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The Best Of Doc Watson 1964-1968

Doc WatsonAudio CD
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)

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 : Includes FREE MP3 version of this album.
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MP3 Music, 23 Songs, 1999 $9.49  
Audio CD, 1999 $13.99  

Listen to Samples and Buy MP3s

Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or view the MP3 Album.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Samples
Song Title Time Price
listen  1. Muskrat 2:53$1.29  Buy MP3 
listen  2. Country Blues 3:29$1.29  Buy MP3 
listen  3. Rising Sun Blues 4:17$1.29  Buy MP3 
listen  4. Tennessee Stud 3:39$1.29  Buy MP3 
listen  5. Down In the Valley To Pray 2:02$1.29  Buy MP3 
listen  6. Dill Pickle Rag 1:24$1.29  Buy MP3 
listen  7. Otto Wood the Bandit 3:17$1.29  Buy MP3 
listen  8. Windy And Warm 2:15$1.29  Buy MP3 
listen  9. Little Sadie 2:00$1.29  Buy MP3 
listen10. Blue Railroad Train 2:44$1.29  Buy MP3 
listen11. Omie Wise 4:27$1.29  Buy MP3 
listen12. Intoxicated Rat 2:32$1.29  Buy MP3 
listen13. Tom Dooley 3:17$1.29  Buy MP3 
listen14. Alberta 2:43$1.29  Buy MP3 
listen15. Beaumont Rag 1:45$1.29  Buy MP3 
listen16. Shady Grove 2:58$1.29  Buy MP3 
listen17. My Rough and Rowdy Ways 2:32$1.29  Buy MP3 
listen18. The Train That Carried My Girl From Town 3:47$1.29  Buy MP3 
listen19. Grandfather's Clock 1:46$1.29  Buy MP3 
listen20. Grandfather's Clock 3:23$1.29  Buy MP3 
listen21. The Cyclone of Ryecov 3:12$1.29  Buy MP3 
listen22. Doc's Guitar 1:26$1.29  Buy MP3 
listen23. Crawdad Hole 3:52$1.29  Buy MP3 


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Frequently Bought Together

The Best Of Doc Watson 1964-1968 + The Three Pickers
Price for both: $26.61

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  • The Three Pickers $12.62


Product Details

  • Audio CD (April 20, 1999)
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • Label: Vanguard Records
  • ASIN: B00000IIW2
  • Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Music
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #36,169 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Few musicians are as adept as Doc Watson is at making the remarkable seem routine. Song after song on this 23-track label retrospective demonstrates effortless flat-picking virtuosity. Listen to the fleet, precise picking on "Beaumont Rag," and you'll immediately recognize why the North Carolinian's skills are the envy of just about anyone who's ever tried to master folk guitar. Yet his plainspoken baritone vocals on "Tennessee Stud," "Shady Grove," "Little Sadie," and others speak of his devotion to his songs. Watson in his prime could play rings around just about any picker alive, but he's never gone in for hollow showboating. Culled from six of the nine albums Watson recorded for Vanguard between 1964 and 1971 (though the most recent inclusions here are from 1968), this album is a condensed alternative to the four-disc Vanguard Years box set. Four previously unreleased tunes add to the value of this worthy intro to an American master. --Steven Stolder

Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars
(17)
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Doc Watson is really at the roots of country music and bluegrass. helveto  |  8 reviewers made a similar statement
This is one of the best Doc Watson albums available for his classic songs. Patty Gentry  |  2 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
58 of 60 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
As an impressionable teenager in the mid 1960s, I was one of the youngest members of the Seattle Folklore Society (the folks who later started the Northwest Folklife Festival). In those early days, they would rent small halls and bring in old black blues musicians like Rev. Gary Davis, Mance Lipscomb and Jesse Fuller, and relatively unknown folk musicians like Buffy Sainte Marie and Doc Watson.

Watson is an incredibly talented blind guitar and banjo picker from the Blue Ridge Mountains with a resonant voice. The night I saw Doc Watson, he was ushered to a lone chair at the center of a small stage, and within one or two songs, I felt like I was sitting at his kitchen table, as he sang songs from the mountains of North Carolina with a decidedly bluegrass flavor. At the time, I just knew he was one of the fastest flat-picking and fingerpicking guitarists around, who held the respect of anyone who had taken up the instrument in the Sixties.

What I didn't know then was that Watson is largely responsible for shifting bluegrass guitar from a supportive rhythm guitar role (so that fiddlers and banjo pickers could shine) to playing leads, which is standard practice these days.

Vanguard Records, the company that released these original 1960s era recordings, came out with this "Best of" album in the late 1990s, with over 65 minutes of tunes, many of which have become standards by other artists, like "Rising Sun Blues" (known to most of us as "The House of the Rising Sun," although with a different tune), "Tennessee Stud" (a great horse song), "Down in the Valley To Pray" (an inspiring white spiritual), "Tom Dooley" (quite different from the Kingston Trio version), "Alberta" (about a girl, not a province in Canada), "Black Mountain Rag" (still one of my favorite bluegrass guitar instrumentals, "Grandfather's Clock" ("...it stopped short, never to go again when the old man died"), "Doc's Guitar" (if only I could play half that fast), and "Crawdad Hole."

While a few cuts on this album are done with a bluegrass band, on most he is alone, or with one other guitarist (including his late son, Merle). On these more intimate cuts it still feels like he's sitting at his kitchen table playing just for me (or you, if you get this CD). If you like bluegrass, or simply some of the best acoustic guitar ever recorded, this is highly recommended!

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20 of 20 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Doc Watson Is a National Treasure June 21, 2005
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Arthel "Doc" Watson is perhaps the finest flatpick guitar player to ever pick up a guitar and this generous 23-track anthology goes a long way to support that claim. All tracks are taken from the six studio albums he recorded for Vanguard from 1964 through 1968.

I first heard Doc Watson on the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's WILL THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN where he performed his signature song "Tennessee Stud," included here from his classic SOUTHBOUND album. While not as good a singer as he is a guitar player, there is an earthy quality to his vocals, which is especially effective on the a capella gospel number "Down in the Valley To Pray."

On many of these tracks, Watson is accompanied by his son Merle on second guitar. Listen to their delicate interplay on the instrumental "Dill Pickle Rag."

As an added bonus, the final four tracks are previously unreleased. First, is a solo performance of "Grandfather's Clock" with Watson accompanying himself on guitar and harmonica. Next is the Carter Family's tragic tale of "The Cyclone of Ryecov." Then there is the brief (1:23) guitar workout "Doc's Guitar." The final is the traditional "Crawdad Hole" performed live.

Doc Watson is one of our national treasures, and if you're looking for a solid introduction to his music, this is an excellent place to start. [Running Time - 65:55] VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
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20 of 22 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A great musician October 24, 1999
By A Customer
Format:Audio CD
Only out of curiosity did I decide to listen to folk music and to my surpise I enjoyed it. Then I heard the music of Doc Watson and was moved in only a way a great musician and song can. Having grown up in the city and listening to "Rap" and "Rock and Roll" I am glad I decided to give folk music a listen to, many a night have I enjoyed the melodies and messages of folk songs.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Good CD
My husband recently heard his music and I was happy to surprise him with this CD for Christmas. He plays it over and over!
Published 2 months ago by Rhonda
5.0 out of 5 stars Unforgettable Doc Watson
Doc Watson is really at the roots of country music and bluegrass. Despite his blindness he plays guitar like nobody else, a master in flat picking. Read more
Published 3 months ago by helveto
5.0 out of 5 stars The Cornerstone of your Doc collection
You need at least four Doc CD's to have a good collection, but this is where you start. Doc has it all, and he plays like no other. There is no such thing as a bad Doc Watson song.
Published 4 months ago by Frank J. Altschul
5.0 out of 5 stars Just good music
If you are a Doc Watson fan you will like this music. If you haven't heard any of his music, but like to listen to good easy music, this is going to be a treat.
Published 5 months ago by Mike
5.0 out of 5 stars giving the doctor some love
This album took me back to many of my musical roots. A lot of guitar and folk music played in an old style. Great music, I loved it.
Published 9 months ago by rkyvet
5.0 out of 5 stars Classical Doc
A great compilation from a great artist. Doc was one of a kind, and so is his music. Not for everyone, but for those who treasure music in its true form, not embellished in any... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Joan R.
5.0 out of 5 stars talk about a musician's musician ~~ THANK YOU AND R.I.P., DOC WATSON...
Doc Watson has passed away; but he lives on through his music with that stunning bluegrass/country style. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Matthew G. Sherwin
5.0 out of 5 stars PURE DOC WATSON
This is one of the best Doc Watson albums available for his classic songs. Only Doc can pick a guitar and play a harmonica like that. One of a kind; that's Doc Watson.
Published 19 months ago by Patty Gentry
5.0 out of 5 stars 10 stars out of 5! This guy is great!
If you've never heard bluegrass, by all means listen to Doc Watson. If anyone can make you a believer, he can. Read more
Published on March 1, 2009 by flickfreak
5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome Collection of early Doc Songs
This a great collection of songs including my favorite arrangement of 'Shady Grove' that's out there.
Published on October 21, 2007 by Rock Crusher
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