Had Doc Watson lived, he would have been 102 years old yesterday, March 3. Sunday night, Jack Lawrence, Doc’s picking partner for 27 years, and several friends celebrated the guitar guru with a concert at the Neighborhood Theater in Charlotte, NC. The J.E.D.S., Charlotte Bluegrass Allstars, Jack and Adam Lawrence & Red Rocking Chair, plus other special guests presented a two and one-half hour show remembering the good doctor and his music.
The JEDS started off with a tribute to Watson, playing songs from his 1987 Portrait album. It was the first one that Jack Lawrence recorded with Doc.
Next came the Bluegrass All Stars, whose Chad Harris said, “It means a lot to me to play our favorite Doc tunes.” Award-winning guitarist, Allen Shadd, appeared as a guest on a couple of tunes.
“The man, the myth, the legend” was introduced as Jack Lawrence took the stage. He first played guitar duos with his son, Adam, then with his band, Red Rocking Chair. The show ended with a grand finale playing Down Yonder with all the entertainers taking part.
Following the show Lawrence spoke of his history with Watson.
“I had seen Doc Watson on television, but the first time that I actually saw him (in person) was at Fiddlers’ Grove. I was 16, maybe, but I had been familiar with his music for several years prior to that.
I started playing with him just after my 30th birthday in October 1983. Actually, Merle hired me. Merle and I were friends. He called me on a Friday and asked if I could go with Doc to Chicago on a Saturday, the next day. I had never really played with Doc except maybe like with him on an encore at the end of a show, so we didn’t know each other very well. I guess he trusted Merle to send me up there.
The next day I flew to Chicago, and thought there might be some sort of rehearsal or least running through some of the songs, but no. We got there and did two songs as a sound check. Then I figured he’s going to run through some stuff with me now. No, he wanted to go to dinner. We went to dinner, came back, and just before going on stage, he named off three songs. He asked me if I knew these songs. I said, ‘Yea, I can play those.’ He said, ‘Well, that’s a good start.’ So we went out and did it cold.
The last real show I did with him was the Down Home over Christmas, the winter before he died. The last song I played with Doc was at MerleFest the year he died, 2012. It was I Know What It Means To Be Lonesome, which is something he requested me to do that night.
We rubbed off on each other after all those years. I hear more of Doc in my playing now than I did before I started with him, and there was plenty then because I learned from his records.
After a while, Doc got a little more adventurous, playing stuff out on a limb. He never did that in the early days, but especially did after we started doing our duo after Coleman left the band. We were on the road a lot and it was just the two of us. Doc became more adventurous and I kind of reigned myself in from playing the wild stuff. I learned restraint from him, and he learned to get a little wild from me. That was kind of cool the way we rubbed off on each other.
We never rehearsed a new song. We learned it on stage basically. If he played through something once or twice in the green room, there’s a good chance that would be on the show. He encouraged me to do new songs that I wanted to sing. If there was something that I wanted to do, I’d just lean over and say, ‘Hey, this is in G, just hang on.’
Our arrangements would come out organically while we were on stage. If I had a little hook I wanted to play on a song, just something a little different, a different lick, I played it. Then I discovered he’s playing my part so I had to come up with something different! So that happened on a few songs. Evidently, my lick was good enough because he took it. I was always so proud of that because I stole so many licks that was his. It was a real compliment that he would do that.”
Three-time National Flat Picking Champion, Allen Shadd, performed with Lawrence for a few tunes, too. Afterward, he likewise shared about his relationship with Watson, starting with how they met.
“I walked up to Doc. I was probably 12 years old and asked him, ‘What kind of pick do you use?’ I’m sure he’d heard that question a hundred times. He had just finished a set, he reached in his pocket and pulled out this white nylon Herco pick and handed it to me. I looked it over and said, ‘Thank you,’ and handed it back to him. He said, ‘No, you keep that. That’s yours.’ I took it home and put it in a shadow box. That was in 1976 at New Smirna Raceway. I still have that shadow box with that pick that Doc gave me. I’ve never used it, but I thought about bringing it tonight and using it to play with. But I’ll just keep it in the shadow box.
I got to pick with him when I was 13 years old. He came to a show in Jacksonville and played at a place called Apple Jack’s. They would do a matinee show and then an evening performance. They would chase everybody out during the middle and he would get to eat his dinner. T Michael Coleman was my buddy. He said, ‘Hang around with me and we’ll keep you around here.’ Because Doc was a rock star it was hard to get any time with him. I was never pushy about that. I’d just hang out with T Michael. I always got to spend a few minutes with Doc that way, and Doc was always so gracious.
So one day, he said, ‘Go get your guitar and let’s play one.’ So we sat down and played a couple of tunes. As we were playing, they started letting people in for the second performance. I’ll never forget, there were a couple of real hippie guys with a really nice camera taking pictures. My mom goes over and says, ‘That’s my son, and if you don’t mind, I’d like a picture.’ We didn’t have cameras like that. So the guys said, ‘We’ll make sure you get one when we develop them.’
Sure enough, about a week later, he calls and comes out to the house. He brings two black and white 8×10 glossies of me and Doc together. He brings an album, too, and says, ‘I play lead guitar in a rock band called 38 Special.’ I said, ‘I’ve never heard of you.’ Mama said, ‘Well, you brought them out, I’m going to fix you a home-cooked meal.’ So Mama cooked dinner for us and we sat down and played a couple hours. He loved Jerry Reed and bluegrass. I’ve still got those pictures. I’m wearing a cowboy hat similar to Jimmy Martin’s that my grandpa gave me.
Doc’s my biggest influence. Everybody else was going for Tony Rice’s stuff. I loved Tony’s playing, but everybody and their brother was trying to look like Tony, sound like him. I chose Doc because I’m a melody guy and Doc played the melody. I loved his style. I loved Doc.”
Happy birthday Doc!
