Doc Watson—A Life In Music
University of North Carolina Press
Book reviews can be very subjective based on the experience and perspective of the reviewer. Therefore, when I read a book review, I like to know something about the reviewer so I can understand what experience, connection, or knowledge the reviewer might have relating to the topic of the book. For those who feel the same way, I’m going to start this review by explaining my background and experience with Doc Watson.
I have been a Doc Watson fan since I first heard him on the Will The Circle Be Unbroken album when I was in high school in the mid-1970s. It was my love for Doc Watson’s guitar playing, along with the playing of Tony Rice and Charles Sawtelle, that inspired me to learn how to flatpick the guitar in the bluegrass style and subsequently start to publish Flatpicking Guitar Magazine.
When I started publishing and editing that magazine, one of my goals was to have the chance to interview Doc Watson. Because I had heard that Doc did not like interviews, I first researched all of the magazine articles and album liner notes about him that I could find. I then took all of the information that I gathered and wrote an article. I read the article into a cassette tape recorder and I sent the tape to Doc’s home address. I explained that I had written this article and that I wanted to publish it in Flatpicking Guitar Magazine. I asked Doc to listen to it and call me if he felt that there was anything that I had written that needed correction. I sent off the tape and waited. About a week later Doc called me. Doc had some corrections and, while I had him on the phone, I got a chance to ask him some more questions.
During the years that I published Flatpicking Guitar Magazine, I had the chance to interview Jim Rouse, Don Gallagher and Jack Lawrence regarding their relationships with Doc Watson.
Nearly every year at Merlefest, Jim Rouse brought Doc by the Flatpicking Guitar Magazine booth to say “hello.” The last time I got to shake Doc’s hand was just one month prior to his passing.
When Doc passed, we put him on the cover of Flatpicking Guitar Magazine a second time and I had the chance to interview many of the top flatpicking guitar players about their relationship with Doc and how Doc had influenced them.
Over the years I have continued to read every article and book that has come out about Doc Watson, including Kent Gustovson’s book Blind But Now I See—The Biography of Music Legend Doc Watson and Nancy Watson’s book and CD project Milestones—Legends of The Doc Watson Clan, which was produced and augmented by ETSU assistant professor and musician Roy Andrade. I had the opportunity to interview Kent Gustovson and Roy Andrade in connection with these projects.
I felt like with the research that I conducted into Doc Watson I had a pretty good grasp on Doc’s life story. That was until I read Eddie Huffman’s Doc Watson—A Life In Music.
All of the preamble provided above regarding my experience with Doc Watson was included just to say that although I had spent over twenty years of my life dedicated to researching and writing about the art of flatpicking the acoustic guitar—an art where Doc Watson is referred to by most to be the “father” of the style—I still learned a lot about Doc that I did not know before I read Huffman’s new book.
This book covers Doc’s complete life and career—from birth to death—in a very thorough, entertaining, interesting, and captivating manner. When I got the book in the mail, I must admit that I wrongly thought that I would not learn much new about Doc by reading this book. But, I was dead wrong. This 253-page book tells Doc’s story in its entirety better than any other source I know.
I think that Huffman wrote a very honest Doc Watson book because he did not try to sidestep the lows in order to embellish the highs. Doc was a hero to many of us, but he was also human and during his life he faced his share of challenges, struggles, and battles. Huffman does not whitewash these details in this book. He provides a real and true picture of the triumphs and the disappointments that Doc faced. To me, knowing about some of these difficult parts of Doc’s life tells me something about his character that causes me to hold him in even higher esteem.
I finished this book feeling like I knew Doc better than I ever had and it did nothing but confirm my high regard for one of my heroes. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has enjoyed listening to Doc Watson pick a tune or sing a song.
