too-obvious selection of songs from the usual suspects: Stanley Bros., Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, Carter Family etc.
The picking is stellar - of course - and the singing beautiful. The more i think about it, the less there is to say: it's Doc Watson, period!
Doc Watson: Riding The Midnight Train
Sugar Hill Records SH- 3752, 1986
A1 I'm Going Back To The Old Home (Carter Stanley) 2:14
A2 Greenville Trestle High (James Jett) 3:29
A3 Highway Of Sorrow (Bill Monroe, Pete Pyle) 2:51
A4 Fill My Way With Love (Arr.: Doc Watson) 2:32
A5 We'll Meet Again Sweetheart (Earl Scruggs, Lester Flatt) 3:10
A6 Riding That Midnight Train (Ralph Stanley) 2:06
B1 Ramshackle Shack (Wade Mainer) 3:21
B2 Midnight On The Stormy Deep (Arr.: Doc Watson) 4:33
B3 Baby Blue Eyes (Jim Eanes) 3:42
B4 What Does The Deep Sea Say (J. E. Mainer) 3:32
B5 Let The Church Roll On (A. P. Carter) 2:57
B6 Sweet Heaven When I Die (C. Grant) 2:09
Doc Watson (g, voc) Merle Watson (g, bjo) Sam Bush (mand) Bela Fleck (bjo) Mark O'Connor (fiddle) T. Michael Coleman (b, bg voc) Alan O'Bryant (g, bg voc)
In case you have 30 minutes to spare, here's a very interesting documentary, "Three Days with Doc Watson" by A.L. Lloyd:
11 comments:
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Thanks mate, I did not know this one. I've been lucky to see the great man live in Brussels in the late 70s.
Wish i had had the chance to see Doc in concert - grudge, grudge...
First, thanks for the upgrade on this one LPR! I see that I bought it from iTunes at some point which is 128K. This is yet another nicely played and well-sung Doc Watson album and what a supporting cast. Kind of the who's who of the newer bluegrass players (not so young anymore though). Sorry to rub it in even further, but I was blessed by getting to see Doc in concert 6 or 7 times. The most memorable was perhaps the double bill Doc, Merle, and T. Michael played with John Hartford at Royce Hall on the UCLA campus. RIP Doc, Merle, and John.
Yeah, yeah, mumble...
Hartford did some great "progressive" bluegrass albums. The "Aereo-Plain" album of course.
Got a nice later album called "Nobody Knows What You Do" in the queue.
Guess he was set for life thanks to the royalties if "Gentle On My Mind". Lucky guy ;-)
Try again... so many damn pop-up ads that my first attempt to comment failed. Thanks for this, Porco. I don't normally listen to this kind of music, but since hearing and seeing Doc on the Homespun video of Flatpicking guitar, I've relished his sincere approach to the range of roots music of his community.
Rick,
where do you get pop-ups?
Here on the blog?
(I don't have any...)
P.S. I had never seen that "Doc"umentary before. Kind of humorous the way the narrator was so stuffy and serious but full of great info and images. Thanks for digging that out as well.
P.P.S. Aereo-Plain was my dear departed Aunt's favorite album and has always been one of mine too since she first played it for me many years ago. It is a truly magical and transcendent album that I would take to "the Desert Island" for sure. Back in the 70's we were young, foolish, and exuberant to the extreme and Aereo-Plain was one of the stars of the soundtrack to our lives. My Aunt and I were extremely close and made each other laugh constantly then. Now I can't listen Hartford's tender song "Presbyterian Guitar" without crying for her loss and the memory of what were some of the best times of our lives.
:-))
thanks a lot!
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