WATSON: I wouldn't have because of exactly what I was talking about. GROSS: I've read you say that if you weren't blind, you don't think you would have ever gone on the road, and I wasn't sure how to interpret that. She asked him about how being blind affected his life. ![]() The year before that concert, Watson joined Terry for an interview. We'll hear more of his FRESH AIR concert later. Today would have been Doc Watson's 100th birthday. Yeah.īIANCULLI: Doc Watson singing and playing guitar, along with guitarist Jack Lawrence, recorded in our studio in 1989. Give me back my 15 cents, and I'll go home to Mammy. Give me back my 15 cents Give me back my money. Going to leave the state of Arkansas and go back home to Mammy. I'm tired of looking at my mother-in-law. WATSON: (Singing) I worked in town and I worked on the farm, but there was no way to suit them. Give me back my 15 cents, give me back my money. Then the little old sow got mad at me and hit me with the poker. I fiddled a tune for her one day, and she called me a joker. Then dear old mother-in-law moved in and, lordy, what a caper. (Singing) Twas 15 cents to the preacher man and a dollar for the paper. But then we tied that fatal knot, and now I'm gone forever. I loved that gal, and she loved me, and I thought we'd live together. But then I met with a pretty little gal, and soon we played the devil. (Singing) I left my home in Tennessee, and I thought I'd learn to travel. And I let the song tell you the rest of the tale. And he found a pretty little girl and got married and got two for the price of one. Here's a little tune about an old boy that - excuse me - that decided he's going to leave home and learn to travel. That's the way - that's the way - that's the way it works. Make it where your good man will never go. Honey, make it over, close behind that door. WATSON: (Singing) Make me down a pallet on your floor. And then maybe my good gal, she won't know. Honey, won't you make it down? Make it soft and low. I think I'll turn to try sleeping on my side. The way I've been sleeping, my back and shoulder's tired. WATSON: (Singing) The way I've been sleeping, my back and shoulder's tired. Hey, don't you let my good gal catch you here. And don't you let my good gal catch you here. No, baby, can't lay down cross that pretty bed 'cause my good woman, she might kill me dead. Now, honey, I can't lay down on your bed. WATSON: (Singing) Well, you know that I can't lay down on your bed. WATSON: Yeah, I like that notion right there. And then maybe my good gal, she won't know.ĭOC WATSON AND JACK LAWRENCE: (Playing guitar). Told you I was coming, so you better look for me. Get my breakfast here and my dinner in Tennessee, get breakfast here and dinner in Tennessee, going to get my breakfast here, my dinner in Tennessee. Yes, I'm going up the country through that sleet and snow. I'm going up the country through that sleet and snow, going up the country through that sleet and snow. (Singing) Make me down a pallet on your floor. I think we'll do one that Merle and I - my son Merle and I learned from John Hurt, a good old tune called "Make Me Down A Pallet On Your Floor." And, Doc Watson, can I ask you to introduce the first song?ĭOC WATSON: Thank you, Terry. TERRY GROSS: I want to welcome both of you to FRESH AIR. He brought with him guitarist Jack Lawrence, who was his longtime music partner. But we're going to start with a couple of songs from the concert he recorded on FRESH AIR in 1989. We're going to hear the interview Terry recorded with Doc Watson in 1988. Doc Watson organized an annual music festival in North Carolina in his honor, known as MerleFest. In 1985, Merle was killed in a tractor accident. As an adult musician, for about 15 years, he toured and performed with his son, Merle. When he was about 1 year old, an eye infection left him blind. ![]() Watson was born in North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains. His flatpicking style has no precedent in earlier country music," unquote. Folklorist Ralph Rinzler, who discovered him, was quoted in Watson's New York Times obit as saying, quote, "Watson is single-handedly responsible for the extraordinary increase in acoustic flatpicking and fingerpicking guitar performance. ![]() In his prime, Doc Watson was considered the finest flatpicker in the U.S. Our show today is dedicated to Doc Watson, who was one of America's most revered folk musicians. I'm David Bianculli, sitting in for Terry Gross.
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